Sweet Onion and Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich

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I don’t go to Subway so much these days.  For one main reason.  There is no drive-thru.  Because actually, I wouldn’t choose to take three children to a sandwich shop when I can go through the drive-thru at Jimmy Johns or Panera.

That being said, Subway brings back so much nostalgia for me.  As one of my best friends worked at a Subway throughout high school, and I have many memories of hanging out there while she was at work.  I even helped her close the place down a few times before we would head out to meet other friends.   That’s right, I helped her re-stock chips and helped her count bread as we blared Britney Spears over the store’s radio.  Did I ever mention to you I was cool when I was a teenager?  No? Good.

There are a few Subway sandwiches that I will always love.  The veggie sub with pepper-jack cheese is still a favorite.  Plus, I have always loved the Sweet Onion Teriyaki Sub too.

I decided to recreate this sandwich.  And actually, we had this for dinner the other night. It was a tasty meal that my kids loved.   I made the chicken in my Instant Pot because I wanted my chicken to turn out perfectly tender and evenly cooked.   There is nothing worse than having dry or chewy chicken in a sandwich.

I made this chicken a little differently than how they make it at Subway.  At Subway, it is teriyaki chicken with a sweet onion sauce. That covers the chicken.   I put the sweet onion sauce and teriyaki flavors together in the Instant Pot and cooked the chicken in it.

Here is a video I created on how I made this chicken.  It is actually super easy and light tasting.

Since this is a copycat Subway recipe, I had to opt for some classic Subway sandwich toppings: shredded lettuce, super-thin cucumber slices, and tomato slices.  Honestly, if were another day, I would also have added some Southwest chipotle sauce.  But I’ll save that for another time.

Sweet Onion and Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 pounds of thin boneless skinless chicken tenders, each cut in half.  I like to cut my chicken with kitchen shears.

1 tablespoon of canola oil

1/2 small white onion, chopped

3 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar 

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of ground ginger 

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon of corn starch

1 tablespoon of poppyseeds 

1 cup of water

Method:  Set your Instant Pot to the saute setting.  In your Instant Pot, add oil and onions and cook the onions until they are translucent.  Add soy sauce, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, ginger, water, salt pepper, cornstarch, and poppyseeds. Bring the sauce to a boil and whisk the sauce together.  Add chicken and cook in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and store it in the fridge until the sauce turns sticky.

• You can also cook this recipe in a saucepan on your stove.  Follow the same procedure, but instead of cooking in your Instant Pot, cover and cook the chicken.

This was soooo good!  There is nothing like a sandwich that brings me back to those days!