Benihana Teriyaki Chicken Recipe
Benihana's teriyaki chicken uses the exact same technique as their hibachi chicken, with the same butterflied cutlets, the same sear, and the same garlic butter. The only two changes happen after the chicken rests: the cutlets get sliced into thin julienne strips instead of cubes, and teriyaki sauce goes on instead of lemon juice. I got the full method from sources inside Benihana.
If you've already made my hibachi chicken, you'll recognize most of this process. If not, the recipe stands on its own. You butterfly a chicken breast into two cutlets, sear them whole, rest for a few minutes, then slice into thin strips and toss with garlic butter and teriyaki sauce.
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Why This Benihana Teriyaki Chicken Recipe Works
- Chicken is seared as whole cutlets, then sliced after resting. This prevents the moisture loss that happens when small pieces cook in their own liquid on a home stovetop.
- Butterflied cutlets cook faster and more evenly than a full chicken breast, so you get a proper sear without overcooking the inside.
- The julienne slice gives you thin, bite-sized strips that coat evenly in the teriyaki sauce, unlike cubes where the sauce pools on the bottom of the plate.
- Mushrooms are cooked first and set aside, then added back at the end. Cooking them together in a home pan crowds the surface, and the mushrooms steam instead of getting a proper sear.
- The garlic butter goes in before the teriyaki sauce, giving the chicken a layer of seasoned fat underneath the glaze.
Ingredients You'll Need
Chicken breast. You'll want boneless, skinless chicken breast halves. Each breast gets butterflied into two cutlets, which is how every Benihana location preps them. Remove the tenderloin and trim the tapered end before butterflying. The tenderloin works well in Benihana fried rice if you don't want to waste it.
White button mushrooms. Plan on two mushrooms per cutlet, so four total for one breast. According to my sources inside Benihana, there are two ways the mushrooms get prepped depending on which cook is working that day. The standard cut is slicing each cap into 6-8 thin slices. The alternate cut is quartering each cap and then halving each quarter, which gives you small, chunky pieces. Either way works.
Benihana teriyaki sauce. This is what separates teriyaki chicken from hibachi chicken. You can find my Benihana teriyaki sauce recipe with the exact ingredients from their kitchens. You'll want about a third of a cup to half a cup (80-120 ml) for two cutlets.
Hibachi garlic butter. A tablespoon of Benihana garlic butter goes in right before the teriyaki sauce. It's the same garlic butter used in every hibachi dish at Benihana.
Safflower oil. Benihana uses safflower oil on their teppanyaki grills because it has a high smoke point and a neutral flavor. Vegetable oil or canola oil both work as substitutes.
Sesame seeds. Used for finishing and garnish. They go in right after the teriyaki sauce, off the heat, then more get sprinkled on top for serving.
How to Make Benihana Teriyaki Chicken
- Prep the chicken. Take a boneless, skinless chicken breast half and flip it over. If it has a tenderloin, remove it by cutting down the length of the breast. Trim off the tapered, skinny end. Place the breast smooth-side up, lay your hand flat on top, and make a horizontal cut about halfway through. When you've almost reached the other side, open it up and cut straight down the middle. You should have two roughly even cutlets. Set them in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook.
- Cook the mushrooms. Heat oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms with a sprinkle of salt and cook until they've released all their liquid and are cooked through. Transfer to a container and set aside.
- Sear the cutlets. Wipe out the pan and add fresh oil over medium-high heat. Season each cutlet with kosher salt and sear for 3-5 minutes per side until you have a golden-brown crust on both sides and the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the pan and rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Slice the chicken. After resting, cut each cutlet in half lengthwise, then make cuts across the grain to create thin, bite-sized julienne strips. This is the key difference from hibachi chicken, where the cutlets get cubed instead.
- Combine and sauce. Wipe out the pan and return it to medium heat. Add the sliced chicken and mushrooms, then add about a tablespoon of garlic butter and season with salt and pepper. Once the butter has melted and coated everything, pour in the teriyaki sauce. As soon as the sauce is heated through, kill the heat and stir in sesame seeds.
- Serve. Plate the chicken and sprinkle more sesame seeds on top for garnish.
Tips for the Best Benihana Teriyaki Chicken
Don't cut the chicken before searing. This is the most common mistake with teriyaki chicken at home. Cutting chicken into small pieces before cooking gives the meat more surface area, but on a home stovetop the pieces release moisture faster than it can evaporate. The chicken ends up sitting in its own liquid instead of getting a sear. Searing whole cutlets first and slicing after resting gives you the best of both: a golden crust on the outside and juicy meat inside.
Rest before slicing. Five to ten minutes off the heat lets the juices redistribute through the meat. At the restaurant, they slice on the hot grill immediately, but resting at home produces a juicier result because you don't have the extreme heat of a teppanyaki flat top to compensate.
Watch the sugar in the teriyaki sauce. Teriyaki sauce has a lot of sugar in it, and sugar scorches quickly once it hits a hot pan. Add the sauce at medium heat, not high, and turn off the heat as soon as the sauce is warm. If the sauce burns, it goes bitter and there's no recovering it.
What to Serve with Benihana Teriyaki Chicken
Teriyaki chicken is usually part of a full hibachi dinner. A few recipes that pair well alongside it:
- Benihana Fried Rice is the classic side dish at every Benihana table.
- Benihana Yakisoba is another popular noodle option.
- Benihana Hibachi Onion Soup is the soup course that starts every Benihana dinner.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftover teriyaki chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. To reheat, warm it in a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of water or additional teriyaki sauce to keep it from drying out. The microwave works in a pinch, but the stovetop will keep the texture closer to fresh. I wouldn't recommend freezing the finished dish because the sauce gets watery after thawing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between Benihana's hibachi chicken and teriyaki chicken?
The cooking method is identical up through the sear and rest. The two differences happen at the end: hibachi chicken gets cut into cubes and finished with a squeeze of lemon juice, while teriyaki chicken gets cut into julienne strips and finished with teriyaki sauce. Both use the same garlic butter.
Can I use chicken thighs instead of breast?
Thighs will work, but Benihana uses breast for their teriyaki chicken. If you go with thighs, you won't need to butterfly them since they're already thin enough. The cook time will be similar. Just make sure they're cooked through before slicing.
Do I need to make the teriyaki sauce from scratch?
For the closest result to what Benihana serves, yes. Store-bought teriyaki sauces have a different flavor and consistency. My Benihana teriyaki sauce recipe uses the exact ingredients from their kitchens and takes about 15 minutes to make.
More Benihana Recipes
- Benihana Fried Rice
- Benihana Garlic Butter
- Benihana Hibachi Onion Soup
- Benihana Yakisoba
- Benihana Teriyaki Sauce
- Benihana Teriyaki Steak
- Benihana Spicy Teriyaki
- Hibachi Chicken
- Hibachi Steak
- Hibachi Shrimp
- Hibachi Vegetables
- Benihana Yum Yum Sauce
- Benihana Spicy Sauce
- Benihana Diablo Sauce
- Benihana Ginger Salad Dressing
- Benihana Mustard Dipping Sauce
- Benihana Ginger Dipping Sauce
- Banana Tempura
- Every Benihana Recipe (Complete Guide)
More Japanese Recipes
More Teriyaki Recipes
Recipe
Benihana Teriyaki Chicken
Equipment
- 1 Deli Containers for holding cooked mushrooms
- 1 Measuring Cups for teriyaki sauce
- 1 Measuring Spoons for garlic butter
Ingredients
- 1 chicken breast tenderloin and skinny end removed, butterflied into 2 cutlets
- 4 white button mushrooms sliced into 6-8 slices, or quartered and halved
- 1 tablespoon garlic butter see Benihana Garlic Butter recipe
- ⅓ cup Benihana teriyaki sauce use up to ½ cup (80-120 ml); see Benihana Teriyaki Sauce recipe
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- safflower oil or any neutral oil (vegetable, canola)
- sesame seeds for finishing and garnish
Instructions
Prep the Chicken
- Remove the tenderloin from the chicken breast by making cuts down the length of the breast. Set the tenderloin aside for another use.
- Trim off the tapered, skinny end of the breast for more uniform cutlets.
- Place the breast smooth-side up, lay your hand flat on top, and make a horizontal cut approximately halfway through. When you've almost reached the other side, open it up and cut directly down the middle to create two cutlets.
- Set the cutlets aside in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
Cook the Mushrooms
- Heat oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms with a sprinkle of salt.
- Cook until the mushrooms have released all their liquid and are completely cooked through. Transfer to a container and set aside.
Sear the Chicken
- Wipe out the pan and add fresh oil over medium-high heat.
- Season each cutlet with kosher salt. After the oil is hot, add the cutlets to the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes per side until you have a golden-brown sear on both sides and the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and rest for 5-10 minutes. This lets the juices redistribute for a juicier result than cutting immediately on the heat.
Slice and Sauce
- After resting, cut each cutlet in half lengthwise, then make cuts across the grain to create thin, bite-sized julienne strips.
- Wipe out the pan and return it to medium heat. Add the sliced chicken and mushrooms along with the garlic butter. Season with salt and pepper.
- Once the butter has melted and coated the chicken, pour in the teriyaki sauce.
- As soon as the sauce is heated through, turn off the heat and stir in sesame seeds. The sugar in teriyaki sauce scorches quickly, so don't leave it on heat any longer than needed.
- Plate and sprinkle additional sesame seeds on top for garnish.
