Teriyaki Chicken with Broccoli Rice is my new favorite 30 minute meal. Tender chicken thighs drenched in teriyaki sauce over fresh broccoli rice is Japanese inspired dinner we make on repeat.
The broccoli rice base for these teriyaki chicken bowls was a wonderful discovery. I’ve riced cauliflower many times for my Mediterranean Cauliflower Couscous Salad and my Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh, but for this recipe I decided to give the technique a try with broccoli. It works like a charm!
How to make broccoli rice
- Rinse and trim the ends off the broccoli stalks. Cut the broccoli, stems included, into rough chunks.
- Put the broccoli into a food processor and pulse the machine repeatedly to break down the broccoli into small grains. Scrape down the side of the machine if you need to to get everything evenly ‘riced’. This will happen quickly.
- You can use your riced broccoli raw, as is, or steam it lightly.
- I’ve mixed mine with regular rice but you can also use it alone for a super low carb option.
The broccoli rice brings a new vibrancy to a plain rice bowl, and adds a punch of extra nutrition as well. Plain rice always seems like an after thought to me, like, why bother? But this simple technique makes all the difference. I stir the raw riced broccoli into just cooked rice so it has a chance to steam in the pot before I serve it up. This brightens the color and flavor of the broccoli.
teriyaki chicken is all about the sauce
Teriyaki sauce is so simple and so good I’ve memorized it. Now I can slather it on everything. You’ll find Mirin in the Asian section of your supermarket, and it keeps forever, so don’t hesitate to pick it up.
How to make easy teriyaki sauce ~ 4 ingredients!
- You’ll need MIRIN (sweet Japanese rice wine) Â SOY SAUCE (I love to use Tamari brand) FRESH GINGER, and BROWN SUGAR.
- Bring the ingredients to a bubble in a small saucepan.
- Simmer until the sauce has thickened to a loose glaze consistency (think maple syrup.)
You can marinate teriyaki chicken in the sauce ingredients first, if you like. Then cook it down to thicken it to a glaze consistency for brushing on the chicken later. For a quick dinner like this I skip the marinade and just brush it on. The sauce it so rich that it provides plenty of flavor.
Go ahead and slather on that sauce, it’s everything!
A simple steamed vegetable completes this bowl. I used pea pods, but you could do green beans, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, squash, mushrooms, or even bean sprouts.
More Japanese inspired recipes
Teriyaki Chicken Broccoli Rice Bowls
Equipment
- a food processor
Ingredients
teriyaki sauce
- 2/3 cup Mirin
- 1/2 cup Tamari soy sauce
- 4 slices fresh ginger
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
chicken
- 4 large boneless skinless chicken thighs
broccoli rice
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 head broccoli
- Tamari soy sauce
- toasted sesame oil
garnish
- 2 cups stringless pea pods, lightly steamed or blanched
Instructions
teriyaki sauce
- Put the ingredients into a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and gently boil (uncovered) until the sauce has reduced and thickened to a loose glaze consistency, about 10-15 minutes. Remove the ginger. Note: you're looking for something like a maple syrup.
broccoli rice
- Cook the rice according to package instructions.
- Trim the broccoli and cut in rough chunks, both stems and florets. Put into a food processor and pulse until the broccoli breaks down into small grains. Scrape down the sides of the machine if necessary. This wil not take long, about 25 pulses.
- Scrape the broccoli into the pan with the just cooked rice and stir together. Cover and let steam for a few minutes before serving.
chicken
- Meanwhile heat a grill pan over medium high heat until hot. Brush the chicken with oil and grill until well briowned on one side, then flip and cook until the meat is done (it should read 165F on an instant read thermometer.)
- Brush the chicken with a thick layer of sauce, and slice in thin slices. Divide the broccoli rice between four bowls. I like to drizzle the rice with Tamari soy sauce and a little sesame oil for flavor.
- Top with chicken and steamed pea pods. Brush with more sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Nutrition
This was simple and delicious! The sauce was heavenly! We poured It over the rice and it was perfect. Broccoli rice is my new favorite thing. (And it’s beautiful!) Thank you!
Thanks Janice 🙂
Lovely dish, and not a lot of trouble. Love, love the sauce!!! My husband feels the rice/broccoli mixture is too dry and needs some kind of sauce. I did add sesame oil and soy sauce, but perhaps I should add more of the teriyaki sauce which might be all it would take. Any ideas?
I do like to add tamari soy sauce to my rice, but teriyaki would do the trick too, for sure.
This was an addition to my quarantine menu. I was running out of ideas and decided to cook my way through some of your menus. This was not only easy, but super delicious! I loved how easy the teriyaki sauce was to make-BTW I’m never going to buy bottled teriyaki sauce again! The rice was delicious and pretty and I added a touch of sesame oil to the snap peas once they were steamed. I was able to grill 10 chicken thighs and still had some sauce left over! The next day, I made fried rice with what was left over-it was delicious!
You had the same experience we did Genevieve, I’m hooked on that easy sauce.
I followed the directions but my sauce was very runny. Any idea on what could have happened?
The sauce needs to be cooked (boiled) down so it evaporates and thickens, so it shouldn’t be runny. Try cooking it longer next time until you get a consistency similar to maple syrup.
This is incredibly beautiful and can’t wait to make it tonight. I love all your recipe and so happy I found you
Hi Sue, This recipe sounds so yummy! I was wondering if you might have the nutritional value information? My husband has Type 2 diabetes and I use the nutritional values quite a bit. Thanks! Linda
Sure, I’ll get that for you. You would probably want to leave out the brown sugar, and the Mirin is also sweetened, so you might need to substitute that, too.