My kids get super excited when I make “chicken with bones.” I find this crazy. As a kid, I hated it when my mom made “chicken with bones.” Whether you like your chicken with bones or boneless, you will love these Sticky Teriyaki Baked Chicken Thighs. I’m all about simple dinners, and this one can’t get much simpler. If you like this recipe, you will also love my Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Thighs.
The three-ingredient Teriyaki Sauce in this recipe thickens nicely as the chicken cooks. We like to eat the sticky sauce over rice. In fact, people in my family have been known to put a scoop of rice in the empty baking dish to try and soak up every last drop of the sauce. 🙂
This recipe uses the same sauce as the popular Teriyaki Chicken recipe on my site, but it is much less labor-intensive. I end up making this much more often than I make regular Teriyaki Chicken. It’s just sooo much easier!
Our Favorite Easy Dinner Recipes
- The Best Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
- Slow Cooker Hobo Dinner
- Mom’s Classic Meatloaf Recipe
- Pesto Parmesan Pork Chops
- The Best Homemade Alfredo Sauce
- Award Winning Chili
How to make Sticky Teriyaki Baked Chicken Thighs
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees while you are preparing the chicken.
- Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of flour on the bottom of a 9×13 pan.
- Place the chicken thighs topside down on the floured 9×13 pan. Sprinkle them with the remaining flour.
- In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, Italian dressing, and soy sauce together. Pour over the chicken.
- Place uncovered in oven and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes if using boneless thighs and about 2 hours if using bone-in thighs. (You want to cook the chicken until it is pull-apart tender.)
- Turn chicken halfway through cooking.
- Serve chicken with rice and vegetables if desired.
I love that these Sticky Teriyaki Baked Chicken Thighs are simple enough for a weeknight dinner but are also impressive and delicious enough to serve to company. How much do we love meals that come together easily, yet are impressive enough to make for company? I’ve got your back, friends!
Best Tips for making Sticky Teriyaki Baked Chicken Thighs
- The recipe works with bone-in or boneless thighs. If you use boneless, you just need to reduce cooking time by 30 minutes.
- I like to put the chicken topside down first. When I flip them halfway through, I end up with the top side of the chicken pieces when I am ready to serve.
Chef’s Tools:
More simple baked dinners
- 8 chicken thighs, skinless
- 2-3 tbsp flour or cornstarch for gluten-free
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup Italian salad dressing (from a bottle, not a mix)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees while you are preparing the chicken.
- Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of flour on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
- Place the chicken thighs topside down on the floured 9x13 pan. Sprinkle them with the remaining flour.
- In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, Italian dressing, and soy sauce together. Pour over the chicken.
- Place uncovered in oven and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes if using boneless thighs and about 2 hours if using bone-in thighs. (You want to cook the chicken until it is pull-apart tender.)
- Turn chicken halfway through cooking.
- Serve chicken with rice and vegetables if desired.
Try one of my favorite desserts
This is probably delicious and I am going to try it, but what on earth is “face down”? Do you mean skin side down or meat side down? I have never heard that terminology in cooking in all my years, but want to get this recipe right.
Hahah! I didn’t mean to put that. I am sure I meant to put top side down or skin side down. I like to do that side down first so that when I flip them halfway through I end up with right side up chicken pieces when I am ready to serve.
2 hours for chicken thighs?? Can that be right? I don’t bake a whole chicken for that long.
Hi Di, the meat becomes very tender when cooked for 2 hours and the almost falls off of the bone. It also gives the sauce time to thicken. My family likes it this way. You can experiment with the time and do less if you prefer.
I made this tonight with barbecue sauce as a substitute. The two hours is perfect–low and slow. It allowed the sugars in the bbq sauce to carmelize which make the skin on the top firm up and get a little crust (my wife hates “slimy” skin). It thickened up the sauce as well (a couple of spoonfuls ended up on my rice).
Yum! Awesome idea with the barbecue sauce. Sounds delicious!
Delicious! It’s become a family favorite. There are never leftovers. I add a little parsley for garnish. Thanks for sharing.
Is the Italian dressing the liquid for or in the packet?
Thank you!
Hi Jen, Liquid.
I tried this a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit! But I was wondering if it was something that could also be done in a crockpot so I can leave it cooking while I’m at church or running errands? If not it’s still TOTALLY worth the wait!
Hi Sarah, I have done it in a crock pot. The only issue is the sauce doesn’t thicken around the meat as well. And it is hard to get the pieces out because they get extra tender. The taste is still good. You could try using the crock pot and then transferring the to a cookie sheet and broiling them for a few minutes right before serving.
I added I grated tablespoon of fresh ginger to the liquids and it was very nice… top with green onion thin slices of jalapeño for a slight kick!
Yum! Great ideas!
I love coming to your website when it’s time to plan meals for the coming week. This one is on my list. 🙂 It sounds like something my family will really enjoy! #Aprilgiveaway
My kids LOVE this one! I hope it’s a hit with your family!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious! I added chunks of onion and zucchini to the pan to make so I wouldn’t have to make a veggie side.
Oh yum! I should try adding veggies like that next time! So glad you tried it!
I am enjoying looking thru and finding new and yummy recipes. With just 2 of us now, I need some new things to try.
However, there is no way this can be a week night supper, lol! I work til 4:30 and there’s no way I can wait til after 6 to eat ( I have a 10:50 lunch)so it will be on the weekend rotation, with leftovers for Monday’s lunch.
Looking forward to browsing and pinning!
take care
So glad you found my site, I hope you find lots of recipes you love!
Delicious! It’s become a family favorite. There are never leftovers. I add a little parsley for garnish. Thanks for sharing.
Yay! I love hearing that! Never leftovers at our house either. 🙂
Can you use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe?
Yes, I reduce the cooking time by about 30 minutes, unless they are frozen, then I keep the time the same.
OMG. This chicken is AMAZING! I made it again tonight for the second time in a week—my boys love it. Only thing I did differently was to season the chicken and the sauce, and I used erythritol in place of sugar. Sooooo yummy!!! Easiest and most delicious chicken recipe—I’m telling everyone I know about it! 😊
Yay! I am so glad you like it Carrie! We think it’s the best too! Great to know the sugar substitute still had great results.
Hi, I use Walmart’s Great Value granulated sugar/Sucralose for all my baking & cooking. 19.4 ounce bag $8.48.
I made this last night for the first time.. Delicious and easy meal to make. Will make it again in the future.
Yay! So glad you liked it! It’s definitely a favorite at our house!
I’m new to Asian cooking and love collecting recipes. I’m going to try this one tomorrow. Have all of the ingredients, including Palm Sugar – looks like light brown sugar in small half-sized baseballs. Do you think it would be a good substitute for the granulated sugar on the recipe list?
That sounds like a great substitute. You’re going to love this recipe!
I want to try this but I don’t have the liquid dressing, only the dry. If I mix the dry as directed to make the dressing, will that work or not?
Yes, I have done that before.