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This was absolutely the BEST ever. I keep telling my friends about it. I’m pretty sure I could drink the sauce straight – don’t worry, I didn’t. It’s for sure a keeper!
Blair A.
Hi friends! And happy weekend.
I am coming to you live on a Saturday morning because this 30-Minute Sesame Mango Chicken Teriyaki is too good to wait any longer. It’s a special day when I can find a chicken recipe that I actually like – and that kind of special day is here once again.
We’ve got a lot of delicious but simple yums factoring into this recipe. Starting us off as the most important part of any recipe IMHO – the sauce. For me, and I hope for Pinch of Yum, good recipes are always always always about the sauce.
This homemade teriyaki sauce is thick and velvety, sort of like a take-out or store-bought teriyaki in terms of texture, but made from scratch in, like, two and a half seconds, without refined sugar and without cornstarch. Just whir that baby up in the blender and you’re donesies.
TRU STORY.
The base of the sauce is made with medjool dates soaked in water and pureed with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. I KNOW, RIGHT?
It’s thick and sticky by nature, but it doesn’t have to stay that way – you get to take full control of sauce consistency (smooth and velvety? thick and clingy? perfectly dippable? whatchu like?) by adding some chicken broth during the quick simmer in the second part of the recipe.
For me, this sauce is a savory-sweet, lusciously smooth, refined-sugar-free and store bought alternative that is giving new meaning to the words CHICKEN TERIYAKI. I make a lot of recipes around here, and many of them don’t get to come back and visit very often because so much food // so little time, but I have no doubt that this will making regular reappearances at our house with, um, let me see, EVERYTHING. Roasted vegetables, grilled chicken, shrimp, edamame, rice bowls, fresh veggies, rice noodles of all shapes and sizes –> we are drowning in good food opportunities here.
A quick note about the fact that this is Sesame MANGO Chicken Teriyaki.
Meaning: Frozen mangoes. In a bag from Trader Joe’s. Get added to the recipe.
In my defense of frozen mangoes, a) we live in Minnesota and the fresh mangoes, uhhh, don’t exist here, b) frozen fruit is my favorite life hack of all time, and c) these TJ’s frozen mangoes are organic and absolutely DELICIOUS like you wouldn’t even believe that came from a freezer. Tryum.
Keepin’ it classy.
Okay, so we’ve got the refined sugar free, made without cornstarch, super yummy savory-sweet, quick and easy teriyaki sauce (can you tell I love this sauce?) and the frozen mangoes, and the chicken, and now the final piece is topping these big bowls with whatever your heart tells you to top them with.
Sesame seeds. Green onions. Cilantro? Wouldn’t be mad if you did. Sesame oil. Fish sauce, because I’m weird and I think stuff like fish sauce tastes good on recipes like this. Lime juice. Mooooore things.
Your choice, friends! Top creatively and generously and enjoy your 30-Minute Sesame Mango Chicken Teriyaki bowls.
30-Minute Sesame Mango Chicken Teriyaki
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 (nutrition is for one serving out of 8 using 2 lbs. chicken) 1x
Description
30-Minute Sesame Mango Chicken Teriyaki made with whole, natural ingredients and without refined sugar or cornstarch. Super quick and easy!
Ingredients
For the Teriyaki Sauce:
- 15 medjool dates, pitted and soaked in 1/2 cup hot water (see notes – you can use sugar instead if you want)
- 3/4 cup soy sauce, reduced sodium
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced, smashed, or in paste form
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Everything Else:
- 1 yellow onion
- 1–2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts (see notes)
- 1/4 cup flour
- a generous pinch of salt and pepper
- a generous pinch of chili powder
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2–3 cups frozen mango chunks (fresh could also work)
- sesame seeds, green onions, sesame oil, fish sauce, or limes for topping
- cooked rice for serving
Instructions
- Get your rice cooking, if you’re serving this with rice. I always just start that in the rice cooker right away so it’s ready in time!
- In a food processor or blender, puree the soaked dates and their water, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, and ginger. Continue to blend or process until very, very smooth. Set aside.
- Thinly slice the onion. Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Combine the flour, salt, pepper, and chili powder in a shallow dish and dredge each piece of chicken in the flour mixture to get a light coating.
- Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large pan. Add the onions and stir fry for a few minutes. Add the chicken and stir fry for a few minutes until browned. Add the sauce and the broth (turn heat down to avoid splatter) – adding more broth if needed to thin out the sauce. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the mango chunks, stir, and cover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
- Serve over rice topped with sesame seeds, green onions, sesame oil, fish sauce, lime juice, or anything else that strikes your fancy.
Notes
If you want an even sauce-to-chicken ratio, I’d suggest using 1 1/2 or 2 pounds of chicken. But if you wanted to add in some veggies and still have extra sauce to coat, then one pound of chicken would work.
If you want to use sugar instead, use about 1/2 cup. I’d suggest blending as directed and then slow simmering the sauce for a while to thicken it up and dissolve the sugar before adding to the pan with the chicken. 15 minutes or so should do the trick.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Keywords: sesame mango chicken, mango chicken teriyaki, chicken teriyaki
PS. I didn’t even go there because there’s too much to say today, but we did get our new dog last night, and she’s here with us now, and I’ve had one panic attack so far because she ate part of a pig’s ear this morning without really chewing it before I swooped in and acted as Trying To Be Responsible Dog Mom by taking it away even though it was a little too late, but other than that, things are going really, really, REALLY well.
I can’t wait to introduce you to her sometime next week with a proper blog post!
Until then, you can catch the live dog updates as they happen on my Facebook VIP group (it’s a private group for my best friends and readers – request to join and I’ll add you! we are 600 strong and we have lots of fun.) and Snapchat! I did a 60-second story on the whole process of getting her yesterday and, I don’t know, I think it’s decently cute considering my total Snapchat dorkiness. I’m @pinchofyum. Do you even do an @ sign with Snapchat? okay, time to end this.
XO
Insanely good and clever recipe! I added cashews and red peppers. Thanks for sharing 10/10
This recipe is very good! I used fresh mango; although a little more time consuming it worked. I like the recipe very much.! Just a friendly FYI, the time frame is not very realistic. This took me an hour and a half. I don’t know how anyone can do all of it in just 30 minutes. If I had used frozen mango I could have done it in 1 hour.
Very good! I used sugar instead of the dates and it came out great. I ended up chucking the mangos after simmering it in the sauce (I didn’t actually eat them 😅) and the sauce still tasted very mango-ey. Will be making this again!
Hello can you skip the flour or substitute it for something else gluten free? Thank you!! Looks really amazing
You could use a gluten-free flour blend!
Topped this with spicy peanuts and cilantro. So quick, easy, and delicious! Great leftovers, too! Thanks, Lindsay!
Hi! I don’t know if you’ll see this on an older post but I’ve looking for a recipe like this to prepare for a crowd. I was hoping you could give me guidance on how many pounds you’d suggest for a party of 18 people? We will also be having rice and veggies to add to the bowls and we will have a few sides like fruit and some Hawaiian meatballs.
Also, I’m wondering if I could make this recipe in advance and keep the chicken and sauce warm in a crockpot? Hopefully you’ll see this and have some ideas for me! Thanks!
Hi Tony! We’d aim for 4-5 pounds of chicken (1/4 pound per person). Should work just fine to keep it in a crockpot!
Can I use Deglet Noor dates?
Thanks for having me over to share this family favorite recipe, Heather!
Made by using the medjool dates, and it came out dark colored, almost black. Tasted fine, I guess the photo displayed they used sugar.
Hi! Does your nutrition info include the rice? If so, how much per serving?
Hi Lauren! I do not believe this includes the rice.
Wao teriyaki sauce 😍😍
I have a question also, instead of chicken what can we use so that it
pairs up well…🤔😘
This looks amazing!! I’m not really sure about using chunks of mango (husband is picky), what do you think about pureeing a few chunks in with the sauce instead?? And maybe throwing in some chunks of sweet potato with as well?
That sounds delicious! 🙂
This looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it. Thanks so much for sharing!
Can’t wait to try this! Gotta love teriyaki.
xx, R @ The Girl in Polka Dots
http://www.thegirlinpolkadots.com
Absolutely loved this just made it and it looked exactly like yours. The dates made the sauce so delicious!
I made this n being a vegetarian, I replaced chicken with paneer. Thanking you for an awesome recipe
What a brilliant idea to use dates! I just love it (and so did my toddler)! Here is our take on the dish: http://www.kiddieliciouskitchen.com/mango-chicken-teriyaki-without-refined-sugar/.
Thanks, Anja!
Have you ever done it with fresh mangos? I have two on my counter, contemplating if I should try it or go get the frozen?! Hmmmm
We’ve never tried it but I bet it would work fine!
I nailed it
My guests and I loved this recipe. I used the sugar version of the sauce instead of the dates. Not sure how much different it tasted, but it was still delicious. I also used fresh mangos (yes, even here in MN!). and I added them just as I was taking the pot off the heat. The mangos retained their mango flavor this way, which I fear they would have lost if they had simmered in the pot for the suggested time. Overall, a wonderful recipe and I would definitely suggest to others.
Awesome! Glad to hear that, Kayla. 🙂
Yuck! I followed this to a T and all you can taste is salt, salt, salt….. 🙁
Thank you for your feedback.
My son’s favorite meal in the entire world is a Mango Chicken dish he got in Singapore. I made this hoping to appease him. He loved it! Thank you for another great recipe!
So glad to hear that, Marla!
This was absolutely the BEST ever. I keep telling my friends about it. I’m pretty sure I could drink the sauce straight – don’t worry, I didn’t. It’s for sure a keeper!
Thanks, Blair! Glad you liked it!
I wad really excited to make this because I love mangoes! My husband’s on the other hand does not like fruit and meat combined. Ever. I made it anyway! I followed every directions, no modifications, and it turned out so delicious! My husband even ate all the leftovers the next day
That’s great, Etta! Thanks for the comment. 🙂
Made this last night and it was delicious! Based off a couple of the reviews saying it was too salty, I decided to cut back the soy sauce a little bit by putting in 2/3 cup instead of 3/4 cup. Also, I added in about 6 extra dates to give more sweetness to balance out the saltiness. My final product was super delicious! We put in lots of chicken and mangos into the sauce, and served it over a white rice/quinoa mix, and served with a side of cooked broccoli and carrots. Very good and I’m so excited to eat leftovers tonight! To me, a sure sign of a great recipe is when you’re really excited to eat the leftovers the next day 🙂
Agreed! Sounds like you made some yummy modifications, Sharice. Good work!