Air fryer teriyaki chicken turns out delicious! With a thick flavorful sauce, you can now make tender marinated chicken in no time at all.
I bet you’ve thought about air fryer teriyaki chicken, but didn’t think it was possible. Well I perfected it the other night so we could enjoy this easy air fryer recipe and share it with y’all! (affiliate links present)
Honey Teriyaki Chicken Air Fryer
Yes I air fry everything nowadays. No, seriously like I use this one and my Ninja Foodi pot daily. It just makes everything that much more delicious and with an easier cleanup than keeping an eye on it on the stovetop.
I tried Veri Veri I used in my Instant Pot teriyaki chicken and it wasn’t as thick as I’d like it to be. This one below was perfect.
If you love extra crispy food and quick recipes, here are some resources to start with:
- My Favorite models are this Cosori or for a dual machine, the Foodi.
- You can find more Ninja Foodi recipes here as well; bookmark them both!
- It is best practice to put food into a hot basket. this is how to preheat air fryer first.
- Here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.
There are a few choices you can make, and substitutions as well. I add a bit of minced garlic and ginger sometimes. You can leave one or both of these out and it will still be totally delish.
The brand of teriyaki sauce you use is your choice too but thicker is better in this case. Since I cook it directly inside the air fryer basket you want it to really adhere to the meat. You can make your own spicy teriyaki sauce too, recipe for that is in this post.
Teriyaki Chicken Air Fryer
This is really all you need. To enhance the flavors to be stronger and more intense, just marinate chicken longer. I only let it sit coated well for about 15 minutes and it was still great. Depends on how much time you have.
- Teriyaki marinade – This one is best, I use it for baked teriyaki chicken thighs too
- If you are looking for a low carb teriyaki chicken sauce I found this one (but haven’t tried it myself).
- There’s gluten free sauce available too.
- Chicken thighs – or cubed breasts work too, I feel thighs are more tender
- Onion if you want to add that
- You could add a tbsp of diced fresh or jarred garlic if you love all things garlic
We love serving this on a bed of rice or quinoa. For a low carb version you could skip these and serve as is.
Like I said, I use chicken thighs whenever possible. I feel like they turn out more tender than chicken breasts and are less expensive too.
Here are a few questions you might have before getting started making your teriyaki chicken:
Well that depends on the nutritional value of the sauce you’re using and how fatty your meat is. On the whole, air fryer marinated chicken is quite healthy with NO oil required to make it crispy on the outside.
I do. Especially if you cube the meat into bite size pieces like we did here it is best to shake the basket halfway thru. That way each piece rotates and gets a bit of crisp all the way around.
That depends. If it is a larger piece, I find that it’s best to lower the heat to maybe 350 F. In this case they are boneless bite size pieces so 380 F was better and only took a few minutes to cook to perfection.
You could easily coat the meat and refrigerate for a good hour to get bolder flavors. Only have a few minutes, no problem. The thicker the better in that case.
I tested this out a few times. First I used a thin chicken marinade and it was yummy (kids agreed). Then I used this one and it was more “teriyakiy” if you know what I mean. 😉 I have also made a homemade version with our air fryer sesame chicken that was dynamite.
I thought about using a springform pan but mine was leaking so I opted to not do that but you could so the sauce wouldn’t leak thru the basket at all. It would likely take a bit more time to cook this way though.
How do you make teriyaki chicken from scratch?
This is pretty close to it other than using jarred sauce. I have made homemade teriyaki sauce with brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and a few other ingredients before. You could too. With some hoisin the sauce is thickened nicely and a great consistency for this.
Air Fryer Chicken
Here are quick step by step directions, there is a printable recipe card at the bottom too.
Time needed: 8 minutes
Air Fryer Teriyaki Chicken
- Prepare
Preheat air fryer to 380 degrees F for 5 minutes. Trim boneless chicken breasts and cut into equal sized bite size pieces.
Put in a bowl with teriyaki sauce (and onion if you want) and stir so every piece is coated well. Let sit at least 5 minutes to up to an hour if you’d like it to really soak in. - Cook
Pour into air fryer basket and shake so they are in one layer overlapping the least amount. Close and cook for a total of 8 minutes cooking time shaking the basket after 4 minutes.
- Check
At end check to ensure chicken is cooked thru by taking out largest piece and cutting in half. If it is no longer pink inside you’re good, if not add 1 more minute at a time until all chicken is cooked properly and safe to eat.
Serve over bed of white or brown rice.
If you’ve only used a pan or slow cooker to make this, I would suggest you try this version next time. Then decide for yourself which you love best. You’ll be surprised how well this turns out.
Air Fryer Chicken Teriyaki
We have a bunch of other easy Ninja Foodi chicken recipes you can make too. Any brand works though…
- If you’re forgetful, like me, our frozen chicken wings in air fryer post may save dinnertime for you too.
- Want to make air fryer barbecue chicken breasts or Cornish hen in air fryer, we have done those too.
- Make a one pot meal like our Instant Pot teriyaki chicken and rice next.
Try it tonight! When reheating chicken in air fryer there are a few tips you should remember too, we go over them in the above post.
Air Fryer Teriyaki Chicken
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
Ingredients
- 1.5-2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, trimmed, cut into bite size pieces
- 3/4 c Homemade Teriyaki Sauce, or use bottled
- 1/4 onion, diced, optional
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 380 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Trim boneless chicken breasts and cut into equal sized bite size pieces. Put in a bowl with teriyaki sauce (and onion if you want) and stir so every piece is coated well. Let sit at least 5 minutes to up to an hour if you'd like it to really soak in.
- Pour into air fryer basket and shake so they are in one layer overlapping the least amount.
- Close and cook for a total of 8 minutes shaking the basket after 4 minutes.
- At end check to ensure chicken is cooked thru by taking out largest piece and cutting in half. If it is no longer pink inside you're good, if not add 1 more minute at a time until all chicken is cooked properly and safe to eat.
- Serve over bed of white rice.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
First time marinated it for an hour. This time for a couple hours. In my foodi it takes 15-20 minutes for chicken to cook. Nummy
oh good
Going to try same. Sounds good. Low carb here. Using G Hughes sugar free.
I’m new with using an air fryer and looked for a recipe for teriyaki chicken cooked in an air fryer. I prepared it as written and it was a hit with my family!! I served the chicken on Jasmine rice and topped all with a little mixed vegetables and drizzled extra teriyaki sauce. Yum! This is a keeper. Thanks for helping me!
Yeah!
This chicken was amazing!! Super easy and it tasted perfectly juicy and tender. That homemade teriyaki was so delicious as well!
So glad
I’m always amazed at the variety of things I can make in my air fryer! This one surprised my husband haha. Thanks for the recipe!
glad it was a hit
I just made this. Omitted the onion and added broccoli. Used store bought teriyaki. It’s fantastic!! Except I had to cook it for more like 22 minutes because my chicken breasts were huge and my AF basket was full. Will definitely make again.
OH good
Perfect chicken teriyaki! I tried making chicken teriyaki in the instant pot, but it doesn’t get crispy and caramelized. The air fryer chicken was exactly perfect. Better than a restaurant!
So good right?
Chicken teriyaki in the air fryer was fantastic! Next time,the chicken thighs will be thawed. It took an extra 10-20 min. to defrost in the microwave. I let the chicken and onion marinate for almost 30 minutes and rather than bite sized, they were cut into strips. This is much better than most restaurants! I used Yoshida’s sauce.
Glad you loved it too
Since I know nothing about air fryers! I’m wondering if you can do yeast donuts in a air fryer?
Thank You
Lynnette
I have made biscuit donuts in it which turn out great, not yeast ones though. You can search for biscuit donuts on my search bar to find.