Oven-Baked Chicken with Teriyaki Sauce
By America's Test Kitchen KidsPublished on March 17, 2023
Time
1¼ hours, plus 1¼ hours cooling and chilling time
Yield
Serves 4
WHAT KIDS ARE SAYING
“This is one of the best recipes I have tested. I marinated the chicken overnight, and it was so good.” —Aidan, recipe tester, age 12
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You can find mirin, a sweet rice wine, in the Japanese section of many supermarkets or in Japanese markets. Serve this dish with white rice.
Instructions
- In small microwave-safe bowl, combine soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Heat in microwave until bubbling, about 2 minutes. Use oven mitts to remove from microwave. Use spoon to stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Measure ¼ cup cooled teriyaki sauce into liquid measuring cup. Pour remaining sauce into blender jar. Add ginger and garlic. Place lid on top of blender and hold lid firmly in place with folded dish towel. Turn on blender and process mixture until smooth, about 30 seconds. Stop blender.
- Place chicken in large zipper-lock plastic bag. Wash your hands. Pour mixture from blender into bag. Press out air, seal bag, and turn to coat chicken. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set 1 cooling rack in baking sheet.
- Use tongs to remove chicken from bag and place on cooling rack set in baking sheet.
- Place baking sheet in oven and bake until chicken begins to brown on top, about 20 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to remove baking sheet from oven and place on second cooling rack (ask an adult for help). Use clean tongs to flip chicken.
- Continue to bake until chicken is well browned and beginning to char in spots, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack. Let chicken cool for 5 minutes.
- Use clean tongs to transfer chicken to cutting board. Use chef’s knife to cut chicken crosswise (the short way) into ½-inch strips following photo, “Step-by-Step: How to Slice Chicken Thighs.” Transfer sliced chicken to serving platter. Drizzle with reserved teriyaki sauce. Serve.
Time
1¼ hours, plus 1¼ hours cooling and chilling timeYield
Serves 4WHAT KIDS ARE SAYING
“This is one of the best recipes I have tested. I marinated the chicken overnight, and it was so good.” —Aidan, recipe tester, age 12Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
This juicy chicken is full of bold flavor thanks to a marinade made of soy sauce, sugar, mirin, ginger, and garlic. Chicken teriyaki is traditionally grilled, but using the oven instead makes this recipe safer for kids. Baking the chicken at a high temperature until it begins to char mimics the flavor of the grill. This recipe calls for peeling three cloves of garlic, which can be a tedious process if you’re just using your fingers. You may have heard of crushing garlic with the side of a knife, but we have a method that’s just as efficient and is also safe for kids: They can use the bottom of a measuring cup to crush each clove and loosen the papery skin. Then they can use their hands to easily pull the skin off the clove and discard it. It’s much safer and makes prepping garlic a snap!
Before You Begin
You can find mirin, a sweet rice wine, in the Japanese section of many supermarkets or in Japanese markets. Serve this dish with white rice.
Instructions
- In small microwave-safe bowl, combine soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Heat in microwave until bubbling, about 2 minutes. Use oven mitts to remove from microwave. Use spoon to stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Measure ¼ cup cooled teriyaki sauce into liquid measuring cup. Pour remaining sauce into blender jar. Add ginger and garlic. Place lid on top of blender and hold lid firmly in place with folded dish towel. Turn on blender and process mixture until smooth, about 30 seconds. Stop blender.
- Place chicken in large zipper-lock plastic bag. Wash your hands. Pour mixture from blender into bag. Press out air, seal bag, and turn to coat chicken. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set 1 cooling rack in baking sheet.
- Use tongs to remove chicken from bag and place on cooling rack set in baking sheet.
- Place baking sheet in oven and bake until chicken begins to brown on top, about 20 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to remove baking sheet from oven and place on second cooling rack (ask an adult for help). Use clean tongs to flip chicken.
- Continue to bake until chicken is well browned and beginning to char in spots, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack. Let chicken cool for 5 minutes.
- Use clean tongs to transfer chicken to cutting board. Use chef’s knife to cut chicken crosswise (the short way) into ½-inch strips following photo, “Step-by-Step: How to Slice Chicken Thighs.” Transfer sliced chicken to serving platter. Drizzle with reserved teriyaki sauce. Serve.
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