Teriyaki Chicken Sliders

It's Friday, which means the weekend is here! Will's playing the song "Happy" as I type this, which seems to be the most appropriate thing you can do while preparing for a good weekend. We are so lucky to be having some friends come stay with us this weekend, in addition to also having some other friends come to town this weekend, too. It's going to be the best of the best times. And we're so lucky to get to cook for them! This, however, is not what we'll be making. Instead, this is an easy weeknight recipe we made recently from our new(ish) Budget Bytes cookbook. True to BB's style, this involves a few key ingredients, a bunch of stuff you have on hand, a relatively quick cook time, and a filling meal at the end of it all. This is definitely a classic BB's recipe and one we could easily see ourselves making again. We jumped the gun a little bit by making it before spring truly hit, but the pineapple made us think of warm places and ocean waves. Enjoy this straightforward, quick weeknight meal!

Cooking Notes: We pretty much didn't change anything from this recipe other than adding some sriracha, choosing a smaller can of pineapples and only doing 1 lb. of chicken. I think it would also work well as a slow-cooker meal, if you wanted to do a bigger batch with more chicken.

Teriyaki Chicken Sliders (adapted from Budget Bytes; serves 4)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
1 tbsp veggie oil
1 16-oz can pineapple chunks in juice
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 tbsp cornstarch
4 English muffins, for serving

In a medium saucepan, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and garlic. Grate the ginger straight into the pan. Strain 1 cup of the juice from the canned pineapples, into the pan, reserving the pineapple pieces for serving. Cook over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until brown sugar has dissolved. Place the chicken pieces in a single layer across the bottom of the pan, making sure they are submerged beneath the liquid.


Cover the pan, raise the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, remove cover and simmer for 30 minutes until reduced by about half. Stir the chicken pieces once or twice while simmering, keeping them submerged in the liquid.

Carefully shred the chicken in the pan, using two forks. Combine the cornstarch with 2 tbsp water to create a mixture, then pour into the pan. Stir to combine, raise the heat to medium, then bring the mixture back to a simmer, allowing the sauce to thicken. Scoop 1/4 of the mixture onto each bun and top with pineapple chunks and sriracha. Enjoy!