Teriyaki Chicken

One of our favorite summer dinners is grilled chicken. We used to love to use the Yoshida sauce you can get at Costco, but it is not gluten-free, so about 13 years ago I had to come up with our own sauce. This one is similar, but even better! After you make the sauce, you marinade chicken thighs in it overnight, then grill the chicken with some pineapple slices. We keep some of the sauce to pour over the chicken and rice. It's a healthy and delicious meal that kiddos of all ages will devour. You will love the sauce so much you'll want to drink it!

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Teriyaki Chicken

Serves 4-6

1 (15 oz.) bottle gluten-free soy sauce (we use La Choy)

3/4 cup brown sugar, divided

3/4 cup white sugar, divided

1 bunch green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

4 slices fresh ginger root

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup honey

1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 can pineapple slices, drain saving pineapple juice

In a 2-qt. saucepan, combine the soy sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, green onions, ginger root, garlic, and honey. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup sugar; the mixture will rise and foam, so watch it. Once it goes back down, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Put chicken thighs in a gallon-size zipper bag and cover with sauce, reserving some for drizzling later. Marinate the chicken over night in the refrigerator. When ready to grill, remove chicken from marinade. Grill over medium heat until chicken is done. Grill some pineapple slices, if desired. In a small saucepan, heat remaining teriyaki sauce with reserved pineapple juice. Serve chicken and pineapple over cooked white rice. Drizzle with teriyaki/pineapple sauce.

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Step-by-step tutorial:

Gather your ingredients. You need a bottle of gluten-free soy sauce, brown sugar, white sugar, honey, a bunch of green onions, ginger root, garlic, and boneless skinless chicken thighs.

In a 2-qt. saucepan (it's going to boil and foam up, so trust me on this) combine the entire bottle of soy sauce, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 bunch green onions cut into 1-inch pieces, 4 slices of ginger root, and a clove of garlic, minced. Add one cup of honey. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn to low and simmer for 15 minutes; stirring occasionally.

After it has cooked 15 minutes, add the rest of the sugars (1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar) and stir. The mixture will foam up to the top of the pan, then go back down.

Once the mixture goes back down, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Pour some of the sauce/marinade over the chicken thighs in a large resealable bag.

Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Keep some of the sauce for later. I usually strain this part and keep in the refrigerator.

Just before grilling the chicken, drain the pineapple juice from the can of pineapple slices into a saucepan with some of the extra sauce. I do this to taste. Bring to simmer and warm through.

Grill chicken. On our gas grill, we grilled it at 500° for about 20 minutes per side, flipping twice.

At the end, grill the pineapple slices just until warmed through. If you can get these beautiful grill lines, you're super cool. That's my husband for you!

Serve chicken and pineapple over cooked white rice. We like to serve it with steamed broccoli and carrots as well. It reminds us of a favorite fast food in our college days called Teriyaki Bowl.

Drizzle with extra teriyaki sauce warmed with pineapple juice. Heaven!!

Recipe Source: Shanna's recipe box