A bowl of udon noodles topped with seasoned ground meat, a soft-boiled egg, sliced green onions, and red pepper flakes, served on a wooden table with tea and condiments nearby.

A bowl of Soboro Udon is the ultimate comfort meal when you want something quick yet satisfying. The savory ground chicken sauce coats every chewy strand of udon, while the silky Japanese-style poached egg adds a touch of luxury. It’s fast and fuss-free to make, ideal for busy nights when you crave a warm, nourishing dinner that feels special without extra effort.

If you love Japanese noodle dishes, try my Curry Udon, Yaki Udon (Stir-Fried Udon), and Beef Udon recipes next!

A bowl of udon noodles topped with minced meat, a poached egg, sliced green onions, and seasoning, surrounded by small dishes of chili oil, more green onions, and tea on a wooden table.

What is Soboro Udon?

Homey soboro udon (そぼろうどん) is a soupless Japanese noodle dish featuring ground chicken cooked in a sweet soy-based sauce and served over hot and springy udon noodles. The word soboro means “crumbled” or “minced,” and it’s often used for rice bowls (soboro don) and bento. When combined with chewy udon noodles and a Japanese-style poached egg called onsen tamago, it becomes a cozy and nourishing one-bowl meal you’ll want to make again and again.

Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Why I Love This Recipe

  • Quick – Satisfying Japanese-style noodles that are ready in 15 minutes—perfect for busy weeknights!
  • So easy – I use pantry seasonings, simple ingredients, and convenient frozen udon noodles.
  • Flavorful and comforting – I love tossing the luxurious egg yolk with the soboro sauce to coat the noodles. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors.
A bowl of udon noodles topped with minced meat, a soft-boiled egg, sliced green onions, and red seasoning, accompanied by chopsticks and a cup of tea on a wooden table.

Ingredients for Soboro Udon

  • udon noodles – I recommend frozen Sanuki udon from the Japanese/Asian market
  • ground chicken
  • large eggs
  • green onion/scallion
  • ginger
  • toasted sesame oil
  • for the sauce:
    • mirin, soy sauce, and sugar
    • potato starch (or cornstarch) and water – to thicken the sauce
  • shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) – optional

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

Jump to Recipe

Substitutions

  • mirin – If you don’t have it, try this handy substitution: Use 1 tablespoon sake (or water) + 1 teaspoon sugar for every 1 tablespoon mirin. The flavor isn’t the same, but it’s close.
A bowl of udon noodles topped with minced meat, a soft-boiled egg with a runny yolk, sliced green onions, and a sprinkle of spices, served in a decorative white and blue bowl.

How to Make Soboro Udon

Preparation

  1. Prep the ingredients. Thinly slice the green onion and separate the white and green parts. Peel and grate the ginger (you’ll need about 1 teaspoon).
  1. Mix the seasonings. In a small bowl, combine mirin, soy sauce, and sugar. In another bowl, stir together potato starch and water until smooth, then add it to the sauce. Mix well and set aside.
A person grates fresh ginger on a small white ceramic grater, holding the ginger with one hand and steadying the plate with the other, on a wooden surface.
A person stirs a dark brown liquid mixture in a clear glass bowl with a wooden chopstick on a wooden countertop.

Cooking

  1. Cook the chicken. Heat sesame oil in a saucepan (or frying pan) over medium heat. Add the white parts of the green onion and grated ginger, and sauté until fragrant. Add the ground chicken and cook while breaking it up until no longer pink.
  1. Simmer the sauce. Pour the sauce mixture into the pan and stir well. Simmer until the liquid thickens slightly—like a rich meat sauce.
Ground chicken being cooked with chopped green onions in a stainless steel pan, with some liquid visible at the bottom. The mixture appears lightly browned and is being prepared on a stovetop.
Ground meat simmering in a stainless steel pot with a rich, reddish-brown sauce, small bits of green herbs, and visible oil on the surface.

Assemble

  1. Reduce the sauce to your preferred thickness. Add frozen noodles to boiling water for 1 minute to reheat. Crack an egg into a small bowl, cover with water, pierce the yolk, and microwave one at a time on half power for 90 seconds. Divide the hot noodles into serving bowls, top with chicken and egg, and garnish with green onion and shichimi togarashi.
Ground meat cooked in a rich, reddish-brown sauce, being stirred with a slotted spoon inside a stainless steel pot. The sauce looks thick and savory with visible oil.
A bowl of udon noodles topped with minced meat sauce, with a hand holding a slotted spoon placing a poached egg on top. The bowl has a blue and white pattern.

Nami’s Recipe Tips

  • Use a small, deep bowl: This shape helps the egg submerge easily under water.
  • Puncture the yolk: This prevents it from exploding during cooking.
  • Don’t overcook the egg: Aim for a soft set with custard-like yolks and silky whites, about 90 seconds for one egg. Remove immediately from the hot cooking liquid to prevent overcooking.
  • Adjust sauce thickness: Simmer longer to reduce it to a thicker consistency.
  • Reheat udon, don’t boil: Frozen udon needs a quick reheat for 1 minute. Don’t boil or they will loose their springy texture.
  • Batch cook: Make extra soboro chicken and freeze for quick future meals, or use it over rice to pack Soboro Bento for lunch the next day.
A bowl of udon noodles topped with seasoned ground meat, a poached egg with a runny yolk, sliced green onions, and a sprinkle of spices, served in a decorative bowl on a wooden table.

Variations and Customizations

  • Different ground meat: Try turkey, pork, or beef instead of chicken.
  • Vegetarian: Use crumbled tofu seasoned with soy sauce and mirin.
  • Rice bowl dish: Serve the chicken over steamed rice with scrambled egg to make soboro donburi (Soboro Don).
  • Extra toppings: Add shredded nori, sautéed mushrooms, or blanched leafy green vegetables.
  • Use soft-boiled eggs or my classic Onsen Tamago recipe if you prefer not to microwave.
A bowl containing Soboro Don (seasoned ground chicken and scrambled egg over rice).
A white bowl containing Onsen Tamago (Japanese Hot Spring Egg) drizzled with dashi-based broth and garnished with sliced green onion.

What to Serve with Soboro Udon

Complete your menu with these Japanese food favorites:

Blue and white Japanese bowls containing Green bean Gomaae.
A white plate containing okra with ginger soy sauce.
A red lacquer bowl containing Pickled Cucumber.
Pickled Cucumber
A light-colored wooden tray containing a bowl of miso soup with soft tofu, wakame seaweed, and thinly sliced green onions, along with a bowl of steamed rice, a small plate of tamagoyaki, and a smalll side dish.

Storage Tips

To store: Keep the soboro chicken in an airtight container for 3–4 days in the fridge or up to 1 month in the freezer. Refrigerate leftover poached eggs for up to 2 days, though it’s best to consume them right after you make them. Frozen udon noodles are best freshly reheated, but you can refrigerate leftovers up to 3 days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make soboro chicken ahead?

Yes! It reheats beautifully and saves time on busy days.

Can I cook two eggs at the same time?

Yes. Prepare each egg in its own bowl as directed, then microwave both bowls at 50% power (500W) for 2 minutes 45 seconds. Check each egg; if any whites are still translucent, microwave in 5-second bursts until the whites set and the yolks stay runny. Microwaves vary, so adjust as needed.

Do I need to add sake or salt to the seasonings?

With mirin and soy sauce, the sauce is perfectly seasoned—no sake or extra salt needed. Since this is part of the College Series, I also avoid recipes that require alcohol for cooks under the legal drinking age.

Can I serve it cold?

It’s best warm, but you can enjoy this recipe at room temperature in summer.

I’d love to hear how yours turned out! 💛 Please leave a star rating and comment below to share your experience. Your feedback not only supports Just One Cookbook but also helps other home cooks discover recipes they can trust.

A bowl of udon noodles topped with minced meat, a soft-boiled egg with a runny yolk, sliced green onions, and a sprinkle of spices, served in a decorative white and blue bowl.
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Soboro Udon

by Namiko Hirasawa Chen
Soboro Udon is a comforting bowl of thick, chewy udon noodles topped with savory ground chicken and a soft-poached egg. This quick, brothless noodle dish combines a sweet-salty meat sauce with a silky egg yolk for a luxurious, umami-rich bite every time.
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 15 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients 
 

For the Seasonings

Instructions

  • Gather all the ingredients. Start boiling a large pot of water for the udon.
    Top-down view of various ingredients on a wooden surface, including ground meat, frozen udon noodles, eggs, green onion, ginger, and small bowls of sauces, oil, seasonings, and cornstarch.

To Prepare the Ingredients

  • Thinly slice 1 green onion/scallion diagonally. Separate the white and green parts.
    A person’s hands slice green onions on a wooden cutting board; the left image shows straight slices and the right image shows green onions cut on a steep diagonal.
  • Peel and grate 1 inch ginger (I use a ginger grater). Measure 1–1½ tsp grated ginger with juice and set aside.
    Two close-up views of hands grating fresh ginger on a small white ceramic grater, with finely grated ginger accumulating on the surface atop a wooden countertop.
  • Combine 3 Tbsp mirin, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1 Tbsp sugar in a bowl.
    Side-by-side images: On the left, hands pour liquids from two containers into a glass bowl. On the right, hands pour granulated sugar into the bowl, which already contains a dark liquid.
  • Add 3 Tbsp water to 1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch in a small bowl and stir to combine. Then, add it to the soy sauce mixture and stir it all together.
    A sequence of three images showing sauce preparation: mixing cornstarch and water, pouring liquid into a bowl with soy sauce, and stirring a dark sauce with chopsticks.

To Cook the Soboro Chicken

  • Heat a saucepan on medium heat. When it's hot, add 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil. Once the oil is hot, add the white parts of the green onion and grated ginger. Sauté briefly with a wooden spatula until aromatic.
    A three-panel image shows: pouring sauce into a pot, adding sliced green onions and ginger, and stirring the mixture with a wooden spatula as it cooks.
  • Add 8 oz ground chicken and sauté, breaking up the ground meat into smaller bits with the wooden spatula. Cook until no longer pink.
    Three side-by-side images show ground meat being cooked in a metal pan. The first shows raw meat and vegetables, the second shows partially cooked meat being stirred, and the third shows the meat fully browned.
  • Pour in the seasoning mixture. Stir and bring to a simmer to thicken the sauce.
    Two-panel image: On the left, a hand pours a reddish sauce from a glass container onto cooked ground meat in a pan. On the right, the meat simmers in the sauce, creating a rich and flavorful mixture.
  • Reduce the sauce to your liking. I like mine thick—a bit thicker than spaghetti meat sauce. Set aside.
    Side-by-side photos show a pan of browned ground meat in sauce being stirred with a wooden spoon, revealing a thick, rich mixture with visible oil and seasoning.

To Cook the Eggs (Onsen Tamago)

  • Crack one large egg in a small microwave-safe glass bowl (see tip below). Pour 6 Tbsp water around the edges of the egg and a bit on top to cover it. Next, puncture the yolk with a wooden skewer or toothpick so it doesn't explode during cooking.
    Nami's Tip: Use a bowl shaped like a rice bowl or miso soup bowl that‘s rounded and somewhat deep, with sides that go straight up. This way, you only need a little water to submerge and surround the egg. If the opening is wide, you'll need more water.
    Side-by-side images show a raw egg in a glass bowl. In the first image, water is being poured in. In the second, a hand stirs the egg with a chopstick. The bowl is on a wooden surface with water droplets.
  • Place the bowl on the edge of the microwave tray. Microwave at half power (500W) until the egg white solidifies and turns white, about 90 seconds for one egg or 2 minutes 45 seconds for two eggs cooked in separate bowls at the same time. If your egg white is still transparent, microwave for 5 seconds more and check again. Drain and transfer the egg to a small plate or bowl.
    Nami's Tip: Cook the yolk until pinkish and runny. DO NOT OVERCOOK. The cooked eggs should have silky whites and custard-like yolks.
    A two-panel image: on the left, a clear glass bowl with a raw egg inside a microwave; on the right, a spoon lifting a cooked poached egg from a cup of water.

To Build the Soboro Udon

  • When the water is at a full rolling boil, add 2 servings udon noodles and reheat or cook according to the package instructions. The brand of frozen Sanuki udon noodles I use requires reheating for 1 minute. Using chopsticks, stir the noodles to loosen them up. Transfer the udon noodles with tongs into individual donburi bowls.
    Nami's Tip: Do not boil frozen udon. A quick 1-minute reheat keeps the texture bouncy.
    Two images side by side: Left, hands placing raw udon noodles into boiling water in a pot; right, cooked udon noodles being transferred into a decorative bowl with steam rising.
  • Ladle the soboro chicken over the warm udon.
    A pot of savory minced meat sauce being stirred with a ladle on the left, and a person ladling the sauce over a bowl of noodles on the right.
  • Top with an onsen tamago. Sprinkle with green onions and optional shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) and serve.
    Two side-by-side images show a bowl of noodles with minced meat. In the first, a hand adds a poached egg with a spoon. In the second, sliced green onions are added on top of the meat and egg.

To Store

  • Store leftover soboro chicken and egg in separate airtight containers and keep in the refrigerator for 3–4 days. You can also keep soboro chicken in the freezer for up to a month. I recommend cooking the udon just before serving, but you can keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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