These air fryer teriyaki chicken bites are coated in flavorful homemade teriyaki sauce. It's a delicious and healthy air fryer recipe that is easy and ready in 30 minutes.
This air fryer teriyaki chicken is so much healthier than any store-bought or takeout teriyaki chicken! This will for sure become one of you new favorite chicken recipes!
Best part?? No breading or marinating is needed for this teriyaki chicken. It's an easy air fryer recipe with minimal prep and takes less than 15 minutes in the air fryer.
Serve it alongside some brown rice and these roasted cauliflower steaks, or steam up some broccoli, or any of your favorite veggies. You can also throw in some toothpicks and it's a delicious appetizer!
Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
I love homemade teriyaki sauce, which is what I use for this recipe. The thick, flavorful teriyaki sauce nicely coats the chicken pieces so they become juicy and perfectly fried in the air fryer! And I highly recommend brushing the cooked chicken with additional teriyaki sauce before serving.
The teriyaki sauce is on the healthier side as it's made with coconut aminos and honey, but you can use regular soy sauce and brown sugar as well. See below for easy substitutions.
Ingredients
Substitutions
CHICKEN BREAST – I use skinless chicken breasts, but you can use boneless/skinless skinless chicken thighs.
COCONUT AMINOS – To keep this both gluten free and soy free, I use coconut aminos. If not gluten/soy free, regular soy sauce or tamari can be used.
HONEY – You can omit to keep sugar free. You can also use pure maple syrup, coconut sugar (to make it vegan), or brown sugar.
GINGER AND GARLIC – The recipe calls for fresh ginger and fresh garlic, but if in a pinch, you can use ground ginger and garlic powder. See recipe card below for specific amounts.
TAPICOA STARCH – This is used to get the teriyaki sauce nice and thick. Arrowroot starch or corn starch can be used in its place.
How to Make
STEP 1: Make the teriyaki sauce. Add water, coconut aminos, honey, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger to a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Cook over medium heat until it starts to simmer.
Meanwhile, whisk cold water and starch in a small dish. Once sauce starts to simmer, turn heat to low and whisk in starch mixture. Sauce should thicken right away. Continue to stir and cook on low for about one minute and remove from heat.
STEP 2: Place cut up chicken in a medium bowl and pour teriyaki sauce over chicken pieces. Mix chicken with teriyaki sauce to ensure all pieces are evenly coated.
STEP 3: Place chicken pieces in your air fryer basket. Ensure air fryer has been pre-heated to 380 degrees (if your air fryer requires pre-heating). Don’t overlap chicken, but its okay if all the pieces are touching.
Air fry for 13-15 minutes, shaking basket half way through.
Check your biggest piece of chicken and if it’s cooked through you know they are all done. They will remain juicy and flavorful even if slightly over cooked. If you want extra crispy, you can cook for a couple additional minutes.
Brush with additional teriyaki sauce if desired and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Now enjoy your air fryer teriyaki chicken!
FAQs
Yes you can, but the thicker the sauce you use the better. You really want the sauce to adhere to the chicken that is why I like my homemade teriyaki as it’s nice and thick.
If you use store bought, I recommend brushing the chicken with the marinade when you mix the chicken half way through the cooking time.
Yes, any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Yep! Can be stored in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
I bought a pretty inexpensive air fryer last year by Instant Vortex and I think it works great! I've seen really good reviews for Philips air fryers, too.
Tips for Success
Use tongs for adding the chicken pieces and taking the chicken out of the air fryer.
Lay chicken pieces out evenly in your air fryer basket – this ensures even distribution of heat. It’s okay if they are touching/squished when the first go in the air fryer – they will shrink as they cook.
Reserve some teriyaki sauce. Before pouring sauce on chicken, set aside about ¼ cup to brush on top of chicken after it is done cooking for some extra flavor.
For extra crispy chicken, you can continue to cook for a few additional minutes even after the chicken is cooked through.
More Chicken Recipes For You To Try
I Love Hearing From You!
If you make this recipe, please let me know what you think! I would so appreciate you leaving a star rating and/or comment below. And don't forget to share a photo on Instagram or Facebook and mention @CleanPlateMama!
Air Fryer Teriyaki Chicken
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp. water, divided
- ½ cup coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp. honey (can omit if you want sugar free)
- 1 tbsp. rice vinegar
- 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger (or ¼ tsp. ground ginger)
- 3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced (or ½ tsp. garlic powder)
- 2 tbsp. tapioca starch
- 2 lbs. chicken breasts, cut into roughly 1" cubes
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, whisk together ½ cup water, coconut aminos, honey, rice vinegar, ginger, and garlic. Bring to a low simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining water (2 tablespoons) with the tapioca starch. This is your slurry which will thicken your sauce. Set aside.
- After the sauce begins to simmer, turn heat to low and add in the slurry. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thick enough that it coats a spoon (this should only take 30 seconds to a minute).
- If desired, reserve ¼ cup of sauce to brush on the chicken after frying. Then, place chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl and pour remaining sauce over chicken. Stir chicken and teriyaki so that all pieces are fully coated.
- Using a tongs, place chicken pieces in bottom of your air fryer basket. It's okay if pieces are touching, but try not to overlap pieces.
- Set timer for 13 minutes and cook at 380 degrees F (if your air fryer requires pre-heating, make sure it was preheated). Stir chicken, or shake basket half way through cooking time.
- Cut one of your largest pieces of chicken in half to ensure it's cooked through. If needed, continue cooking in 1-2 minute intervals.
- If you saved some teriyaki, brush chicken pieces with additional sauce before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- The thicker the sauce the better - don't remove teriyaki sauce from heat before it's nice and thick. It should coat a spoon and resemble more of a caramel sauce type thickness.
- Try to make sure chicken pieces are about the same size for uniform cooking.
- For extra crispy chicken, you can continue to cook for a few additional minutes even after the chicken is cooked through.
- I find it best to use a tongs for getting chicken in and out of air fryer basket.
This teriyaki chicken cooked perfectly in the air fryer! I never thought about making it here before and I'm so glad I found your recipe. The flavors are so delicious too. Can't wait to make it again!
Thanks so much for letting me know. Glad you enjoyed it!
This came together so quickly and loved that it was made in my air fryer! Served it with some rice and broccoli. Delicious!
Sounds amazing, thanks for sharing!
We love teriyaki chicken but not all the salt and sugar that's usually in it. Your homemade sauce sounds magnificent. I cant wait to make this.
I definitely don't use my air fryer enough! 🙂 I need to add this recipe to my weekly dinner plan soon.
Completely agree with you on that 🙂
LOVE this teriyaki chicken! We had all of the ingredients on hand already, and it was so easy to make. Another yummy air fryer recipe!