When I first gave my kids this healthy teriyaki recipe, my daughter Zara said, “The best dinner ever!”
My oldest son (the pickiest eater in our family, aside from me!) first yelled, “No, don’t put it on the chicken!” But then when I let him try a piece he said, “Oh, okay, pour it over!”
If you are in a hurry, you can add the honey along with the rest of the ingredients. However, adding it at the end helps preserve the live enzymes, probiotics and vitamins found in raw honey.
If you’re following an anti-candida diet or cutting out sugar entirely for other reasons, I’ve also provided instructions on how to replace the honey with white stevia extract powder.
Teriyaki sauce recipe
- 1/4 cup GF soy sauce or tamari
- 1 cup of water
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice (optional)
- 2 tablespoons raw or manuka honey (or replace with 1/16 – 1/8 teaspoon white stevia extract)
- 2 tablespoons organic cornstarch
- 1/4 cup cold water
Directions:
1. Mix everything except honey, cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water in a saucepan and then heat.
2. Mix the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water in a cup and dissolve, then add to the sauce in the pan.
3. Heat until the sauce reaches the desired thickness.
4. Remove from heat and add raw honey, then mix well.
5. Add water to thin if you want a thinner sauce.
NOTE: If children are sensitive to lemon/lime, just leave it out. If children don’t like the feeling of heat at all, reduce the amount of ginger powder to 1/8 tsp. My kids don’t like the taste of molasses at all, but you can substitute molasses for the honey if you want.
Store excess sauce in a glass bottle in the refrigerator and it should last for about a month. You can also use this teriyaki sauce with sliced beef or bison – so you may want to make a double batch!
Teriyaki chicken
Season two whole chicken breasts (boneless, skinless) with salt and garlic powder, then grill or pan-fry until fully cooked.
Slice the breasts crosswise into thin strips and pour the teriyaki sauce over the chicken slices.
Serve with rice or noodles and vegetables (zucchini, green beans, peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, chard, kale, etc. of your choice). Garnish with chopped spring onions and sprinkled with sesame seeds.
How to make super tender chicken breasts:
Your chicken breast can’t be pink or you risk salmonella poisoning, but you also don’t want a dry, tough, cooked-to-the-point-of-puke chicken breast! So here is the method I use to make super tender, delicious chicken every time.
The key is…NO SPRAYING! Don’t lift the lid to check, or you’ll release both the heat and steam that keep them moist.
1. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. Add butter to skillet and place over medium heat (you can use olive oil, grapeseed oil, or coconut oil if you prefer).
2. When the pan is hot, season the chicken breasts with a pinch of garlic powder and salt, then place them in the pan. Keep the pan over medium heat and lightly brown each side.
3. When both sides are lightly browned, cover the skillet with a lid and reduce heat to LOW for 10 minutes. DO NOT lift the lid to check or take a look at the chicken!
4. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and do not lift the lid again to check. Leave the chicken in the covered pan for another 10 minutes.
5. Now your chicken breasts have been in the covered pan for a total of 20 minutes. Now you can remove the lid and cut into the deepest part of a breast to check that they are completely cooked through and that no meat is pink. Then slice and serve!
6. If you have leftovers in your pan, you can either add them to your teriyaki sauce OR toss the cooked chicken slices around to coat. Why waste the taste?
*Note: If you check that the meat is pink and there is a slight redness, return the pan to medium heat, place the chicken breasts in it and cover, cook for another 5 minutes and then check again. But as long as you don’t have a weird stove or hormonal mega chicken breasts, the method above should work perfectly.
NOTE: If your chicken breast came with skin and bones, save the bones to make stock from. And after your chicken breasts are cooked, you can fry the chicken skin in the same pan (sprinkle with salt) until browned. Crispy chicken skin is incredibly delicious and a more filling alternative to potato chips.
If you have a favorite healthy chicken recipe, please post it below!
Original post from 2012. Last updated April 2022.
Jini Patel Thompson is an internationally recognized expert in natural healing for digestive diseases. She healed herself from widespread Crohn’s disease and has been medication and surgery free for over 25 years. Jini has appeared on numerous podcasts, TV and radio shows in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, giving people hope and vision on how to heal their colitis, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) using all-natural methods. Her books on natural healing of digestive diseases have been sold in over 80 countries worldwide. Jini is married and has three children, nine sheep, 11 horses, a cat and three dogs.
