Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

Teriyaki Chicken Skewers are marinated in a homemade teriyaki sauce, grilled to perfection, and finished with a sticky glaze that makes them absolutely irresistible. Serve over steamed rice with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and fresh green onions for a meal that disappears fast.

Why You’ll Love This One

The marinade does the heavy lifting — half the sauce soaks into the chicken while it chills, so every bite is packed with flavor, not just the outside.
Grilled, not pan-cooked — that char from the barbecue takes this to a whole other level.
Easy to make ahead — mix the sauce in the morning, let the chicken marinate, and dinner practically cooks itself.
Great for a crowd — skewers are easy to serve, easy to grab, and there are never leftovers.
One sauce, two jobs — it’s both the marinade and the finishing glaze, so nothing goes to waste.

A Few Notes on the Ingredients

Chicken thighs are non-negotiable for me. Breasts will work if that’s what you have — and I’ve used them in a pinch — but thighs stay juicier on the grill and they have more flavor and honestly they’re also usually cheaper, which is a bonus. Cut them into roughly one-inch pieces. I say roughly because I don’t actually measure this. I eyeball it. They don’t need to be perfect.
For the soy sauce, I use Kikkoman low-sodium and I’ve used it for so long now that switching feels wrong. Regular soy sauce will make the whole thing too salty — trust me on this one, I learned that the hard way early on.
Fresh ginger matters. Ground will work in a pinch and I’ve done it, but use about half as much because ground ginger is so much more concentrated and can go sharp on you fast. Same thing with garlic — fresh cloves, minced, not the stuff in the jar. I have the jar. I know everyone has the jar. Just not for this one.
The sesame oil — get a good one. A little goes a long way and a cheap one will taste off. Half a teaspoon sounds like almost nothing but it’s in there and you’ll notice if you use bad oil.
Oh — and soak your skewers. Wood ones need at least 30 minutes in water before they go on the grill or they’ll start to scorch. I usually drop mine in a baking dish of water while the chicken is finishing its marinade. That way I don’t forget.

Ingredients

2 lbs. chicken thighs (or breasts), cut into roughly 1-inch cubes
8 skewers, soaked in water

For the Teriyaki Sauce/Marinade:

2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
⅓ cup brown sugar (light or dark, both are fine)
⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
½ tablespoon fresh ginger, minced (or ¼ tablespoon ground)
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon sesame oil

Optional but really good:

Sesame seeds
Chopped green onion

How to Make It

Start with the sauce. Whisk your cornstarch into the cup of water in a small bowl until it’s dissolved — don’t skip this step or you’ll get lumps and the sauce won’t thicken evenly. Then pour that, along with everything else, into a medium saucepan. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat, stirring pretty much constantly because the sugar will catch on the bottom if you walk away from it. I know this from experience. It takes maybe five or six minutes to thicken up. The color will go dark — a deep, rich brown — and it’ll coat the back of a spoon. That’s when you pull it off the heat.
Now. The important thing is that you let it cool completely before it touches the chicken. I usually stick mine in the fridge to speed things up, maybe 20-30 minutes. If you put warm sauce on raw chicken you’ll have a bad time — the sauce won’t adhere right and honestly it’s just not safe to marinade warm things. Just let it cool down. Patience.
Once it’s cooled, put your chicken in a large zip-lock bag. Pour half the sauce over it, seal the bag, and move it around until everything’s coated. Into the fridge for at least 30 minutes — longer is better, honestly. I’ve left it for a few hours when I’m doing dinner prep in the morning and it was noticeably better. The other half of the sauce you’ll use for basting later, so set it aside somewhere you’ll remember it.
When you’re ready to cook, thread the chicken onto your soaked skewers and heat the grill to medium. Oil the grates — I use a folded paper towel dipped in oil and dragged across with tongs, which I saw someone do at a cookout years ago and have done ever since. Place the skewers down and then just — let them be for three or four minutes before you turn them. That’s usually where people go wrong, they keep moving things around. Every three to four minutes, give them a turn. Total cook time runs somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes depending on your grill and how big your pieces are; the only way to know for certain is a meat thermometer reading 165°F inside. In the last couple of turns, start basting with your reserved sauce. It’ll get sticky and caramelized and wonderful.

Variations

I’ve tried this with tofu instead of chicken and it works well as long as you press the tofu really thoroughly first. A pinch of red pepper flakes in the sauce is a nice addition if you like a little heat — I don’t always bother but it’s good when I do. I’ve also swapped white wine vinegar for the rice vinegar when I’ve run out and couldn’t tell much difference, honestly. I keep meaning to try this with shrimp but I haven’t gotten around to it.

Storage

Leftovers keep in the fridge for a few days — three, maybe four. They reheat fine in a pan with a tiny splash of water over medium-low, or the microwave works too, just cover them so they don’t dry out. The rice you serve this with is probably the thing that goes bad faster. I’ve forgotten about leftover rice more times than I care to admit and had to throw it out, which always makes me feel guilty and wasteful, and yet.

We had this last weekend with steamed white rice and a quick cucumber salad — just cucumbers, a little rice vinegar, salt, a bit of sesame oil and some sugar — and honestly it felt like a proper meal. The kind of dinner where everyone stays at the table a little longer than usual.
I almost didn’t bother with the sesame seeds