With thinly sliced beef and tender onions simmered in a savory-sweet sauce, Gyudon or Japanese Beef Rice Bowl is synonymous with comfort. This simple and delicious dish, served over hot steamed rice, has been a staple in Japanese cuisine for over 150 years! It’s a perfect quick meal for a busy weeknight!
Gyudon (牛丼) is a classic comfort food that has held its place in Japanese cuisine for over 150 years. Not only is this hearty rice bowl extremely simple to put together, but it’s also famous for being a quick, nutritious meal that never fails to satisfy.
While every household in Japan makes gyudon a little differently, the core ingredients remain the same: thin slices of beef, onion, and a sweet and savory sauce served over steamed rice. Today, I’ll show you how I make this weeknight favorite at home.
Table of Contents
What is Gyudon (Japanese Beef Bowl)?
Like other donburi, Gyudon, or Japanese Beef Bowl, is always served over a warm bowl of freshly steamed rice. “Gyu” (牛) translates to “beef,” while “Don” (丼) refers to the type of bowl it’s served in.
The gyudon that we know and love today originated from a beef hot pot dish called “gyunabe” (牛鍋) during Japan’s Meiji Era (1868-1912). Up until this point, Japanese people were strictly prohibited from eating beef for both religious and practical reasons. Consuming meat went against Buddhist philosophies, and eating farm animals that were useful for work was largely discouraged.
Once Western culture arrived in Japan in the late 19th century, gyunabe—beef and onion stewed with miso paste—became extremely popular. The chef of an izakaya called Isekuma in my hometown of Yokohama was the first to serve gyunabe in 1862! People began pouring their leftover gyunabe broth over rice, and soon restaurants began to serve this as a cheaper alternative called “gyumeshi” (牛飯).
In the late 1800s, Eikichi Matsuda finally coined the name “gyudon.” Matsuda was the owner of Japan’s most famous Tokyo-based beef bowl chain, Yoshinoya. If you want to make gyudon just like they do at Yoshinoya, I have a recipe here.
Ingredients for Japanese Beef Bowl
Gyudon in Japan is a quick, tasty meal that is also budget-friendly. It was most popular among business people and young, single men before gaining popularity among the general Japanese public. The ingredients to make this one-pot dish at home are simple.
- Thinly sliced beef: I recommend chuck or rib eye for this recipe. The paper-thin slices are essential for achieving authentic gyudon (too thick, and your beef will be chewy), and you can often find packages of thin-cut beef at Japanese or Asian supermarkets. Alternatively, you can always slice your own.
- Onion: Sliced onions add sweetness to the dish and perfectly pair with tender beef.
- Sauce: The sauce is a harmonious blend of sweet and savory, made with dashi (Japanese soup stock), sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar. It is so simple yet highly effective in creating robust flavor!
- Garnish: green onions for the color and shichimi togarashi for a spicy kick.
How to Make the Best Gyudon
- Cut the onion, green onions, and beef.
- Without turning on the stove, place the sauce ingredients, sliced onions, and beef in a large frying pan. Then, turn on the heat and start cooking.
- Serve the simmered beef and onion over steamed rice in large bowls.
Cooking Tips
- Thinly slice the onion so it becomes tender and sweeter quickly. When cooked, the onion imparts a natural sweetness to the dish.
- Use good quality beef. Well-marbled beef will not become chewy after simmering in the sauce. I highly recommend ribeye for gyudon. It’s also easy to thinly slice your own meat. For well-marbled beef, it’s easier to flash-freeze and cut the semi-frozen meat.
- Make extra dashi (Japanese soup stock) so you can use it for gyudon and miso soup to go with the meal. I recommend making dashi either from scratch or with a dashi packet.
- Cook more rice than usual. Rice bowl dishes (or “donburi”) typically serve more rice per person to go with the food on top. Therefore, prepare a little bit more than usual. I always make 1½ rice cooker cups for two servings and 3 rice cooker cups for four servings.
- Don’t overcook the beef, especially if your meat is not well-marbled. You don’t want chewy meat. As soon as the beef is no longer pink, stop cooking. If the meat is well-marbled, you can let it simmer slightly longer to allow the meat to absorb more flavors from the sauce.
Popular Gyudon Variations
1. Gyudon with eggs
In Japan, we occasionally serve gyudon with a different type of eggs.
- Tsukimi Gyudon (お月見牛丼) – We place a raw egg yolk in the center of the simmered beef.
- Gyudon with Onsen Tamago (温玉のせ牛丼)- We place a poached egg in the center of the simmered beef.
- Tanindon (他人丼) or Gyutojidon (牛とじ丼) – Right before finishing cooking, drizzle beaten eggs over the simmered beef and cook covered until eggs are just set (In Japan, eggs are served slightly more runny).
For the first two variations of gyudon, when you’re ready to eat, break the yolk and mix it with the beef and onions to add a layer of richness to the meal.
The last option gives a nice layer of fluffy egg to the beef mixture. You can read more about it in my Tanindon post.
2. Kansai Sukiyaki-Style Gyudon
If you’re a long-time JOC fan, you’re familiar with my gyudon recipe and the image above, which I originally shared in 2011.
This is how my grandmother and mother made their gyudon. Since they are from the Kansai area (my grandma was from Nara and moved to Osaka where my mom was raised), they cooked gyudon like they made their Kansai-style sukiyaki. The signature of this style is to sprinkle sugar on the thinly sliced beef while it’s still raw and cook the meat first before simmering it with other seasonings.
Unlike the Kanto-style gyudon where we simmer beef and onion in dashi (Japanese soup stock), Kansai-style gyudon does not always require dashi and is cooked with just the seasonings; Therefore, the flavor is more intense.
Since my grandmother and mother’s gyudon recipe is not the typical gyudon recipe that people often seek, I’ve decided to update this post with a more standard gyudon recipe.
So, if you would like to make my Gyudon recipe from 2011, or Kansai Sukiyaki-Style Gyudon, simply skip the dashi from the ingredients below, and here are the cooking steps:
- Stir-fry onions with a tablespoon of oil (not listed in the recipe) until tender.
- Add beef and sugar (using the same amount as specified in the recipe) and quickly stir to combine.
- Add sake, mirin, and soy sauce (again, using the same amount in the recipe) and cook until the meat is no longer pink.
- Optionally, slowly drizzle a thin stream of the beaten eggs over the beef (Do not mix the egg with the beef) and add the green onions on top. Cook covered on medium-low heat until the egg is almost set or done to your liking (but don’t overcook it).
- Serve over steamed rice, and enjoy!
What is the Best Rice Cooker
To make the perfect rice for gyudon, I like to use my Zojirushi NP-NWC10XB Rice Cooker. It makes fluffy rice every time and is the best Japanese rice cooker I’ve ever used! You can get it on Amazon for $458.29, and it’s well worth it if you cook a lot of rice.
Popular Donburi Recipes
- Oyakodon (Chicken & Egg Bowl)
- Eggplant Unagi Donburi
- Chicken Katsudon (Chicken Cutlet Rice Bowl)
- Soboro Don (Ground Chicken Bowl)
- Poke Bowl
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Gyudon (Japanese Beef Rice Bowl)
Video
Ingredients
- ½ onion (4 oz, 113 g)
- 1 green onions/scallions
- ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) (you can also slice your own meat)
For the Sauce
- ½ cup dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
- 2 Tbsp sake (substitute with dry sherry or Chinese rice wine, or use water for a non-alcohol version)
- 2 Tbsp mirin (or use 2 Tbsp sake/water + 2 tsp sugar)
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sugar (to taste)
For Serving
- 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (typically 1⅔ cups (250 g) per donburi serving)
- pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga) (to garnish)
Instructions
Before You Start…
- For the steamed rice, please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked rice, enough for 2 donburi servings (3⅓ cups, 500 g). See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
- Gather all the ingredients. I usually put the thinly sliced beef in the freezer for 10 minutes because it‘s a lot easier to cut semi-frozen meat.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- First, thinly slice ½ onion.
- Next, cut 1 green onions/scallions diagonally into thin slices. Set aside.
- Then, take out ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) from the freezer. Cut the semi-frozen sliced meat into pieces 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide.
- In a large frying pan (do not turn on the heat yet), add ½ cup dashi (Japanese soup stock), 2 Tbsp sake, 2 Tbsp mirin, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp sugar. Mix to combine.
- Next, add the onion slices and spread them throughout the pan, separating the onion layers.
- Then, add the meat on top of the onions. Separate the thin slices of beef so the meat covers the onions.
To Cook
- Cover the pan with a lid. Now, turn on the heat to medium and start cooking.
- When the meat has browned, skim off the scum and fat from the broth with a fine-mesh skimmer. Turn down the heat to a simmer and continue cooking, covered, for 3–4 minutes.
- Sprinkle the green onions on top and cook covered for another minute. Optional: If you would like to add beaten eggs, you can do it now (refer to my Tanindon recipe for detailed instructions).
To Serve
- Divide 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice into large donburi bowls. Then, drizzle some of the pan sauce on top of the rice.
- Put the beef and onion mixture on top of the rice. If you’d like, drizzle additional remaining sauce on top. Top the Gyudon with pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga). Enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep any leftover beef and egg mixture in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 days and in the freezer for up to 3–4 weeks.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on January 13, 2011. The content and images were updated and the recipe was revised on April 17, 2022. The post was republished with a new video on April 5, 2024.
I love this recipe so much and it’s my go-to when I crave a comforting bowl of deliciousness. Thank you so much! However, I found that the original recipe was more to my taste – this revised one is delicious, too, but is the original recipe available anywhere or could it be added to this, please? 😊
Agreed I would also love to know about the original recipe 🙂
Please read my answer to Natalia. 🙂
Hi Natalia! I’m so glad you like the original recipe from 11 years ago. That’s how my mom cooks gyudon, which is Kansai-style and with the egg.
Back then, SEO wasn’t that important for blogging, and I didn’t have to worry about keywords and I could share whatever I like to write… However, blogging has become way more technical and now I have to think and write with SEO stuff in mind.
To get to my point, the original recipe (from 2011) should be named differently—either Kansai Sukiyaki-style Gyutoji or Kansai Sukiyaki-Style Tanindon. When people are looking for “gyudon,” there are specific things/answers that they look for. Unfortunately, not my “mom’s gyudon.”
As I was aware that many readers enjoy the original recipe, I already mentioned in the post how you use my current recipe to make the original recipe.
The good part is that the NEW RECIPE IS THE SAME as the old one, except for the addition of dashi in the ingredient list.
So, if you want to make the old recipe, just SKIP dashi in the recipe. You also need a tablespoon of oil to stir fry onion and beef but the measurement for condiments are all the same.
Please read the instructions written under Kansai-style Gyudon (right under my old image of gyudon that you’re familiar). Why it’s not on the recipe card? It’s VERY confusing to write two different steps, so I can’t do that…
I hope this helps!
Hi there…just to share: my version of the Gyudon is a sunny side up …with a nice runny yolk..and i add in the seaweed flakes and sesame seeds for added ‘omph’…
Hi Serene! Thanks for sharing your version! 🙂
Where do you buy your thinly sliced beef?
I buy thinly sliced meat from Japanese supermarkets here in the Bay Area, mostly Nijiya. I use shabu shabu meat. 🙂
Nami, this recipe was so delicious! My husband and I have been living in Japan for 4 years and love japanese food! I love sukiya but it never sits well for me. So finding this recipe made me excited! The were easy to follow and was a big hit for my family. My husband even said he could eat this everyday. :p if I wanted to add cheese what kind would be best? My husband suggested cheese on his next time.
Hi Krista! I’m very happy to hear you and your husband liked my gyudon recipe! 😀
I was actually surprised to hear gyudon + cheese combination, which made me look into it… and learned that it’s on the menu at Sukiya and Yoshinoya! I haven’t gone there since… maybe high school…. In Japan, most of cheese is processed cheese, and there are not too many kinds available. I assume what Japanese like is the “pizza cheese” which is available in Japanese supermarket. I think that’s similar to mozzarella but not 100% (I think?). I wish I can give you a better advice…. hope this helps. 🙂
Gyudon restaurants such as Sukiya and Yoshinoya are definitely my go-to place after a late night drinking sesh because it’s cheap (yay student life!!!) and open 24 hours.
I didn’t know it was this simple to make it at home though! It was so good and I love how the raw egg yolk blends everything together.
Thank you, Nami. I can’t express how much your blog has helped me to survive in Japan! 🙂
Hi Dee! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed making Gyudon at home! It’s one of the easiest donburi that I cook too. Now I’m in Japan for the summer and I get to go to eat gyudon more often. 😀
awesome! You should held a meet and greet with your fans while you’re here!!
Thank you for your suggestion Dee! I never thought of it before, but a few fans living in Japan suggested. I wonder how many people follow my blog and actually want to see me… 🙂 Thank you for your thought!
Thank you for a very simple Gyudon recipe! My kids love it!
Hi Tricia! Thank you so much for letting me know. I’m so glad to hear your kids enjoyed it. 🙂
I have seen several recipes for this and it has always seemed intriguing and delicious. This recipe is so detailed and I like the pics and the dish looks delicious.
Thank you so much for your kind comment! I hope you will give this recipe a try! 🙂
Hai Nami, I have tried it and my kids love it. Btw do you know what is natto? Do you have recipe for making natto? Thank u if you can share the information.
Hi Julie! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m happy to hear your children enjoyed this dish! 🙂
Yes, I know natto and I like it. 🙂 It’s fermented beans and a lot of people dislike the smell of it (it’s typical when it comes to fermented foods). We don’t make natto at home, and we buy a package of natto from a grocery store. There are many ways to eat it besides eating with steamed rice. Maybe one day I’ll feature natto on my blog. 😀
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natto
Awesome recipe. It’s a lot I the meat you choose, so I think it’s worth spending the extra money if there’s some really good beef available… Anyway, this is just a great recipe! I can make better beef bowl at home now than I can buy at some of the Japanese restaurants here!
Thank you Kate! Homemade ones are definitely better as you can control the amount of seasonings – sometimes restaurant seasonings can be too salty/sweet. Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami!
I visited Japan for three months while visiting my fiance and I became ADDICTED to gyudon! I still crave it, but being back in the states now, I can’t find it anywhere. I know this post is old, but I hope you can answer my question. I would love to make this, but the gyudon that I had in Japan didn’t have egg in it – or at least, I never tasted it. As far as I knew, there was only the beef, onion, rice, and ‘sauce’ (with which I topped it with massive amounts of cheese and ginger haha). So my question is, is egg a vital part to the recipe, or is it just an added ingredient that you don’t necessarily need? Thank you! 🙂
I should also say that as far as I saw on menus and such, egg was only a topping that went on top. Thank you!
Hi Kassondra! Happy to hear you like Gyudon! 🙂 Yes egg is option, and in Japan, raw egg is served on top (center) of beef, but here in the U.S., raw egg is not recommended to eat and you don’t see raw egg being served…at all… so I have to “cook” it. You can totally omit the egg. 🙂
Hi,
Just wanted to point out a small typo, “Place teh beef and egg on top of steamed rice and pour desired amount of sauce. Top with pickled red ginger”.
“teh” is the typo, last sentence of article, step 7.
Thanks,
Mohseen.
Hi Mohseen! Aww thank you so much for letting me know the typo! Very kind of you. 🙂
Made this today – the taste was awesome! I changed some of the proportions to suit my own tastes (I like it saltier) but zomg. T_T So happy. Haven’t had a decent gyu don since I moved to Melbourne.
Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!
Hello nugget! I made this the other day too! 🙂 I’m so glad you liked it. Thank you for your feedback!
Nami i adore you can i be your apprentice? =P love your recipes can i see you?
Haha thank you Dale! 🙂
Namiko San. I need the traditional recipee for pork katsudon. Can you help me out ?
Hi Rarufu!
Make tonkatsu using this recipe:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/tonkatsu/
And then follow this instruction by replacing chicken katsu:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/chicken-katsu-don/
Hope that helps. 🙂
The Gyudon recipe looks great and want to try it soon. In the final step of your recipe you say “drizzle the sauce over”. So my question is did I miss something? I don’t see any sauce.
Hi Les! The sauce I mentioned is the cooking liquid that you have in the pan. 🙂 I’ll update the recipe with the remaining sauce from the pan or something. Thank you!
Hi nami! I’m a big fan of j-food ! Thank you so much for posting different recipes here! I will do this tonight and I’m excited to taste this wonderful Gyudon! And I actually did your Zaru Soba! Sugoii!!!! But I don’t have a sake, I’ve been to all Asian markets in our area and no SAKE 🙁 so I’m using Chinese rice wine but not the real rice wine it has added salt 🙁 I can’t find a pure Chinese rice wine here( New Zealand) Ms.Nami what is the best alternative of sake? Thank you!
Hi Cheryl! I’m happy to hear you enjoy Japanese food! Hm, sake is alcoholic beverage, so some grocery stores which don’t have permit may not carry sake (that’s why they carry cooking rice wine which contains salt, not true alcohol). That works fine too, as long as you check the taste and makes sure it’s not too salty. If you cannot find sake, the closest thing is dry sherry. Here’s more about sake:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/sake/
Hi Nami, thank you for your advice. just done reading about the sake thats really helpful. I am going to do your recipes for a week, from bento to dinner, i hope i can do it right^^. ill let you know what will cook. have a good day!
I hope you enjoy my recipes and thank you for trying them! Good luck! 🙂