Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken is a flavorful, quick, and easy meal the whole family will love! This gluten-free, soy-free, allergy-free, and paleo recipe is a dump-and-go Crock-Pot dinner you'll be making on repeat. Use the leftovers for lunch or make it for a freezer-friendly meal prep option! Just chicken and a naturally sweet homemade teriyaki sauce!
Everyone loves an easy, no-fuss Crock-Pot meal! Slow cooker chicken is always a go-to. Make it Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken and that pretty much seals the deal on answering the "what's for dinner?" question! Dump chicken breasts and a homemade teriyaki sauce into your slow cooker, let it cook while you're at work, and come home to a perfect healthy Asian meal the entire family will love! Did I tell you? It's also gluten-free, allergy-free, and paleo?
How to make Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
With minimal prep the night before, you can "dump-and-go" this meal in the morning while you're rushing out the door for work! Using a homemade and naturally sweet teriyaki sauce and plain chicken breasts, you can prep the sauce in advance by just mixing up the ingredients and storing it in the fridge the night before. Then just add your chicken to your slow cooker, pour in the sauce, and let the magic happen!
You can even marinate the chicken breasts in the sauce the night before (in a container or ziplock bag) and simply dump the entire contents into your Crock-Pot too! Whatever's easier, right?
Do some meal prep for freezer meals and add the chicken and teriyaki sauce to a freezer-safe bag for longterm storage! Simply thaw the frozen bag in the fridge before cooking in your slow cooker.
Using Frozen Chicken
It's best to thaw your chicken at least overnight before tossing it in a Crock-Pot slow cooker. However, if I find my cuts of chicken are not totally defrosted by the time I'm ready to cook them, starting the slow cooker on "high" for an hour or two and then switching it to "low" the rest of the cooking time, you'll be good to go! 6 hours in the slow cooker and the chicken should shred like a charm! If not, let it keep cooking!
Can you use thighs?
If you prefer chicken thighs to chicken breasts, sure you can! You can use an equal amount of pounds of chicken thighs to breasts. Some like this cheaper, fattier cut, but I prefer chicken breasts.
Can you add vegetables?
If you want to round out this teriyaki chicken dinner, you can add some veggies right to the slow cooker! Some great options would be:
- Broccoli
- Bell Peppers
- Snow Peas
- Water Chestnuts
- Broccoli Rabe
- Cauliflower
Be aware that adding these veggies at the beginning of the process will result in super-soft (mushy) vegetables by the end of the cooking process. If you are able to add them during the last 2 hours or so of cooking, you'll still have some texture to your veggies!
Homemade vs. bottled teriyaki sauce
Homemade teriyaki sauce is so much healthier, allergy-free, and might I add...tasty! This sauce is soy-free, gluten-free, naturally sweet, and paleo. It's not loaded down with processed sugars, sodium, preservatives or MSG. However, if you really want to make this chicken teriyaki "2-ingredients", but still allergy-friendly, I'd suggest using this brand or this brand.
How to serve teriyaki chicken
- Serve it over white rice, brown rice, even fried rice!
- Keep it grain-free and paleo by serving it with cauliflower rice.
- Rice noodles or gluten-free lo main would be great too.
- Use the pulled chicken for burrito bowls or tacos for some Asian fusion!
- Make it into a pulled chicken sandwich with some gluten-free buns or even a wrap!
Is chicken teriyaki healthy?
This easy chicken teriyaki is so simple and made with real food ingredients that it's probably the healthiest you can get! It's top allergen-free meaning there is no soy, no wheat or gluten, no nuts or peanuts, not even sesame! It's grain-free (no corn!) and paleo with a teriyaki sauce that's thickened with arrowroot, not corn starch. It's sugar-free and naturally sweet with a pineapple based teriyaki sauce. A simple and delicious way to make a meal you entire family can and will devour (even the pickiest of eaters!)
More slow cooker chicken recipes:
- Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
- Slow Cooker Applesauce Chicken
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
- Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken
- Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken (Gluten-Free, Allergy-Free, Paleo)
Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken is a flavorful, quick, and easy meal the whole family will love! This gluten-free, soy-free, allergy-free, and paleo recipe is a dump-and-go Crock-Pot dinner you'll be making on repeat. Use the leftovers for lunch or make it for a freezer-friendly meal prep option! Just chicken and a naturally sweet homemade teriyaki sauce!
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 Hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 2 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients
- 4 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts (about 2 to 2.5 lbs)
- 1 Recipe of Homemade Teriyaki Sauce (or 2 Cups Store-Bought)
Instructions
- Add your chicken breasts into a large slow cooker or Crock-Pot and pour the teroyaki sauce over the chicken.
- Set the slow cooker to low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours.
- Remove the chicken and shred it using two forks on a plate and either add it back to the sauce in the slow cooker or add the sauce to the plate of chicken.
Notes
*If using chicken thighs, use equal amounts in pounds of chicken.
**If adding vegetables, add them in the last 2 hours of cooking for best texture.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
Keywords: chicken teriyaki, teriyaki chicken, slow cooker chicken, crock-pot chicken, poultry, teriyaki sauce, asian chicken, pulled chicken, easy, quick, healthy, gluten-free, allergy-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, nut-free, peanut-free, sesame-free, grain-free, paleo, sugar-free, oil-free, kid-friendly
I served out chicken teriyaki bowls over white rice and topped them with toasted sesame seeds and fresh green onion! The results? Well, there were no leftovers in our household! Good thing you can double this recipe easily and have plenty pulled Crock-Pot teriyaki chicken for the entire week! Delicious gluten-free dinners, standout lunches, no one will be hungry!
So tell me:
+ How will you serve your teriyaki chicken?
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Chloe
This looks very tasty & I love meals that you can cook in the slow cooker!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Always a winner!
Dorothy Reinhold
The back to school craziness has started and this meal is perfect!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Right!
Helen
I've started cooking more at home and need all the crock pot recipes. I am definitely saving this for later.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Slow cooker meals will never let you down!
Shelley Whittaker
This sounds absolutely delicious and one I must try when we invest in a new slow cooker. They are such an easy way to prepare delicious meals.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I'm so sad to hear that you don't have this kitchen essential!
Christa
I love Teriyaki sauce but have never made it at home before. I can’t wait to try it!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I hope you try that recipe then!
Kate Holmes
Anything that has chicken and slow cooker in the recipe title has my vote! This is going on my to cook list so thanks!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, same here, Kate!
Morgan
Thanks for sharing this! I love being able to make homemade sauces to replace bottled ones.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Safe for everyone 🙂
Leigh Suznovich
Yesss, slow cooker season is coming and this is definitely going on my list of things to make. Love teriyaki anything!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It's always slow cooker season here!
Betty Linneman
Sounds good! I will try this very soon.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Enjoy, Betty.
Shayla Marie
Delicious and healthy! This looks amazing! I'm trying to go gf for some thyroid issues I'm having. The hardest part is learning to prepare and plan ahead.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
This is great for meal prep.
Mistle
I am a huge fan of anything teriyaki flavored! I recently made some honey teriyaki shrimp and it was amazing. I will have to add this to my list of dishes to make soon! It looks amazing!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Teriyaki is always so good!
Geeky Daddy
Sounds delicious and easy to make! Right up my alley!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Couldn't be easier!
Sam Franklin
I haven’t used my slow cooker for ages but this sounds so good I think I need to get it out again. Pinned for later 😊
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
What!? Get that bad boy out!
Catherine @ To & Fro Fam
It's great when I can find homemade versions of recipes like teriyaki. I'm GF, and jarred sauces almost always have ingredients I can't eat!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Right? Not only do I want it allergy-free, but I want the least amount of "extra" ingredients in there possible!
BeccaLois Blogs
This looks great, I'm alway searching for more things to do in the slow cooker as it's such an easy weeknight dinner. Will be sure to add the ingredients to my next shopping list! Becca x
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Loving tossing together new combos for some slow cooker chicken meals!
Katie Grazer
Lovely post, I am new to asian cooking but this is something I definitely have to try out!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, but Americanized Asian!