Roast Teriyaki Chicken with Homemade Glaze

This whole teriyaki chicken is an impressive but surprisingly easy roast chicken with a glossy homemade teriyaki glaze. Marinated in soy, mirin, sake and brown sugar, it is roasted until juicy and caramelised. This recipe includes tips for marinating, glazing and checking when the chicken is perfectly cooked.

About This Teriyaki Chicken

In this recipe, a whole roast chicken is marinated and coated in a delicious homemade teriyaki glaze. Usually teriyaki chicken is grilled and then glazed in a teriyaki sauce but I wanted to do a whole roast teriyaki chicken. And this turned out SO WELL!

When I was on holiday in Singapore I saw a whole teriyaki chicken at Don Don Donki. I missed my chance to buy it but I loved the dark glaze on it and thought that it was a brilliant idea that I had to make at home.

Why This Recipe Works and Why You'll Love It

Teriyaki chicken uses just a few ingredients! A classic Japanese teriyaki sauce has only 4 ingredients: soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar!
Westernised versions of teriyaki use ginger and garlic which is quite nice and I'll show you how much to use if you want to add these ingredients.
I made 6 whole teriyaki chickens over the space of 6 months until I arrived at a teriyaki chicken recipe that I absolutely loved! This is it :)
The glaze is SO good that I serve it at the table in case people want to add some more sauce. Did you know that Teri means "shine" or "lustre" in Japanese and Yaki means "grilled"? I also have a guide to yakitori and kushiyaki grilling if you want to read more about tare sauce and Japanese grilling.
I'll show you what side dishes go well with this teriyaki chicken.
This recipe explains how to tell that your chicken is fully cooked.
I'll also explain how long to marinate the chicken for and why you shouldn't marinate it too long.
I will also share a tip on how to avoid burning the chicken wing tips before the rest of the chicken cooks properly!
And if you don't want to cook a whole chicken and want to use pieces, I've given you cooking time etc.

Video How To Make Teriyaki Chicken

Video: Teriyaki Chicken recipe

Ingredients For Teriyaki Chicken

Chicken - A large chicken, roughly 1.8kg/3.9lbs - 2kg/4.4lbs.

Soy sauce - We are using light soy sauce for a flavour base. Dark soy sauce is used just for colour. Use dark soy sauce sparingly as the flavour is really strong and can really ruin the delicate balance of teriyaki sauce.

Mirin - A sweet Japanese rice wine used to sweeten and add umami to Japanese dishes. Found in the Asian aisle of the supermarket or at an Asian grocery store.

Sake - Cooking sake is fine for this dish, you don't need to use your best sake. Cooking sake is found in the Asian aisle of the supermarket or at the Asian grocery store.

Brown sugar - We use brown sugar for a nice caramelised flavour and also because it melts easier than white sugar.

Salt - Just to balance the sweet/salty flavour.

Tips For Making Teriyaki Chicken

1 - Marinate the chicken from 1 hour to a maximum of 24 hours. Any longer and the marinade will start to break down the chicken meat changing its texture. I usually marinate overnight from 4pm - 12pm.

2 - Line the baking dish with foil well as the sauce can be sticky.

3 - I bought an inexpensive beer can trivet at Bunnings for $5.60 as I like to stand this chicken up so that it gets fully glazed on all sides. You can also use an empty beer or soft drink can. And of course if it's all too much, you can roast this on a rack and just have the breast side glazed!

4 - There's no need to roast the chicken on a rack if you're using a beer can holder.

5 - Strain the teriyaki chicken sauce before brushing onto the chicken so that you don't get any tiny particles on the chicken (especially if you're using ginger and garlic). You want a gorgeous, smooth and glossy glaze.

6 - If there are patches where the teriyaki sauce "catches" and burns on the chicken, cover the area with a piece of oiled foil. The oil prevents the foil from sticking to the skin and tearing it.

7 - Important: how long to roast a whole chicken? The general rule is to roast it at 180C/350F fan forced or 200C/400F conventional with 20 minutes per 500g/1.1lb of chicken. Also bring your chicken to room temperature 45 minutes to 1 hour before roasting to take the chill off it. If using chicken pieces take out 15-30 minutes before roasting.

8 - If you are in a hurry and you want to cook a whole chicken, butterfly the chicken, cutting through the backbone and flattening. Roast for 60 minutes like this Peri Peri Chicken.

9 - Use a digital meat thermometer to check that the chicken is cooked through and insert it in the thickest part of the thigh or the deepest part of the breast avoiding the bone. The thigh is the last part to cook so people usually use the thigh. You want it to reach 75C/165F.

10 - Let the chicken rest before carving. This lets the chicken cook further and lets the juices redistribute through the chicken.

Serve this teriyaki chicken with steamed rice (white or brown), roast sesame broccolini or Asian vegetables for a very easy dinner. For another whole chicken with a gorgeous soy-rich flavour, try this Beggar's Chicken recipe or my mother's roast chicken. Or for a Chinese family favourite, my mother's Soya Sauce Chicken Wings are sweet, salty and wonderful with rice.

Teriyaki Chicken Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Recipe Overview

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Serves: 4-6 people with sides

Start this recipe 1 day ahead

Ingredients Needed

1 large chicken (around 1.8kg/3.9lbs)
90ml/3floz light soy sauce
90ml/3floz mirin
75ml/2.6floz sake
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
75g/2.6oz brown sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup water

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1 MARINATE - Whisk the soy sauce (90ml/3floz light soy sauce), mirin (90ml/3floz mirin), sake (75ml/2.6floz sake), dark soy sauce (1 teaspoon dark soy sauce), brown sugar (75g/2.6oz brown sugar) and salt (1 teaspoon fine salt) together until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Place the chicken (1 large chicken) in a large ziplock bag or freezer bag and add the teriyaki sauce. Zip the bag shut and massage the sauce and marinate for anything from 1 hour to overnight in the teriyaki sauce.

Step 2 SAUCE - Take chicken out of the fridge and drain the teriyaki sauce. Allow the chicken to come to temperature for 1 hour in the bag. While it is doing that, simmer the teriyaki chicken sauce for 10-15 minutes until it becomes slightly more concentrated (not too thick though, a smidge thicker than soy sauce will do). Strain any bits out of the sauce.

Step 3 PREP - Preheat oven to 180C/350F fan forced or 200C/400F conventional. Double line a tray with foil and stand the chicken on a beer can trivet if you have one. You can also use an empty can to prop it up or just roast the chicken flat on a rack breast side up (the rack is to prop the chicken above the water). Brush the chicken with the teriyaki sauce and cover the wings with an oiled square of foil to prevent them burning.

Step 4 ROAST - Add water (1/2 cup water) to the tray so that the sauce doesn't burn. Roast for 80 minutes and every 20 minutes brush more teriyaki sauce on the chicken until the time is up and the chicken is done and juices run clear (adding more water if needed). If you are using chicken pieces roast for 35-40 minutes. To check if the chicken is done, insert a digital meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh (avoid the bone). It is ready when it reaches 75C/165F.

Step 5 GLAZE - Allow the chicken to rest for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile drain the liquid at the base of the tray (it shouldn't be burnt) and any leftover sauce and place in a saucepan and simmer for 5-8 minutes until thick and glossy like a glaze. Place chicken on a serving plate breast side up and remove foil and using a new brush, brush this glaze over the chicken getting into all of the corners.

Adaptation notes:

To make a Westernised version of teriyaki chicken, add 2 teaspoons of crushed ginger and 3 crushed garlic cloves to the soy sauce mixture and marinate.

Personal Note

Teddy absolutely loved trying some of this teriyaki chicken especially the tenderloins now that he has his appetite back. However poor Milo can't eat chicken because he is allergic. I think he knows this in a way because he doesn't even turn up when I'm cooking chicken whereas Teddy always does.

I recently bought a big bag of peanuts because I'm still trying to befriend the crows. Mr NQN saw the bag of peanuts and asked if he could have some peanuts to snack on. "Fine, take them, it's not like I am going to come across any crows," I said dejectedly.

It was a Sunday and I was upstairs watching TV with Milo on the bed and Mr NQN was in his office with Teddy. Our house is long and quite narrow and it's a long distance from both so you can't really call to each other and hear each other. But somehow Milo sat up. He had heard Mr NQN opening the bag of peanuts and ran downstairs!

Milo does this funny thing where he keeps his ears flipped back. I think it's because little Milo has a bad case of FOMO so he literally keeps his ears peeled so he can hear everything. And this really must work because he can hear around two flights of stairs and up the front of the house!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like teriyaki chicken? Do you prefer cooking a whole chicken or chicken pieces?

Roast Teriyaki Chicken with Homemade Glaze was written by Lorraine Elliott and published on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 in Chicken, Everyday Dinners, Japanese and Delicious Recipes.