It’s been a while since I’ve posted a “one pot” recipe, but I’m really excited about this one. This One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice is incredibly easy, requires very little chopping, and is one of those super satisfying meals that I look forward to every time I make it. Oh, and did I mention that it meal preps really well, too? I mean, what doesn’t this Teriyaki Chicken and Rice do? (Answer: the dishes. But since it’s one pot there aren’t many to do anyway!)
Can I Make This in a Rice Cooker?
This recipe is essentially a chicken version of my Rice Cooker Teriyaki Shrimp and Rice, but cooked in a skillet instead of a rice cooker. Could you cook this recipe in a rice cooker as well? Probably so! But I haven’t tested it yet myself. If cooking this in a rice cooker, I would sauté the chicken, garlic, and ginger first, then add the rice and water, and cook until the rice is finished. Add the frozen vegetables, cook five minutes more, then pour on the sauce and fold until combined.
Do I Have to Use Jasmine Rice?
No, but jasmine rice does give it a LOT more flavor. Luckily, jasmine rice is becoming more and more common in the U.S. and I’ve been able to find 5lb. bags of jasmine rice for very good prices at most grocery stores. They’re usually hiding on the bottom shelf in the rice aisle. If you can’t find jasmine rice, use long grain white rice instead. I don’t suggest short or medium grained rice for this recipe.
Tips for One Pot Rice Recipes:
One pot recipes can be tricky because every stove top and every piece of cookware transmits heat a little differently. I suggest mastering the skill of cooking rice in a pot on the stove top before attempting a one pot rice recipe. Here are a few other tips that will help you get perfectly cooked rice without burning and scorching:
- Use heavy or thick bottomed cookware. This will evenly cook the rice instead of scorching the bottom or leaving pockets of rice partially cooked.
- Make sure the pot/skillet comes up to a FULL boil before turning it down to low. This will help make sure it stays at a simmer when it continues to cook on low.
- Don’t skip the last step of letting the rice rest with the lid on and heat turned off for at least five minutes. This allows the steam to redistribute throughout and loosen any rice that may be stuck to the bottom.
But other than that, it’s super easy. I swear. ;)
What Kind of Skillet Should I Use?
You want something that is thick, heavy, has a wide bottom, and is about 3 quarts in volume. I am using a 3 quart deep sauté pan made by OXO. A good Dutch oven would also work well.
You might also like my One Pot Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Rice!
One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice
Servings 4 about 2 cups eachIngredients
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 2/3 lb.) ($2.81)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.10)
- 1.5 cups uncooked jasmine rice ($0.99)
- 2.5 cups water ($0.00)
- 12 oz. frozen stir fry vegetables ($1.59)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.24)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.08)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil ($0.10)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.15)
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breast into very small pieces, about 1/2 to 3/4-inch in size.
- Add the cooking oil, garlic, and ginger to a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat for about 1 minute, then add the chicken pieces and continue to sauté just until the outside of the chicken is no longer pink. Do not over cook the chicken here, it will finish cooking with the rice.
- Add the uncooked rice to the skillet and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes more. You should hear the rice popping. Finally, add the water and give everything a brief stir to make sure there is no rice stuck to the bottom of the skillet.
- Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the water to come to a full boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
- While the skillet is simmering over low, prepare the teriyaki sauce. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, brown sugar, and toasted sesame oil. The brown sugar may not fully dissolve, but that’s okay. Set the sauce aside.
- After the rice has simmered for 10 minutes, lift the lid briefly to sprinkle the frozen vegetables on top, then replace the lid immediately. Make sure the vegetables are spread evenly over the surface. Let the skillet continue to heat over low for an additional five minute.
- After steaming the rice and vegetables together for 5 minutes, turn the heat off and let the skillet rest with the lid in place for an additional five minutes.
- Give the teriyaki sauce another brief stir, lift the lid on the skillet, and drizzle the sauce over the vegetables. Make sure to scrape out all the sugar from the bottom of the bowl. Using a spatula or large spoon, gently fold the rice and vegetables together until everything is mostly coated in the sauce. Make sure to scoop all the way to the bottom of the skillet when folding, as the sauce will sink to the bottom.
- Place the lid back on top and let the skillet rest for a final 5 minutes to let the flavor soak in (heat turned off). Sprinkle sliced green onions over top just before serving.
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Nutrition
Video
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Teriyaki Chicken and Rice – Step by Step Photos
Start by cutting one boneless, skinless chicken breast into small pieces, about 1/2 to 3/4-inch in size. This one chicken breast weighed about 2/3 lb.
Add 1 Tbsp cooking oil, 2 cloves of garlic (minced), and about 1 tsp minced fresh ginger in a large deep skillet. Sauté over medium for about one minute, then add the chicken and continue to sauté just until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside. Don’t over cook the chicken at this point because it will continue to cook with the rice.
Add 1.5 cups jasmine rice to the skillet and continue to sauté for a minute more. You’ll hear the rice popping. Then add 2.5 cups water and stir briefly to make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Place a lid on top, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let it come to a full boil. As soon as it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer over low for 10 minutes (lid on).
While the rice is simmering over low, prepare the teriyaki sauce. Stir together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, and 1 tsp toasted sesame oil in a small bowl. The brown sugar won’t fully dissolve, but that’s okay. Set the sauce aside. It will be added at the end.
After the rice has simmered over low for 10 minutes, lift the lid only long enough to pour on one 12 oz. bag of frozen stir fry vegetables (not thawed). Make sure the vegetables are spread fairly evenly across the rice, and replace the lid immediately. Let them continue to steam with the rice over low heat for another 5 minutes. Then, turn the heat off and let everything rest with the lid on, no heat, for another five minutes.
After the vegetables have been in the skillet with the rice (five minutes over low, five minutes no heat), remove the lid and drizzle the teriyaki sauce over top. Make sure to scrape out any sugar that is left in the bowl.
Use a spatula or a large spoon to gently fold the rice and vegetables together until everything is mostly coated in the sauce. Make sure you’re scooping all the way down to the bottom of the skillet because that’s where all the sauce will pool. Don’t vigorously stir or your rice will get gummy. Put the lid back on the skillet and let it rest for about 5 minutes more to let all the flavors soak in.
Top it off with sliced green onions just before serving!
I doubled up the recipe so I can have it throughout the week on the go between work and school … also used fresh veggies rather than frozen … never tried cooking chicken and rice in the same vessel, so this is new territory for me.
But your recipes have never disappointed me yet, and this one didn’t either. Love cooking magic and love your website!!!
This was great! I scaled the amount of rice/water back to 1c/1.5 c leaving everything else the same. I was happy with that ratio of rice to chicken/veg. It gave me about 3 servings. I added some garlic sriracha for more kick, too. Will definitely make it again!
thank you
Very good! Notes: Jasmine rice is a must in this recipe. Put a bottle of Sriracha on the table for any takers (we love Sriracha). I used up an old bottle of stirfry sauce that was about to expire. Next time I will use the recommended sauce in the recipe!
This is delish! Perfect flavor and mix of food groups for me! I used morningstar chik’n strips meat alternative and it tastes wonderful! Will make this again for sure!
I am making my own backpacking meals for an upcoming trip, and your recipes are so easy and so delicious compared to other backpacking recipe sites. I made this last night to test it, and it was delicious! I used Butler Soy Curls, freeze-dried Just Veggies, Minute Rice, added everything to my bowl, then poured 12 oz boiling water over it to cook. In 10 minutes, I had a delicious meal that I’ll even add to my normal rotation at home. I have made your recipes for years, and I’m just starting to convert them to backpacking recipes. You could easily have a whole section of your site just for us! Thank you!
That’s so cool! I’m sure you’ve seen Freshoffthegrid.com? Their recipes look pretty simple!
We made this for supper tonight. I cooked the chicken, ginger, and garlic together. Then removed the chicken to a container. Second I cooked 3 carrots and a red pepper that I had previously chopped, for about 5 minutes. Then followed the recipe as written after that. Added everything bu t the sauce and the frozen veggies. I cooked the rice for 10 minutes after it started to boil. At 10 min, I added the frozen veggies. Let it cook 5 min more. Then with heat off for 6 Ice mixture was watery when I added the frozen veggies, but it wasn’t 10 minutes later. Delicious!
This was excellent! I never knew I could make food that tasted this good. Wish I’d tried it sooner. Not too complicated and a wonderful flavor. We did make a second batch of the sauce for extra flavor, so less healthy I suppose, but way cheaper than eating out!
Super easy and super good! After reading the comments, I did end up adding another five minutes to the cooking time for the rice and veggies (left over the heat for 10 minutes instead of five) with another few tablespoons of water to make sure it steamed. Turned out perfect, and my mother who is a very picky eater absolutely loved it! This will make it into our regular meal rotation for sure!
Shortcut version: Since I was cooking for one and had the sauce in the fridge, I made 1/3 recipe with Trader Joe’s Island Soyaki instead of individual sauce ingredients, using about 50/50 with water to cook rice/quinoa with grated garlic, ginger and diced grilled chicken, and a lot of fresh broccoli, snow peas, diced carrots, red bell pepper steamed on top of rice mix. I’ll be sure to make this again when I’m cooking for two! I’d probably add some soy sauce or oyster sauce to amp up the flavor a little if using the TJ mix.
Loved this recipe!! Yummy. We live near your blog manager, Kelly. I am friend’s with Kelly’s mom, Shelia. So excited to try recipes on this site. Ann
Flavour was nice but cooking instructions did not work. When I added the veggies there was still too much water in the rice. By the end the rice was mush and the veggies still frozen. I wish I had read through the comments before making :(
I will give this recipe the benefit of the doubt but it just didn’t really work out for me as written. Like some people previously said my rice ended up kinda undercooked and kinda mushy (I don’t know how I managed that) and my stirfry veg was still frozen. Honestly I would just cook all the components separately. I know that’s totally opposite of “one pot”. That aside the sauce was good and I even added a mayo sriracha drizzle.
Looks easy and delicious!!
Question… would like to try w fresh veggies. Do you suggest any changes in the cooking time?
Frozen vegetables are partially cooked before freezing, so they cook really quickly. Fresh vegetables will need more time, so you might be able to add them with the rice in the beginning, or try steaming them separately if you want more control over how much they are cooked, then stir them in at the end with the sauce.
Overall, this is a great recipe! I agree with another commenter that doubling the teriyaki sauce was a good move. I also doubled the ginger and garlic and added red pepper and onion because I like lots of flavor. Will definitely make again!