Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches

These grilled teriyaki chicken sandwiches have simple ingredients with lots of flavors! The sandwiches feature perfectly grilled chicken thighs basted in a homemade teriyaki sauce made of soy sauce, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, and garlic. The chicken thighs are piled high onto a toasted bun topped with lettuce, tomato, and red onions. 

David first made these grilled teriyaki chicken sandwiches many moons ago when we were “courting.” He wanted to make me something special one night for supper. How sweet was he for making me something so special to eat for supper? 

Those grilled teriyaki chicken sandwiches made a special memory, and we have been making them ever since.

We’ve improved these sandwiches over the years because we make them from scratch. Back then, we didn’t do a lot of kitchen experiments. Sometimes we could hardly afford to eat, much less experiment with food. So we made meals that were fast and economical. But, unfortunately, that meant eating a lot of processed junk.

These sandwiches are better today than they were all those years ago, and they are better for us, with no artificial preservatives. Best of all, we can control sodium, which is always important to watch in your diet, and they are still cheap to make!

What You’ll Need To Make The Sandwiches

The main ingredients of these sandwiches are the chicken, the teriyaki sauce, and the buns. Or course, there are additional toppings. A full description of ingredients and measurements can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post. Let’s talk about each.

The Chicken

We’ve tried this recipe with all the different parts of the chicken. We are partial to boneless skinless chicken thighs and use thighs most often. However, this teriyaki chicken recipe will work with boneless skinless breasts, so if you like them better, go for it! 

Boneless Skinless Chicken:

We do not recommend using chicken with the skin on. The skin can get rubbery, making it almost impossible for the teriyaki to season the meat.

Meat Thickness:

Every piece of chicken needs to be uniform in thickness. Therefore, it may be necessary to pound the chicken with a mallet. Especially skinless chicken breasts. Pounding the breasts with a mallet to make them thinner will reduce cooking time. 

Seasoning the Chicken:

Low-sodium soy sauce still has a lot of sodium, so keep that in mind when seasoning the chicken before putting it on the grill. A little bit of salt and pepper goes a long way with this recipe!

The Teriyaki Sauce Ingredients

• Soy Sauce: Use low-sodium soy sauce to control the amount of sodium.
• Rice Vinegar: This vinegar is made of fermented rice. It has a mild, slightly sweet flavor that is not as harsh as white vinegar. The best substitution would be white wine vinegar. 
• Sugar: I use white sugar the most. I have made this teriyaki sauce with brown sugar and honey. Both of these sweeteners are good options. I really cannot tell much difference when using one versus the other.
• Garlic: for best results, use a Microplane to mince up the garlic to disperse better in the sauce.
• Ginger: always use fresh ginger. It grates better if you freeze it before grating it. 
• Black Pepper: freshly cracked black pepper adds some spice to the sauce.

Thicken the Sauce – A Cornstarch Slurry

A cornstarch slurry is a 2:1 ratio of cornstarch and water that helps thicken the sauce. In addition, the slurry helps the teriyaki sauce tack up on the chicken when grilling and keeps the sauce from running off into the bottom of the grill, which reduces flare-ups on the grill. 

Spice Lover?

To really spice up the teriyaki sauce, omit the black pepper and use Sriracha Sauce, Sambal Sauce, or red pepper flakes. But, of course, it’s up to you and your tastebuds on just how much you want to use.

The Buns

We have found that smaller buns work better than large buns. This is because they don’t require as much chicken, and you won’t end up with a handful of bun without any meat.

Toasting the Buns

With a potentially sloppy sandwich, always toast the bun! Toasting the bun adds a little extra grill flavor, provides some nice texture, and makes the bun a little more durable to stand up to the sauces and juices from the meat.

Use caution when toasting buns on the grill. It can take less than a minute on a really hot grill.

Sandwich Toppings (optional)

For these sandwiches, we keep it simple so that the teriyaki stands out. The toppings we suggest are listed below but feel free to substitute or use anything you desire.

• Mayonnaise
• Romaine Lettuce
• Sliced Tomato
• Thinly Sliced Red Onion
• Grilled Pineapple slices (optional) – grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side until heated through.

How to Make Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches

These sandwiches are easy to make. Just make the teriyaki sauce, grill the chicken, baste, build the sandwich and eat! Detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Make the Teriyaki Sauce:

1. Whisk together teriyaki sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Then whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Whisk it into the saucepan with the other ingredients over medium-high heat.
2. Bring the teriyaki sauce to a rapid boil. Allow the sauce to boil for one minute.
3. Turn off the heat.

Grill the Chicken Thighs

• Set up the coals for a two-zone fire for indirect heat—Preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Place the chicken thighs over direct heat on a clean and oiled grate. Grill until golden brown with a slight char on them, about 3 to 5 minutes (depending on size), then flip the chicken thighs and char the other side for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.
• When both sides of the thighs are seared, move them over to the grill’s cooler (indirect) side. Baste with warm teriyaki sauce and allow the sauce to caramelize on the chicken. Flip the chicken and baste until all of the teriyaki sauce is gone.
• The chicken thighs are done when the internal temperature of the chicken reads 165 degrees with an instant-read thermometer.
• Remove the chicken from the grill and allow the chicken to rest for at least 5 minutes while toasting the buns.

Assemble the Sandwiches

• Split buns and lay them cut side down on top of the grill over direct heat for about a minute or until crisp and golden brown. Then make the sandwiches.
• Assemble each sandwich. Start by spreading mayonnaise (optional); add lettuce on top of the bottom bun. Next, add two to three teriyaki chicken thighs; top with a little more lettuce, tomato, and red onion, and place the bun on top.

Grilling Tips:

• Charcoal Grilling: Set up the grill for a two-zone fire with direct and indirect heat. The chicken will sear on the hot side and then transfer to the indirect (cool) side to finish cooking and basting with teriyaki sauce.
• Grill Temperature: Grill the chicken thighs between 350 and 400 degrees F.
• Reduce Flare-Ups: You may need to put the lid on the grill and adjust the grill vents to maintain temperature and stall out flare-ups.
• Digital Instant-Read Thermometer: As always, pay more attention to temperature than the amount of time it takes to cook the meat. Chicken is done at 165 degrees F. Use a digital instant-read thermometer to help determine when the chicken is ready to eat. 
• Sugar burns! Teriyaki can over-caramelize and burn quickly! Add the sauce to the chicken over indirect heat to avoid unwanted flare-ups. Keep a close eye on it, and don’t let the heat get out of control.
• Rest The Meat: Like any other meat, chicken needs to rest after cooking. So allow the chicken to rest for at least 5 to 10 minutes while toasting your buns.

Recipe FAQs

What goes with Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches

• POTATO CHIPS
• GRILLED POTATO WEDGES
• PARMESAN SMASHED POTATOES
• FRENCH FRIES
• COLESLAW

We hope you’ll make these grilled teriyaki chicken sandwiches. But most of all, we hope you make special memories with that special someone in your life.