Simple Miso Glazed Chicken Recipe (Gluten Free)

Miso glazed chicken is one of the easiest and most delicious dinners I make. Some links in this post are affiliate links that earn me a commission if you purchase through them.

Last night, I made one of my favorite dinners. In fact, it’s one of the wee ones’ favorite dinners, too. It’s flavorful without being spicy, and it’s a fun and unique way to enjoy chicken.

This tastes best when you marinate it overnight, but as long as you give it a few hours in the miso marinade, you’re good to go.

I like to baste the marinade onto the chicken when I place it on the grill to give it a little extra flavor, but you don’t have to. 

I serve this miso glazed chicken with rice and either grilled baby bok choy or my daughter’s favorite kale salad that takes all of three minutes to make.

What kind of chicken should you use?

While chicken thighs tend to be the most flavorful, this marinade is perfect for chicken breasts. I always buy and use the boneless, skinless ones to make it easiest.

The ensure that you have your chicken cook evenly, you may wish to carefully pound them to get them to the same thickness. It’s easy to do.

Just place the chicken between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap. Pound it with a meat mallet until it’s about a half inch thick all around.

If you don’t have a meat mallet, you can use a variety of kitchen implements. I usually use a can of diced tomatoes (because I always have them on hand) or my cast iron skillet or even my rolling pin.

Why do I need to use grated ginger root?

Ginger root is far more flavorful than ginger powder, and it’s really easy to use. Ginger powder loses its potency after six or so months, too.

You can store ginger root in the freezer inside the produce bag you brought it home in. This will last for a year or longer in your freezer.

When you want to use it, use a spoon to scrape off the outside “skin” of the root. Then use your microplane zester to grate it easily.

Trust me, this makes a big difference in pretty much any recipe you make. Bonus? Ginger root is far less expensive than ginger powder, too.

What is miso paste?

Why yes, miso paste is the base for the miso soup you enjoy whenever you go out for sushi. It’s made of soybeans, rice, salt, yeast, and koji culture.

It’s a fermented product, which has its own benefits. The fermentation also creates a delicious flavor that really makes this dish.

And yes, miso paste is gluten free, unlike soy sauce.

When you buy it, it doesn’t come refrigerated. As a fermented food, you do not need to refrigerate it.

However, it continues to ferment (you can’t stop the process), which changes the color and flavor over time. If you store it in the fridge once you open your miso paste, you can keep it there for years and it’s still perfect to use.

Where do you find miso paste?

I usually buy miso paste at my local Asian market. However, I ran out before I made this last time, and I learned something.

Most grocery stores don’t carry miso paste. I tried everything from my local big grocery store to Trader Joe’s to Walmart and everything in between.

If you don’t have an Asian market near you, don’t panic. Amazon comes to your rescue; they have great miso paste, and yes, it’s available with Prime.

How to Make Miso Glazed Chicken

This is a super easy recipe. Put all the marinade ingredients into a container – miso paste, sugar, chicken stock, tamari, and ginger.

Use a whisk or fork to stir until it’s all nicely combined. Then add chicken!

Note: If you do not need this to be gluten free, substitute the tamari for an equal amount of soy sauce.

Let it marinate overnight in the fridge and cook it for dinner the next day. If you’re crunched on time, you can marinate for as little as three hours, but it won’t penetrate the chicken as much.

Heat your grill to medium/medium high heat. Once it’s fully heated, plop that chicken on down.

Cook about five minutes until it has nice grill marks on one side, then flip to the other. It should release from the grill nicely If it doesn’t want to release, let it cook on that side another minute or so.

Cook on the other side until it’s done all the way through. This is poultry, so make sure to use a meat thermometer to verify the internal temperature.

Let it rest for about five minutes before you serve it. This ensures that the juices redistribute and don’t simply run out when you cut into it and leave you with dry chicken.

Slice the miso glazed chicken against the grain and serve it with rice.

Have you ever had miso glazed chicken?

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