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 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” – the taste of a 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 a 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, that 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 the 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, and 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 (Japanese soup stock)
Overview of Cooking Steps
- Blanch the 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 the 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 vegetables 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 vegetables right before serving – I highly recommend blanching the green vegetables first, and reheating them 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
Sign up for the free newsletter delivered to your inbox and stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
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)
- 8 pieces snow peas (or use green beans or green peas)
- 1 package shirataki noodles (7 oz, 200 g)
- ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) (or slice your own meat; you can use thinly sliced pork; substitute with shiitake, king oyster, or portobello mushrooms for vegan/vegetarian)
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
For the Seasonings
- 2 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
- 4 Tbsp mirin
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp sake
- 1 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Cut 1 onion in half, and cut each half into ½-inch (1.3 cm) wedges.
- Peel 1 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 turn between cuts. This helps to create more surface area so it will cook faster and absorb more flavor.
- Cut each of the 3 Yukon gold potatoes into quarters. Tip: Yukon golds keep their shape better during simmering, but I sometimes use russet potatoes, which tend to break easily but absorb flavors nicely.
- Remove the sharp edges of the potatoes with a knife to create smooth corners. Then, soak the potatoes in water to remove the starch. Tip: We call this Japanese cutting technique mentori. This prevents the potatoes from breaking into pieces. If the potatoes have sharp edges, they are likely to bump into each other and break while simmering.
- Remove the strings from 8 pieces snow peas.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt. Add the snow peas.
- Blanch them in the boiling water for 1 minute and take them out. Keep the water boiling.
- Drain 1 package shirataki noodles and cut them roughly in half. Blanch the noodles in the pot of boiling water for 1 minute to remove any odor.
- Drain well and set aside. Cut the thinly-sliced beef in half or thirds (depending on the size) so that the pieces are about 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide.
To Cook the Nikujaga
- Preheat a large pot or Dutch oven (I used a 4-QT Staub cocotte) on medium heat. Then, add 1 Tbsp neutral oil and sauté the onion wedges.
- When the onion wedges are coated with oil, add ½ lb thinly sliced beef (chuck or ribeye) and cook until no longer pink.
- Add the potatoes and coat them well with the cooking liquid. Tip: This coating will help keep the potatoes from breaking.
- Add the carrot pieces and shirataki noodles and mix everything together.
- Add 2 cups dashi (Japanese soup stock), making sure there‘s enough liquid to almost cover the ingredients (it doesn‘t have to fully cover the ingredients). If there‘s not enough liquid, add water.
- Cover with a lid and continue to cook. Once boiling, skim the scum and foam from the surface with a fine-mesh skimmer.
- Add 1 Tbsp sugar, 2 Tbsp sake, 4 Tbsp soy sauce, and 4 Tbsp mirin.
- Mix it 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 a potato easily. Tip: The otoshibuta holds the ingredients in place and 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 distribute the cooking liquid and its flavors.
- Turn off the heat and remove the otoshibuta. Ideally, let the Nikujaga rest (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 the 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 their bright color.
- Turn off the heat and serve the Nikujaga with some cooking liquid in a large serving bowl or individual bowls.
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 their texture changes 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.
I made this for my family tonight. Even my 2 year old daughter loved it! I made awase dashi and added shiitake dashi. Omitted the noodles because I couldn’t find any. Served with Japanese rice, furikake and salad with toasted sesame dressing. All made from scratch with this website!
Hi Paul! Aww. We are so happy to hear your family and your little one loved it!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hello again I have a few more questions regarding nimono dishes in general. The saucepan you use for this dish, would it be suitable to use for any type of nimono dish? Also how big should the pieces of vegetables typically be in size for nimono (i.e. 1″ chunks 2″ chunks etc).
Hi Amy! Yeah, I use this one or 2.75 QT (https://amzn.to/3owvWOR) for my nimono. It really depends on how many servings you are making too, so I can’t answer what’s best for you (or your family). I use a smaller one when the ingredients are not chunky, and when I cook more chunky food, I use a bigger size pot.
The size of vegetables should be 1-2 bite-size pieces. Typically carrots are smaller than potatoes because they are denser and take a long time to cook. If you cut carrots the same size as the potatoes, potatoes may be melted away by the time the carrots are done cooking. So you have to think about the whole cooking time, the look (appearance), and the density of the vegetables. Hope this helps!
Hello you said you used a large saucepan. What do you mean when you say large? How many quarts is in the saucepan you used to make this? Is the saucepan you used deep or shallow?
Hi Amy! I used a 4-QT Staub Cocotte (https://amzn.to/3wSzPAv). It’s a deep one, and here’s the dimension: 11.02 x 10.24 x 4.92 inches
Hi Namiko, I have cooked Nikujaga with pork for dinner tonight, it is delicious and my family loved it. I have made dashi stock myself and followed your recipe exactly except the shirataki noodle because I could not find it in the Japanese stock. Will definitely make this again. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Annie! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your cooking experience with us.
We are so happy to hear you and your family loved Nikujaga!
Konbonwa Namiko, All I can is oishii!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe! It brings back fond childhood memories.
Hi debprothro, Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and for your kind feedback!
We are glad to hear you enjoyed homemade Nikujaga!
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. 😊