Recipe: Easy One-Pot Chicken Teriyaki with Vegetables and Rice
Serves4
This hearty dish, made on the stovetop in a Dutch oven, is an all-in-one dinner. Packed with crisp-tender vegetables and juicy chicken, and glossed-up with an easy homemade teriyaki sauce, this colorful one-pot dinner is a meal that pleases many a palate and is decidedly kid-friendly.
The Best Vegetables for Chicken Teriyaki
When picking the veggies for this dish, stick to fresh vegetables that you’d find in a Japanese restaurant, and think about balancing crispy, sweet, dense, and soft ones. We use a mix of broccoli, carrots, and other easy-to-find vegetables, but if you want to see if something in your fridge works just as well, here are some other options:
- Asparagus cut into 2-inch pieces is a terrific option instead of broccoli.
- Snow peas can be subbed out for sugar snap peas or fresh baby corn.
- Fresh sprouts out of season? Use 1/2 cup sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms or 1/2 cup of shredded Chinese cabbage.
- Love fresh scallions? Switch half of the onions to scallions.
Since you don’t need much, you can stretch some pricier cuts like pork tenderloin or strip steak — just slice them the same size as the chicken. Even the pre-cooked rice is up for grabs. Brown rice or jasmine rice are great alternatives to the white rice called for in the recipe here.
Make It Faster
The quick teriyaki sauce can be made on its own up to three days in advance. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered, and warm it up before you add it. Add precut fresh vegetables that you can pick up the day before if need be, right from the grocery shelves, and this recipe becomes even faster and simpler to prepare.
One-Pot Chicken Teriyaki with Vegetables & Rice
Serves 4
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons
peanut or canola oil, divided
- 1
large sweet or yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
- 2 cups
broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
- 3
medium carrots, cut into matchsticks (1 1/2 cups)
- 2
medium zucchini, cut into 2-inch pieces (1 cup)
- 1 cup
snow peas, trimmed and halved lengthwise
- 1/2 cup
soybean or mung bean sprouts (about 2 ounces)
- 1 1/2 pounds
boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
- 1 teaspoon
kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup
plus 3 tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth, divided
- 1/2 cup
reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1/4 cup
mirin or rice wine
- 3 tablespoons
packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons
honey
- 1 tablespoon
grated or minced peeled fresh ginger
- 3
small cloves garlic, grated or minced (about 1 tablespoon)
- 2 tablespoons
cornstarch
- 3 cups
cooked rice
Instructions
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 3 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onions, broccoli, and carrots and sauté until the broccoli is a bright green and the carrots are still crisp but slightly tender, about 2 minutes.
Add the zucchini, snow peas, and sprouts and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute. Transfer to a large plate and set aside.
Sprinkle the chicken with the salt and pepper on both sides.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the same Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook until browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes total.
Add 1/2 cup of the chicken broth, soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, honey, ginger, and garlic. Stir and scrape up any flavorful browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low and cook just until the mixture comes to a gentle boil, 2 to 3 minutes.
Cover, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook until the chicken is just cooked through and no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes.
Whisk the cornstarch with the remaining 3 tablespoons chicken broth in a small bowl until fully combined. Stir the chicken and sauce in the Dutch oven, and drizzle in the cornstarch mixture. Increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring the liquid constantly, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the rice and reserved vegetables and stir to combine. Cover and cook until the rice has begun to absorb the sauce, the vegetables are cooked to the desired doneness, and the chicken is soft and tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Second meal: Warm up leftovers (just enough to heat it through but not overcook the veggies) and put a sunny-side-up egg on top of each serving.
Flavor additions: Feel free to add 1 tablespoon of furikake spice mix, toasted sesame oil, or shichimi togorashi before serving.