It’s so easy to create a delicious, fresh meal without a lot of fuss or unnecessary ingredients. In this recipe, you slow cook your chicken breasts in delicious gluten-free teriyaki sauce and top with a fresh pineapple salsa. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosures.
Sometimes I don’t feel like cooking, and I just want a warm, delicious, and totally gluten-free meal waiting for me come dinnertime.
These are the days when I pull out my slow cooker.
I love that I prepare a few ingredients in the morning, and then let dinner simmer all day long.
How to Make Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken Breasts
Today I want to share with you my new and improved slow cooker teriyaki chicken breasts recipe.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1-1.5 lbs of chicken)
- 3/4 cup gluten-free teriyaki sauce. I use this brand.
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp high heat vegetable oil
The final dish will taste best if you cook the onion before putting it in your slow cooker for the day. I suggest lightly browning the onion in a little oil in a pan. You’ll also want to lightly saute the garlic until it’s fragrant, too.
You’ll then add the chicken breasts, cooked onion and garlic mixture, ground ginger, and teriyaki sauce to your slow cooker.
You only need about 3/4 cup of teriyaki sauce (more if you’re using more than 1.5 lbs of chicken). Don’t add too much or else your final product with will be too saucy.
You’ll notice that I have about six pieces of chicken in my slow cooker, although I started with only four pieces. This is because some of the chicken breasts were huge. I had to slice them lengthwise into smaller breasts. Doing so will ensure the chicken cooks evenly.
You’ll cook the chicken in your slow cooker for four hours. Do not cook it longer than four hours or it will become mealy.
Once the chicken is finished cooking, use a fork to shred the chicken into shredded bits. The chicken pieces will soak up the sauce and take its beautiful shredded teriyaki chicken shape.
Serve your shredded teriyaki chicken breasts over white or brown rice and top with a few green onions for effect.
Pineapple Salsa Topping
Teriyaki and pineapple are a winning flavor profile, so if you’re looking to add some freshness to your slow cooker teriyaki chicken bowl, add this delicious pineapple salsa to the mix.
My pineapple salsa is made from:
- Pineapple (fresh or canned), diced
- Red pepper, diced
- Fresh corn, kernels removed from the cob
- Jalapeno pepper, diced
- Green onions, chopped
- Fresh cilantro, chopped
- Lemon
- Salt and pepper, to taste
I combine all these ingredients in a large bowl, mix together, and wind up with a fresh, amazing topping for my slow cooker teriyaki chicken recipe.
You can use fresh or canned pineapple, depending on the season, and if you don’t have fresh corn, you can use canned corn or swap for another vegetable, like diced jicama.
When I assembled the dish, I start by adding a layer of white or brown rice, then top with the shredded chicken and the fresh pineapple salsa. Look at this beautiful bowl of deliciousness!
Simple Gluten-Free Dinner Ideas?
Are you in search of simple, gluten-free dinner ideas? These tasty slow cooker teriyaki chicken breasts will do the trick.
I also recommend my Fall-Off-the-Bone Chicken Thighs (also a slow cooker recipe) and my Lemon Chicken Piccata Bowls for other simple, weeknight meals.
Shredded Teriyaki Chicken Breasts
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Shredded Chicken
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 4-5 breasts
- 1 tsp avocado oil or other high-heat cooking oil
- 1 large white onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 cup gluten-free teriyaki sauce
Pineapple Salsa
- 1.5 cups pineapple diced (fresh or canned)
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 4 ears of corn cooked and kernels removed
- 1 jalapeno pepper diced
- 3 green onions (scallions) chopped
- 2 Tbsp cilantro fresh, chopped
- 1 lemon
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
Shredded Teriyaki Chicken
- Add chicken breasts to your slow cooker.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 6-10 minutes until lightly browned. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Turn off heat. Add ground ginger and mix well.
- Add onion mixture on to of chicken breasts, then pour teriyaki sauce on top of everything.
- Set your slow cooker to cook for 4 hours. Once cooked, use a fork to shred the chicken into small bits. The chicken will soak up the teriyaki sauce.
Pineapple Salsa
- Combine pineapple, pepper, jalapeno, corn, green onions and cilantro in a large bowl and mix well. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste and mix. Refrigerate until serving.
Leave a Comment