My shoyu chicken recipe is a Hawaii-style bone-in dinner that will whisk you away to a tropical evening! Any chicken recipes that cook bone-in are sure to deliver tender meat that melts in your mouth.
This shoyu chicken recipe brings that plus a taste of the most famous local Hawaiian chicken dish, aloha shoyu chicken!
Pair this recipe with my authentic Hawaiian macaroni salad for a creamy-sweet contrast, or whip up a whole slew of tropical chicken with my Huli Huli chicken!
Let’s get cooking!
What I Love About This Recipe
Any chicken dish that marries sweet with savory is a major WIN in my book! Who can resist that flavor combination? Plus, I guarantee everyone in your house will gobble this dinner down!
- Easy to make
- SUPER tender chicken!
- Sweet, savory, aromatic flavor
- Crowd pleasing sauce!
How To Make Shoyu Chicken Recipe
Traditionally, this chicken is braised on the stovetop. Braising shoyu chicken produces absolutely succulent meat — just keep a close eye on how the chicken is cooking, so as not to overcook it. If it’s cooked too long, it will be dry.
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In a mixing bowl, whisk together the first 10 ingredients until brown sugar is dissolved and everything is well combined.
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Place the chicken thighs in a large, high sided skillet or large pot, and pour sauce over chicken. Turn the chicken over to coat both sides with the sauce.
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Bring sauce to a boil, over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer partially covered, turning occasionally, until chicken registers 165 degrees when an instant-read thermometer is inserted near the bone, about 30-35 minutes.
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Remove the chicken to a serving platter.
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Add the cornstarch and water mixture to the liquid in the skillet, and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook until thick.
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Adjust seasoning and pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with green onions and serve.
***See Full Instructions Below
Shoyu Chicken Ingredients
- Brown Sugar: Soy sauce and brown sugar are often used together to get the acid of the soy sauce and the sugar of the brown sugar that works to tenderize your meat. Brown sugar is the best type of sugar to use in this recipe – it’s thick and mixes well.
- Garlic: For this recipe, garlic works best when it is minced. I break away the shell of the garlic with the flat surface of a sharp knife – this makes it easy to peel. I find that serrated blades don’t do too well with garlic – I prefer a nice big straight-edged knife.
- Ginger: The best way to peel ginger? With a spoon! The skin of ginger is so delicate that using a blunt edge like that on a spoon will do the job better than a vegetable peeler. The peeler will take too much of the ginger with it. I love this kitchen hack!
- Soy Sauce: The right type of soy sauce assures authenticity. I like to use Hawaiian Soy Sauce with this dish — shoyu soy sauce is popular in Hawaii and has a sweeter, less harsh flavor. I try to avoid commercial brands like Kikkoman in this recipe. While it’s a good option that’s widely available, I find that it can be too salty. They do, however, have a low-salt version you can try if you want to use it in this recipe.
- Chinese 5 Spice: This is an optional spice. As the name suggests, Chinese 5 spice is a blend of five different spices (cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and Szechwan peppercorns). It’s used a lot in Asian and Arabic cooking. The truth is, not everybody loves this spice, so you don’t have to include it if you don’t want to. The Shoyu chicken will still be tasty without it!
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Once cooked, your chicken will last in the fridge just fine for up to 4 days. I personally love this dish the second day — I think the flavors get even richer!
- Can You Freeze This? Yes! I love having this as a freezer meal to go. Portion it out, freeze it, and simply wait for a rushed night when you could use a home-cooked meal! Shoyu chicken will freeze for up to 4 months.
- To thaw, let it sit in the fridge overnight, or pop it in your microwave and use the thaw setting. Ready to eat in a snap!
- Make-Ahead Tips The best way to make this recipe ahead of time? The Crockpot!
Shoyu Chicken Crockpot Instructions:
- Place the chicken in your Crockpot.
- Combine sauce ingredients and pour over the chicken.
- Cooking on a low setting, for 6-8 hours, or until chicken is tender.
- Remove chicken to a plate, and set aside.
- Pour the sauce, from the Crockpot, into a saucepan and turn the heat to medium.
- In a small bowl, make the cornstarch slurry. Slowly add it to the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until the sauce has thickened.
- Pour sauce over chicken and serve.
Serving Recommendations
The sweet, savory, tangy flavors of my shoyu chicken recipe go best with a side that’s creamy and smooth, like a crisp, tasty salad that’s going to offset the intensity of the spices.
I love serving my chicken with something like the authentic Hawaiian macaroni salad I mentioned earlier, or my traditional KFC coleslaw. Who doesn’t love a bit of KFC, even in Hawaii?! Or even go for something simpler, like my carrot salad!
Another never-fail side dish is my fluffy coconut rice. The sauce in this chicken soaks into rice in a delicious way! You won’t want to miss this pairing.
More Yummy Chicken
Shoyu Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, grated
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice
- 5 pounds chicken thighs bone-in, skin on
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons cold water
Garnish:
- 2 tablespoons green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the first 10 ingredients until brown sugar is dissolved and everything is well combined.
- Place the chicken thighs (5 pounds) in a large, high-sided skillet or large pot, and pour sauce over the chicken. Turn the chicken over to coat both sides with the sauce.
- Bring sauce to a boil, over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer partially covered, turning occasionally, until chicken registers 165 degrees when an instant-read thermometer is inserted near the bone, about 30-35 minutes.
- Remove the chicken to a serving platter.
- Add the cornstarch and water mixture to the liquid in the skillet, and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook until thick.
- Adjust seasoning and pour sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with green onions and serve.
Thank you for yet another excellent recipe! My husband’s preference, chicken thighs, went on sale, so I needed an excellent way to cook them up. I made another batch with my preferred boneless/skinless chicken breasts, and we each enjoyed our leftovers of this delicious dish! Since our neighbors also love spice, we’ll prepare this when we invite them over for dinner.
Sonya, so happy you enjoyed this recipe. We love it,too!
This is perfect with your hawaiian macaroni salad
Aug 10th, thank you sooo much, was awesome,really flavorful, had all the ingredients in or growing in my garden, i added mushrooms, was thinking of adding zuchhy?, thanks againg for the terrific recepe, im surely gonna try some more of your stuff!!?
Damn , best shoyu chicken recipe i tried, i added some boiler mushrooms, was thinking of adding some zuchines to, awesome, easy,simple,had all the ingredients on hand, some in garden, much mahalos!!?
Even better than peeling ginger? Just grate it on a microplane, peel and all! I can’t remember where I learned that hack, but I’ve never peeled ginger since I tried it.
Where do I get Chinese 5 spice?
Hi Dor-Ray. It’s generally available in most large supermarkets!
Aloha. I was looking for a different shout chicken recipe apart from my regular version. I’m so happy I found this version as it is really very tasty. My husband loved it due to my making it on the spicier side for him. It was a little too spicy for me however I know I can tame it down a little. I will make this recipe again during the winter when our daughter comes home from college and our son comes home from travelling abroad. They will be super excited and it may just be their favorite dish moving forward. Mahalo and keep it coming. ??
Margi, I’m so happy you and your husband enjoyed our Shoyu Chicken!
Hi. When cooking in an oven, do I need to put the lid on the dutch oven?
Hi Lielyn! Yes, you have to put the lid on. Hope this helps! Enjoy cooking!
Hi, can the cooked shoyu chicken be frozen and then reheated?
Hi Margaret. Yes, you can <3
thank you so much!
When reading instructions from crock pot recipe, do u have to brown the chicken first and cook it without liquid? or after putting chicken into pot then you pour over liquid sauce? I am a bit confused on that. I would say pour sauce over chicken in pot and then cook? Want to make it right. Thanks
Hey Carol! Sorry about that I missed a step in those crockpot instructions! I’ve clarified them <3 Enjoy!
Looks wonderful! Love the Aussie. Mini or full sized.
Thanks Liz! She’s a mini <3
Kathleen, this looks AMAZING! OMG, and your pup is so cute!!!
Thank you, Lindsey <3