Nikujaga is a Japanese meat and potato stew and an ultimate cozy Japanese comfort food. Potatoes, carrots, and onions are simmered until tender in a sweet-savory soy sauce dashi broth with thinly sliced beef or pork to create a nostalgic family dinner staple. It's an easy one-pot simmer recipe ready in under 30 minutes with simple everyday ingredients.
Nikujaga is a comforting main dish and is often served with Miso Soup, rice, and side dishes like Sunomono and tamagoyaki to create a complete Japanese home meal.
If you love Japanese comfort food, also try Air Fryer Karaage, Tuna Mayo Onigiri, and Shio Koji Chicken.
Jump to:
- What is Nikujaga
- Beef or Pork for Nikujaga?
- Ingredients
- Do You Need Dashi for Nikujaga?
- How to Make Nikujaga
- What Is Otoshibuta (drop lid)?
- Tips for Tender Potatoes That Don't Fall Apart
- What to Serve with Nikujaga
- How to Store and Reheat Nikujaga
- More Japanese Home Cooking Recipes
- Nikujaga (Japanese Meat and Potato Stew)
What is Nikujaga
Nikujaga (肉じゃが) is a Japanese potato and meat stew. Potatoes, carrots, and onions are simmered in a sweet, soy sauce-based dashi broth with thinly sliced beef or pork. Vegetables absorb meaty, flavorful dashi while cooking, creating a comforting dish.
"Niku" means meat, and "jaga" comes from "jagaimo," the Japanese word for potato.
Nikujaga is one of the classic Japanese home-cooking dishes that many Japanese people think of first as a comforting family meal. The broth is made with simple and basic Japanese condiments, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and dashi, to create an umami-packed sweet and savory base that reminds one of Japanese comfort food.
In addition to basic root vegetables and meat, shirataki (しらたき), snap peas, or green beans are often added. Shirataki are translucent noodles made from the konjac plant. They're mild-flavored, low-carb noodles that soak up the flavor as they're simmered in the broth. Snap peas and green beans add a pop of green color.
It's a hearty main dish in a Japanese meal. It is usually served with steamed rice, miso soup, and a few small side dishes as part of a simple Japanese dinner.
Beef or Pork for Nikujaga?
So which meat do you use in nikujaga, pork or beef? Which is better, and which is authentic? Well, it really depends on your preferences and the household you grew up in.
Beef and pork are both commonly used in classic nikujaga recipes. Beef is often associated with western Japan, while pork is more common in eastern Japan, but every household has its own version. Many people prefer the one they ate growing up to recreate its familiar, cozy flavor. I personally like beef, but pork is also an amazing choice.
Beef nikujaga has a rich, deep flavor, and potatoes soak up the best of it. Pork nikujaga is milder, lighter, and more affordable.
Either way, it's important to use thinly sliced meat, like the kind used for hot pot or sukiyaki. Nikujaga recipe is meant to be a quick, gently simmered dish, not a long braise.
Ingredients
- Sliced beef or pork: Use thinly sliced beef or pork. I usually find them in the frozen section at my local Asian grocery stores. You want slices much thinner than thin-cut pork chops. Ones labeled for shabu shabu or hot pot are the thickness you want. When I don't have time to stop by an Asian grocery store, I've used shaved beef steak, which is a bit tougher but very flavorful!
- Potatoes: Yellow potatoes, which are all-purpose potatoes, work well in this recipe. Yukon Gold potatoes are often recommended for simmered recipes, but yellow potatoes are usually easier to find and work well too. If you've found them, go for it!
- Onion: Yellow onion works well.
- Carrot: I like using jumbo carrots for this recipe, so that each piece of carrot won't be too small for simmering. Cut them into bite-sized pieces using the rangiri oblique cut.
- Shirataki: This is optional, but I highly recommend it! Shirataki are low-carb noodles made from the konjac plant that soak up all the flavor in the broth. They're chewy and jelly-like.
- Dashi: Dashi adds gentle umami to the broth. You can use homemade dashi, instant dashi, a dashi packet, or water.
- Soy sauce, Mirin, and Sake: The Japanese condiment staples.
- Sugar or Maple Syrup: Sugar is commonly used in nikujaga, but I like using maple syrup instead. Both work well.
- Green beans: This is optional, but add a pop of green color to elevate the nikujaga. Instead of green beans, snap peas and snow peas also work.
See recipe card for quantities.
Do You Need Dashi for Nikujaga?
While dashi adds savory depth to the dish, you can skip dashi and just use water. With water-based nikujaga, vegetables and meat create a lighter, yet naturally flavorful broth. Nikujaga is seasoned with soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar, so it still tastes delicious without dashi.
With that said, I still like using dashi because it gives the sauce more umami without making it heavy. Even a simple instant dashi, dashi packet, or kombu dashi works well here.
How to Make Nikujaga
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. If you're using green beans, blanch until bright green and transfer to a bowl of ice water. Drain and cut into 1-inch pieces.
- Drain the bag of shirataki and use kitchen shears to cut them a few times to make them shorter. In the same pot, add shirataki and boil for a few minutes. Drain well.
- In a large pot or pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the meat and cook until no longer pink. Stir in potatoes, onion, and carrots, and cook for a minute to coat them in the oil.
- Stir in dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and shirataki. Place an otoshibuta, or drop lid, on top and simmer until potatoes are tender, for 20 minutes, gently stirring from the bottom halfway through. Reduce the heat to low if necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Serve in a serving bowl and top with green beans.
What Is Otoshibuta (drop lid)?
Otoshibuta (落し蓋) is a Japanese drop lid used for simmered dishes like nikujaga. Instead of covering the whole pot, the drop lid is smaller than the pot's diameter, so it sits directly on top of the ingredients.
Why do you need a drop lid when you have an actual lid? Well, they serve different purposes. The drop lid helps the simmering liquid circulate inside the pot to cook ingredients evenly. It also keeps ingredients from moving around too much in the broth, which helps the potatoes stay intact.
Wooden or stainless steel drop lids are commonly used. But if you don't have one, don't worry. You can use a piece of parchment paper with a few holes cut in the center. It works just as well!
Tips for Tender Potatoes That Don't Fall Apart
I recommend using waxy or all-purpose potatoes if you want the potatoes to hold their shape better. I usually use yellow potatoes, which are all-purpose potatoes.
Cut the potatoes into large, even pieces so they cook at the same speed. If you want to take an extra step, soak cut potatoes in water for 10 minutes to remove excess starch. I usually skip this, but if you're using starchy potatoes, try this tip.
In this recipe, after you cook the meat, stir in the vegetables in the pot before adding any liquid. This coats the potatoes lightly in oil. The oil helps protect the surface of the potatoes, so they are less likely to break apart as they simmer.
When simmering, keep the heat nice and gentle. A strong boil can make the potatoes bump into each other while cooking and break apart. Using an otoshibuta also helps keep everything in place while the flavor soaks in.
You don't need to stir often. Stir just a few times to help the ingredients absorb the broth. Letting nikujaga rest for a few minutes before serving helps the potatoes absorb more flavor without falling apart.
What to Serve with Nikujaga
Nikujaga is a comforting one-pot dish, but it's even better with a few simple Japanese side dishes to compose a traditional Japanese meal.
When putting together a Japanese meal at home, the Ichiju Sansai principle comes in handy. Ichiju Sansai is a traditional Japanese formula consisting of rice, soup, a main dish, and two sides, making it easy to create a balanced and satisfying meal.
Here are some delicious Japanese recipes to pair with nikujaga:
- Rice: Tuna Mayo Rice Balls and Chirashizushi (Scattered Sushi)
- Soup: Kabocha Squash Miso Soup and Shio Koji Tomato Soup
- Side Dishes: Japanese Cucumber Salad (Sunomono), green salad with Japanese Sesame Dressing, Cold Soba Noodle Salad, and Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled egg omelette).
- Adding desserts like Strawberry Mochi (Japanese Ichigo daifuku), Hanami Dango, Mitarashi Dango, and Shiratama Dango is also fun!
How to Store and Reheat Nikujaga
Store leftover nikujaga in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave until warmed through. The flavors often become even better the next day as the ingredients continue to soak up the broth.
More Japanese Home Cooking Recipes
If you love cozy Japanese home cooking like nikujaga, try these recipes next!
- Air Fryer Karaage
- Shio Koji
- Shio Koji Salmon
- Shio Koji Chicken
- Banana Matcha Latte
- Banana Matcha Chia Pudding
Nikujaga (Japanese Meat and Potato Stew)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ lb. sliced beef or shaved steak you can also use sliced pork, cut into 3-inch pieces
- 3 yellow potatoes (about 1½ lb) cut into 1.5-inch pieces
- 1 onion cut into wedges
- 1 jumbo carrot cut into bite-sized pieces using the rangiri oblique cut
- 1 bag shirataki (200g, 7.05oz) (optional)
- 1½ cups dashi or water
- 6 tablespoons soy sauce
- ¼ cup mirin
- ¼ cup sake
- ¼ cup sugar or maple syrup
- 5 green beans or snap peas for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. If you're using green beans, blanch until bright green and transfer to a bowl of ice water. Drain and cut into 1-inch pieces.
- Drain the bag of shirataki and use kitchen shears to cut them a few times to make them shorter. In the same pot, add shirataki and boil for a few minutes. Drain well.
- In a large pot or pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the meat and cook until no longer pink. Stir in potatoes, onion, and carrots, and cook for a minute to coat them in the oil.
- Stir in dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and shirataki. Place an otoshibuta, or drop lid, on top and simmer until potatoes are tender, for 20 minutes, gently stirring from the bottom halfway through. Reduce the heat to low if necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.
- Serve in a serving bowl and top with green beans.
Notes
Nutrition
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