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This Ground Chicken Teriyaki puts a new spin on the classic stir-fry equation, but an irresistible sweet-and-sticky sauce and lots of crisp veggies mean it’s every bit as delicious as the original!
Ground chicken can be tricky. It’s not quite as versatile as ground beef or even ground turkey, so you might not be sure what to do with it.
If you’re looking for some inspiration, you’re in luck! This ground chicken teriyaki is a tasty and fast weeknight dish.
Swapping ground chicken for the typical cubes/strips in chicken teriyaki means this recipe cooks up faster and it absorbs lots of flavor from the sauce. Serve it over rice, with veggies, and our air fryer egg rolls for a crowd-pleasing weeknight dinner.
Ingredient highlights
How to Make Ground Chicken Teriyaki
*I’ll walk you through it here with some photos and tips, and you’ll also find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post with exact measurements, etc. You can also click “jump to recipe” to skip down.
Cook the ground chicken with the sesame oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. You don’t want to cook it all the way through; just about 80%. Drain off any grease if you need or want to.
Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook until it softens. Don’t let the garlic brown—it takes on a sharp, acrid flavor when it gets too dark!
In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, oyster sauce, ground black pepper and rice vinegar. Pour it into the skillet and stir to coat.
Cook the chicken in the teriyaki sauce until the sugar dissolves and the chicken is cooked all the way through.
Serve the ground chicken teriyaki over rice with the green onions, carrots, snap peas, and sesame seeds.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Save time by using your favorite prepared teriyaki sauce. If using bottled, I would still use sesame oil or olive oil to cook the ground chicken.
- Use fresh ginger and garlic for the best flavor. Ground ginger and garlic just don’t pack the same punch!
- While I love the combination of green onions, carrots, and snap peas, feel free to use whatever you have on hand or your family’s faves. Or, if you’re in a time crunch, steam some frozen veggies instead. I always have a bag of frozen peas and carrots in my freezer to make my ham fried rice. They would be perfect in this dish!
- The veggies are served raw as written, but if you want to cook them, you can add them to the skillet with the chicken and sauce and cook until tender-crisp.
Serving Suggestions
- Grains: white or brown rice is the best for soaking up the teriyaki sauce, but cooked quinoa is fantastic too. We served our Instant Pot jasmine rice with this.
- Noodles: Toss the ground chicken teriyaki with cooked udon noodles, soba noodles, or rice noodles. Zoodles work too!
- Lettuce Wraps: Use crisp lettuce leaves to wrap the ground chicken and veggies. Jazz them up with toppings like chopped cashews, chili crisp, or thinly sliced green onions.
Prevent your screen from going dark
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Cook the ground chicken and sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it is ~80% cooked through. Drain any grease if needed.
1 lb ground chicken, 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
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Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring often until the garlic and ginger begin to soften.
3 cloves garlic, 2 tsp ginger
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Whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, mirin, oyster sauce, ground black pepper and rice vinegar and it add to the skillet.
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tsp mirin, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
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Cook the chicken and sauce until the sugar has dissolved and the chicken is cooked through.
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Serve chicken over rice and garnish with green onions, carrots, snap peas, and sesame seeds.
2 green onions, 1/3 cup carrots, sesame seeds, 1 cup snap peas
