You forgot to thaw anything and it's already 5:15
Raw chicken thighs go into a gallon bag with soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger, still uncooked, and freeze flat with the marinade doing double duty as the seasoning. That bag lies down flat on a sheet pan for the first two hours so it doesn't freeze into a lopsided lump.
Thursday you skip the microwave defrost entirely and slide the frozen block into a cold skillet, cover it, and let it steam loose over medium heat for about ten minutes before the lid comes off to reduce the sauce. It goes from a solid rectangle to bite-size pieces without you touching a cutting board.
The marinade turns the chicken mushy if the bag sits past two months, because the acid keeps working the whole time it's frozen. Label the bag with the date and use it before the season ends, not after.
Ingredients
The batch makes 4 dump-and-cook packs (serves 4 to 6). Plan on about 15 minutes to assemble (raw), then freeze.
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
- 3/4 cup teriyaki sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey and 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger and 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups frozen stir-fry vegetables
- To serve: cooked rice (made fresh)
How to Make It
- Whisk the teriyaki sauce, honey, vinegar, ginger, and garlic.
- Divide the raw chicken and frozen vegetables among freezer bags.
- Pour the sauce over each, seal, and press out the air.
- These freeze raw and cook the day you serve them.
Freeze It
This is a dump-and-cook pack: it goes into the freezer raw and marinates as it freezes and thaws, so it tastes better, not worse.
- Freeze the raw packs flat and labeled (best within 3 months)
- Move a pack to the fridge the morning of, or the night before, to thaw safely
- Do not refreeze once it is cooked
Thaw and reheat on practice night
Thaw first, then cook it fresh. Because the chicken is raw, this one needs real cooking, not just reheating.
- Thaw a pack overnight in the fridge before cooking
- Skillet: cook thawed chicken and vegetables over medium-high, 10 to 12 minutes, until chicken reaches 165F
- Sheet pan: 425F for 18 to 20 minutes, until cooked through
- Serve over rice you start before practice
- Serve with: steamed rice, edamame, sliced cucumbers
Parent Tip
Start the rice cooker before you leave so rice is waiting when you walk in.
Make it fit tonight
Small changes that make this one fit your night
Rice bowl with steamed broccoli
Sauce pools into the rice at the bottom, which is the actual point of the bowl.
Lettuce wraps, no bun required
Spoon the chicken into butter lettuce leaves when the bread basket is already empty.
Teriyaki chicken over noodles
Toss it with cooked ramen noodles and the extra sauce still sitting in the pan.
Stir-fry with whatever vegetables are wilting
Snap peas, carrots, and bell pepper strips cook in the same pan as the chicken.
Teriyaki chicken skewers for the grill kid
Thread cubed chicken onto skewers when the grill is already hot for something else.
Plan the next step
Assemble packs
Add a teriyaki-pack session to the planner and stock four dump-and-cook bags.