With chunks of potatoes, onion, and thinly sliced beef simmered in savory and sweet dashi broth, Japanese Meat and Potato Stew (Nikujaga) is one of the most iconic home-cooked dishes in Japan.
Nikujaga (肉じゃが) or Japanese Meat and Potato Stew is synonymous with the good old home cooking in Japan. It’s the dish that everyone frequently eats at home and remembers as mother’s taste おふくろの味. Let’s make a killer Nikujaga that steals your family’s heart!
What is Nikujaga
As two of the main ingredients are niku (meat) and jagaimo (potatoes), Nikujaga (肉じゃが) literally means “meat and potatoes”. It is an iconic Japanese home-cooked dish, known as “Ofukuro no Aji” – taste of mother’s cooking. For many, nikujaga is an honest-to-goodness comfort food.
Potatoes make up the majority of the dish, with some thinly sliced beef or pork, onion, shirataki noodles (ito konnyaku), and colorful mix of vegetables. In western Japan, nikujaga typically features beef while pork is more commonly used in eastern Japan.
It is a classic Yoshoku, a western-influenced Japanese food, appeared in the late 19th century. Here, the ingredients are stewed in soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin, along with dashi (or water) in a pot, rendering a familiar Japanese flavor.
History of Nikujaga
Nikujaga originated in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was introduced to sailors as it was high in nutrition and the ingredients are easy to supply as they are similar to the ones for Navy Curry.
In the late 19th century, General Heihachiro Togo who studied in Portsmouth, England in late 1800s, asked the naval cook to create a version of the beef stew, which was served in the British Royal Navy. As the chef never tried beef stew before and ingredients like wine and demi glace sauce were not available then, the chef invented his own version with soy sauce and sugar, similar to Sukiyaki. The dish, called Amani (甘煮) back then, became popular in the Navy, which you can find the recipe in the “Navy kitchen textbook.”
On the contrary, the general public didn’t show interest in the dish as it uses beef and potatoes that were foreign to the Japanese at the time. Nikujaga didn’t appear on the table at home until the 1970s. That’s when beef stew and curry rice started to become popular and home cooks started to use beef and potatoes in their cooking.
How to Make Nikujaga
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Potatoes
- Thinly sliced beef or pork (thinly sliced meat cooks a lot faster!)
- Onion
- Shirataki noodles (Ito Konnyaku)
- Carrot
- Green vegetables (Most commonly snow peas, green beans, or green peas)
- Seasonings – soy sauce, sugar, mirin, sake, optional dashi
Overview of Cooking Steps
- Blanch green vegetable of your choice in a separate small pot. Set aside for the last step.
- Cook shirataki noodles according to package directions.
- In a large pot, cook the onion and then add meat.
- Add potatoes and coat them well with oil.
- Add the rest of ingredients, including shirataki noodles.
- Add seasonings and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 30-60 minutes.
- When ready to serve, add in blanched green vegetable and reheat to serve.
5 Most Important Tips to Make Best Nikujaga
- Cut the ingredients into roughly equal chunks and size – The ingredients should be all cooked in 15 minutes or less. If you cut them too small or too large, the texture will either be mushy or undercooked.
- Use a bigger pot/pan – To make sure the ingredients absorb all the great flavors, it’s best to use a wide, big pan or pot so the ingredients won’t be overlapping too much and there is no need to mix frequently.
- Use Otoshibuta (Drop Lid) – This Japanese must-have tool keeps the ingredients in place while simmering so they will not move and break down. It also helps to circulate the broth over the surface so you don’t need to mix while cooking. Don’t have one? Make one with aluminum foil or parchment paper!
- Let cool after simmering – During cool down, the ingredients will absorb all the flavors.
- Add green vegetable right before serving – I highly recommend blanching the green vegetables first, and reheat it right before serving. If you cook them with the other ingredients, the color will not stay bright green.
What to Serve with Nikujaga
- Rice: Steamed rice, Takikomi Gohan
- Soup: Miso Soup, Kakitama Jiru (Japanese Egg Drop Soup)
- Sides: Grilled Mackerel (if you want more protein), Spinach Ohitashi, Chilled Tofu, Green Bean Shiraae, Eggplant Agebitashi
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Nikujaga (Japanese Meat and Potato Stew)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 onion (8.8 oz, 250 g)
- 1 carrot (4.5 oz, 127 g)
- 3 Yukon gold potatoes (1.2 lb, 546 g; Yukon keeps its shape better during simmering, but I also make Nikujaga with Russet, which tends to break easily but absorb flavors nicely)
- 1 package shirataki noodles (7 oz, 200 g)
- ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or rib eye) (it can be thinly sliced pork; skip for vegan/vegetarian and use shiitake, king oyster, or portobello mushrooms as a substitute)
- 8 pieces snow peas (1 oz, 28 g; you can also use green beans or green peas)
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc)
For Seasonings
- 2 cup dashi (Japanese soup stock; click to learn more) (Use Kombu Dashi for vegan/vegetarian)
- 4 Tbsp mirin
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp sake
- 1 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Cut the sliced meat in half about 3 inch (7.6 cm) wide..
- Cut the onion in half and into ½-inch (1.3 cm) wedges.
- Peel the carrot and cut it into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Here, I use a Japanese cutting technique called Rangiri, where we cut the carrot diagonally while rotating it a quarter between cuts. This helps to create more surface spaces so it will cook faster and absorb more flavors.
- Cut each potato into quarters
- Remove the sharp edges of the potatoes with a knife to create smooth corners. Soak the potatoes in water to remove starch. Tip: We call this Japanese cutting technique "mentori". This prevents the potatoes from breaking into pieces. If the potato has sharp edges, they are likely to bump into each other and break easily while simmering.
- Remove strings from snow peas.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt. Add the snow peas.
- Cook them in boiling water for 1 minute and take them out.
- Drain shirataki noodles from the package and roughly cut them in half. Cook the noodles in boiling water for 1 minute to remove the unwanted smell.
- Drain well and set aside. Cut the thinly-sliced beef into 3 pieces (depending on the size).
- In a large pot (I used a Staub), heat oil on medium heat and sauté the onion.
- When the onion is coated with oil, add the meat and cook until no longer pink.
- Add the potatoes and coat them well with cooking liquid. Tip: This coating will prevent the potatoes from breaking.
- Add the carrot and shirataki noodles and mix them all together.
- Add dashi and make sure it's just enough to cover the ingredients (it doesn't have to fully cover the ingredients).
- Cover to cook. Once boiling, with a fine-mesh skimmer, skim the scum and foam.
- Add the seasonings (sugar, sake, soy sauce, and mirin).
- Mix all together and place an otoshibuta (drop lid) on top of the ingredients.
- Simmer on low heat for 12-14 minutes, or until a skewer pierces through a potato easily. Tip: The otoshibuta is necessary to maintain the shape of the vegetables. They bump into each other and break easily when they are loose. Do not mix the ingredients while cooking; the otoshibuta will help the flavor circulate automatically.
- Turn off the heat and remove the otoshibuta. Ideally, let it stand (uncovered) for 30-60 minutes before serving. The flavors will soak into the ingredients while cooling down.
To Serve
- When you are ready to serve nikujaga, add the blanched snow peas to the pot and cover to reheat on medium heat. When simmering, reduce the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes. Tip: Add the snow peas right before serving to keep the bright color.
- Turn off the heat and serve Nikujaga with some cooking liquid.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container or in the pot and store in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Nikujaga tastes even better on the second day! To freeze, remove the potatoes as they change the texture when frozen. You can keep it in the freezer for up to a month.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on April 19, 2012. New images and video have been added to the post and the content has been updated.
The types of shirataki at local Asian supermarkets here often varies in availability and sometimes I can only get the type tied up in little bundles (rather than those free in the package like in the link to your shirataki article). Is there much difference in how you’d use them in your recipes compared to the free/non-bundled ones?
Hi Liliana! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
The little bundle’s ones are the same product as the loose ones, and we often use the bundle’s ones for making Oden or Sukiyaki.
To use the bundle’s ones, you can use it in bundles or cut/untied the handle.
We hope this helps!
Made this last night using pork ribs and they are sooooo good!!!! I have been craving for a good non-tomato base stew and so glad I found your recipe. I will try with beef next time because it is so simple and easy to make! I don’t have any dashi but I adjusted the other seasoning for taste. All good for me. The only slight problem is there are a layer of oil on top so I have to take some time to remove it – which is a bit troublesome because I want to eat it right away :p
Thank you!!!!!
Hi Agnes! Thank you very much for sharing your cooking experience and for your kind feedback!
We are glad to hear you enjoyed the Nikujaga flavor!
We hope you try with thinly sliced beef (chuck or rib eye) next time. It will be less oil, and enjoy it right away!😊 Happy Cooking!
How long do you soak the potatoes?
Hi Laura! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
Soaking usually takes about 10 minutes. After you cut the potatoes and soak them in the water, leave it until you are at Step 13.
We hope this helps!
Thank you for your recipe. It was delicious. Will make it again
Hi Sakura! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear it came out delicious, and you will make it again!😊
Made this tonight, I didn’t have any greens so added chinese cabbage and enoki mushrooms – the flavours were fantastic! I love your recipes, so full of information and easy to follow instructions. I even followed your Otoshibuta instructions to make the drop lid from aluminum foil.
Hi Annie! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed many recipes from our site and glad to know that Nami’s instructions are easy to follow!
Happy Cooking!
初めまして。アルフレッドヴィラランテです。よろしくお願いします。I Tried The Nikujaga Recipe, And It Came Out Good! I Substituted Ramen Noodles For The Shirataki Noodles (I Couldn’t Find Them At The Store). I Went To Tokyo In Dec, 2018, It Was Great. I Hope To Go Back Soon. I Hope Everyone Is OK During Coronavirus.
こんにちは！ アルフレッドさん。 Thank you very much for trying the Nikujaga recipe!
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed it. Yes. We hope the world gets better soon and feel safe to travel again!🙏🏻
I am a beginner home cook and I love your recipes. Your recipes are life savers. They rescued me from so many dinner disasters and hungry stomachs. Just wondering if I can sub the sake for port to make it a heartiest stew. Are there any other changes I may need to make to the ingredient list or quantity?
Hi Nana, We couldn’t be happier to hear how much joy and excitement Nami’s recipe has brought to you! Thank you for your kind feedback.
The port wine is sweeter than Sake, so you may want to adjust the sweetness. Reduce the sugar or mirin amount as you like.
We hope this helps!
I use your Nikujaga recipe very often! It’s very nostalgic food for me as my mum used to make it regularly when I was a child. Living in the UK where the thinly sliced beef was not so readily available (or affordable), my mum used to substitute it with minced beef. I am using your recipe but with mince and it works great and is the ultimate nostalgic comfort food for me ☺️
Thank you so much!
Hi Louis, We are glad to hear you enjoy this recipe! Yes! Minced beef is a good substitute for thinly sliced meat, and we make it that way sometimes too. 🙂 Thank you very much for your kind feedback and for sharing your cooking experience with us!
Love Nikujagga, thanks for being my guru for cooking in Japan.
Hi Victoria! Thank you very much for your kind feedback.
I’ve always looked out for your recipes as they’re the easiest to follow. You made cooking easy and there’s so much sharing of food history which I find precious and endearing.
Thank you – food has become more meaningful through your recipes.
Sincerely, sp
Hi Sofie!
Aww. You have no idea how much your kind words meant to us!
Thank you very much for trying our recipes and for your kind feedback. 😊
Hi, Nami! I made nikujaga 2 days ago, we had it yesterday & I found it a bit bland – I think it’s because I used 1 carrot & 2 large potatoes, so the soy-mix seasoning was probably over-diluted… I have eaten many times nikujaga before, so I know I made it too bland. When I reheat the rest for dinner today, would it be ok to add a bit more of the seasoning and, if so, at which point woukd it be best to do so & how much should I add (to avoid the taste becoming too strong)? Thank you & take care !! (^_^)
Hi Rea,
Thank you so much for trying this recipe!
To adjust to your taste, we recommend adding the Dashi stock and Seasonings 1 Tbsp at the time and bring to a boil then simmer on medium-low heat for few minutes. I hope this helps😊
It worked! Thank you, Nami, for saving our dinner 💕
Hi Rea, My pleasure!😊
I have never tried or made this dish before but the recipe just looked so good, i had to try it. I’m not sure if I got the right flavor, but it tastes similar to sukiyaki but with a milder flavor. My family loved it! Thanks for making recipes like these for people who want to try making Japanese dishes. Looking to make more of the recipes in this website. Keep it up! <3
Hi Candyd,
Yes, Nikujaga is a very similar flavor to Sukiyaki. It is a savory dish with a hint of sweetness. I hope you like Nami’s Nikujaga!🙂
Hi Nani
I was wondering if it’s possible to have a vegetarian version of nikujaga by substituting the meat with shitake mushrooms and tofu? What adjustments would I have to make please? Any advice would be very helpful! Thanks so much
Hi Sharon! Yeah, just use kombu dashi. And add shiitake mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms (always great meat sub), portobello mushrooms (great meat sub) are good for mushroom portion. Tofu releases water, so it might dilute the flavor, so unless it’s the deep-fried tofu, I won’t use it. Deep-fried tofu will absorb flavors and it’ll be delicious and it’s firm enough to cook with root vegetables and won’t crumble. 🙂
Hi, Nami, thanks for this recipe and all the tips! I tried it last week and it went down well with my family. Plus, it was easy to cook. I used shabu shabu beef, and I laid a few extra strips over the top of the stew. They acted like a kind of otoshibuta! Thanks again, and I hope you’re healing well.
Hi shl! Thank you so much for trying this recipe. I’m so glad your family enjoyed this dish! I like your idea on shabu shabu beef otoshibuta! Awesome. Thanks so much for sharing your tip! And thank you for your well wishes. xoxo
Hi Nami, I’m so glad that you post great step-by-step recipes for dishes I love. I especially like making nimono, so nikujaga is definitely up my alley. My only problem right now is I have every ingredient except for the shirataki noodles/ konyaku noodles. Is it still doable even without this ingredient, I feel like I’m just going to be missing the texture of the dish?
Hi Vanessa! Yes, I sometimes make nikujaga without shirataki. It’s more of add-on ingredient (not the main ingredient like potatoes) so it’s good!
Hi Nami,
I just want to say thank you for creating this site! It is a bible to me and has helped me to connect to my Japanese roots. The layout of your recipes are so easy to follow and I love the accompanied images. Truth be told I have always been intimidated by Japanese cooking, as it’s such an important part of the culture, however, now I have my kitchen stocked full of all the basics and your website, I have enjoyed experimenting and perfecting and I look forward to being able to cook for my Ojiichan and Obaachan when I next visit Japan.
Hi Selina! Aww I’m so happy to hear my recipes are helpful and you enjoy cooking Japanese food at home. Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Selina!! I’m sure your Ojiichan and Obaachan will be so happy to see and eat your home-cooked food! 🙂
I’m new to japanese cooking and especially using dashi. I realize that there are many different flavor dashi. Is there one flavor that you prefer for this dish (nikujyaga)?
Hi Stephanie! I apologize for my late response. The standard dashi I always use (as well as typical dashi used in cooking in Japan) is kombu and dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi).
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-dashi/
Hope this helps! It’s the most important flavor in Japanese cooking. You can use this to make miso soup and other dishes. It can be kept for a week in the fridge, but it only takes less than 30 minutes to make this broth. 🙂
Delicious recipe and quick enough for a weeknight meal. Will be making this again!
Hi Wendy! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for your kind feedback. xoxo
Thanks for the Nikujaga recipe! From Kansai, our family likes it sweeter, and with more dashi, so I adjusted for that. We wanted to suggest shiitake mushrooms, though! It just doesn’t feel complete without them.
Thanks Nami-swaaaaaan!
Hi Kelley! Thank you for your suggestion! I like mine to be sweeter too, especially when it’s in bento next day or eaten at room temperature or chilled. 😀 Thanks for trying this recipe! xo
So easy and delicious. I was surprised to find shirataki noodles at the non-Asian grocery store near me so I thought it’d be perfect to try this recipe. So simple to put together and the broth is incredible. I could drink the broth alone if it was just a cold day and I needed a delicious way to warm up. Adding this to my regular dish rotation!
Hi Vivi! Thank you for trying this recipe! I think a lot of non-Asian people eat shirataki as zero calorie noodles (healthier alternative). I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Yes, yes, yes! I’ve made Nikujaga so many times and it was DULLLLL. Now I know the secret! 秘密
Hi Don! Thanks for your kind words! So happy to hear you like Nikujaga. 🙂
Konnichiwa Nami,
Chotto shitsumon ga arimasu. I have some frozen ground beef and was wondering if I can use that to replace the sliced beef. Should I try doing it with less time (to prevent beef from turning too old) , or use the same amount of time for simmering?
arigatougozaimasu ! J
Konnichiwa J! You can use ground beef. It’s more of cooking the potatoes. Meat goes in first to cook, and then simmer all the ingredients with meat until potatoes are cooked through (meat will stay in even though it’s been cooked already). To improve the flavor, you can set aside to let the ingredients absorb more flavors at room temperature and reheat to enjoy it. That would be ideal if you have time to cook ahead. Hope that helps!
Thank you Nami! It turned out delicious with the ground beef. Although I would choose beef that is more lean next time.
Thank you! 🙂
Hi J! Thanks so much for letting me know. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
I made it to the recipe and it tastes fantastic! The homemade dashi stock is an especially good
Hi Nami, thank for sharing such a wonderful recipe. My husband and daughters love them very much. Have been cooking it couples of time……thank you very much!! ????
Hi Wai! So happy to hear your family enjoy this dish! It’s very Japanese “home cook” dish. I’m excited that your family liked it! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Oh my goodness! I made this for the first time tonight and it was absolutely amazing! I couldn’t believe I had made it! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It has become a new favorite. とてもおいしかたです！
your recipes are awesome! i love them so much <3 ive gotta try them all ☺️
Thank you so much, dzung! I’m so happy to hear that. 🙂
Definitely a favourite of mine. I added sweet potato to it and a little bit of oyster sauce. I have to freeze it otherwise I tend to eat to much. Definitely a quick comfort food
Thanks for sharing these recipes
Hi Nami! I just wanted to tell you that you are an absolute God-send for me as I am living in Germany and had NO idea how to cook my mom’s Japanese home-cooked meals until I came upon your website. All this time, I’ve relied on her or have been eating out…But this isn’t possible in Germany, so without you I’d be horribly homesick AND starving. Thank you x 1 million! Your recipes are laid out so well and clearly and make it easy for even the worst of cooks.
Hi Marie! Aww you’re so kind and sweet. Thank you very much for writing! Once you cook several dishes, you will be able to season your meal just the way your mom cooks. 🙂 Japanese cooking is very simple (condiments are always same), so you can easily adjust to your liking. I’m glad to hear my recipes are easy to follow. Thank you very much!!! xoxo
Via Nikujaga I discovered your blog. Thanks Nikujaga!! One question: I always make it with chicken (thighs). But if you make it with this thin meat you cook the meat the whole time? It doesn’t get overcooked? Do you use the kind of meat you can use for shabu-shabu? I found out that my eastern food shop sells this beef only the other day. Sooooo happy! First time ever my shabu shabu tasted a bit like Japan.
Hi Lara! So happy to hear how you found my blog. Meat should have enough fat in it and be tender even after simmering. Because the meat is so thin, even after cooking for a while it doesn’t get chewy or hard. It’s pretty common in Japanese cooking to cook meat like this (sukiyaki, gyudon, all similar way). Great that you found a shop that sells thinly sliced meat! Make sure it has some fat in it otherwise the meat will be chewy and tough. If their sliced meat is not good quality, I’d slice my own meat using better quality meat (rib eye is a good choice): https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to/how-to-slice-meat/