This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy for details. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Soboro Don or Ground Chicken Bowl is your go-to Japanese comfort meal! With seasoned minced chicken, scrambled eggs, and green vegetables on top of fluffy steamed rice, this three-color rice bowl is effortlessly easy to pull together and full of flavor. A favorite among both kids and adults.
Soboro Don (そぼろ丼) is an easy and delicious Japanese rice bowl with seasoned ground chicken and scrambled eggs. It’s easily one of my favorite bento lunch menus growing up! The sweet-savory flavor of tender chicken and eggs that get mixed in with steamed rice score big on the comfort level. And what’s not to love when you can put a meal together in just 30 minutes? That’s the virtue of rice bowls! Simple, fast and well thought out, you can never go wrong with it.
What does “Soboro” mean?
The Japanese word Soboro (そぼろ) refers to ground meat, fish, or eggs that are cooked into fine, crumbled pieces. Often served over steamed rice and eaten together, you’ll find Soboro Donburi (そぼろ丼ぶり, Don for short, meaning rice bowl) or Soboro Bento (そぼろ弁当) a common menu in Japan.
Ground chicken is the most commonly used protein and sometimes specified as “Tori” (Chicken) Soboro (鶏そぼろ). If you dine at Yakitori (grilled chicken skewered) restaurants, Soboro Donburi is usually served at the end of a meal as a signature dish. It always tastes the best as yakitori restaurants usually have the freshest and quality leftover chicken.
The Difference between Soboro Donburi and Sanshoku Donburi
Now I don’t intend to confuse you. This particular rice bowl can be called Soboro Donburi or Sanshoku Donburi. Are there any differences between the two names?
Well, Soboro Donburi strictly refers just the ground meat over steamed rice or with other ingredients. At the yakitori restaurants, Soboro Donburi is typically composed of just the seasoned ground chicken over rice.
However, Japanese home cooks often serve Soboro Donburi with three-colored ingredients for a balanced meal and a more appetizing presentation. So we call it the Sanshoku Donburi (三色丼ぶり), Three-Color Donburi. It follows a simple template: seasoned ground chicken (brown), finely scrambled eggs (yellow), and cooked green vegetables such as green beans, snow peas, or sweet peas (green). As it has protein, meat, veggie, and carb all in one meal, the dish is the ultimate comfort food popular among both kids and adults.
How to Make Soboro Donburi
Soboro Donburi, especially Tri-Color Donburi, consists of 5 easy steps:
- Make steamed rice.
- Cook ground chicken.
- Cook scrambled eggs.
- Blanch green vegetables.
- Assemble the rice bowl.
See the detailed explanation in the recipe below.
The Unique Chopstick Technique
Have you tried scrambled your eggs using chopsticks? That’s how we do it in Japan when making scrambled eggs for Soboro! Once you pour the beaten eggs into the hot frying pan, hold a few pairs of long chopsticks and move them vigorously to jostle the eggs into fine scrambles. Do it fast and furious, it’s a fun way to practice your chopstick skill!
You could do the same for the meat, but I find the wooden spoon/spatula is much easier to break the meat into smaller pieces.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why sweetening eggs and chicken?
In Japanese cooking, you’ll find that it’s a common practice to season the eggs and meat with some sugar. The reason we do that is to bring out the flavors of the ingredients, especially when we prepare food that can be enjoyed at room temperature. The use of sugar also helps to balance the savory seasoning, so you’d achieve full umami for the meal.
Since Soboro is served with bland steamed rice, the flavor of the dish would come from the well-seasoned eggs and meat.
You can choose to leave out the sugar or reduce the amount to suit your taste. But if you plan on packing soboro don into a lunch box, don’t skimp on the seasonings. Foods served at room temperature require stronger seasonings to attain the flavors.
How about other protein choices besides chicken?
You can definitely use ground pork or beef (or ground turkey). For creative variations, you can finely chop shrimp or crumble firm tofu, too!
If you’re stumped on what to make for dinner tonight, you can count on Soboro Don for a quicker-than-take-out option. It packs beautifully for your bento lunch box too!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
Sign up for the free Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
Soboro Don or Ground Chicken Bowl is your go-to Japanese comfort meal! With seasoned minced chicken, scrambled eggs, and green vegetables on top of fluffy steamed rice, this three-color rice bowl is effortlessly easy to pull together and full of flavor. A favorite among both kids and adults.
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- ½ lb ground chicken (if you can't get ground chicken, you can mince fattier thigh (or mix with breast) with a knife or use a food processor.)
- 1 tsp ginger (grated, with juice)
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 1 ½ Tbsp sugar (typically, this dish has a sweet taste, but you can use 1 Tbsp sugar if you prefer less sweet.)
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- ¼ cup green peas (defrosted)
- pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga)
-
Gather all the ingredients.
-
Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat, and cook the chicken until no longer pink. Using a wooden spoon, break up the meat into small pieces.
- Add sake, sugar, and mirin.
- Add soy sauce and continue to break up the meat into smaller pieces.
-
Grate ginger and keep the juice. When the meat is broken up to pieces, add the ginger with juice.
-
Cook until the liquid is almost gone. Transfer to a bowl and set aside and wash the frying pan.
-
Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add sugar. Mix well until sugar is completely dissolved. Prepare several long cooking chopsticks.
-
Heat oil in the frying pan over medium-low heat and pour in the egg mixture.
-
Hold several chopsticks in one hand and break the egg into small pieces. When it’s cooked, transfer to another bowl.
-
Now you have three ingredients in separate bowls.
-
Serve steamed rice in serving bowls and put the three toppings on top of the rice as you like. Garnish with pickled ginger (kizami shoga). Enjoy!
-
You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days and in the freezer for a month.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Hungry for More Delicious & Easy Rice Bowl Recipes?
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on April 11, 2011. The pictures have been updated in September 2012. The post was updated and republished in July 2020.
looks so yummy and easy to make, i know what i’ll pack for nathan’s lunch next week! 🙂
Thanks Wendy! I’m sure Nathan will like this. Don’t forget to pack a spoon!
I would like to make this with ground beef. It would be a cheap and easy meal. 🙂
We have so much ground beef in our house.
Hi Katie! Ground beef works too! Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I tried this with ground beef today… but my beef produced a lot of grease. There isn’t a leaner version available for sale at the store I shop at, so what do I do? Does ground chicken do this or not? I typically have ground beef on hand, but maybe I’ll buy some chicken too if it makes this dish easier. It’s such an easy and tasty meal.
So the ground chicken produces some water that cooks off with the other liquids. I would cook the ground beef first then drain the grease and continue as normal.
Hi Anita! Thanks for the tip!
April, I’m sorry I missed your comment. Anita’s suggestion is wonderful. Ground chicken is less fatty, so almost no grease comes out. Turkey or chicken is great for this dish. 🙂
This is actually really good with ground turkey, make it the same way. Leaner than beef.
Hi Monty! Thank you for trying this dish with ground turkey! Great alternative.
Hi Nami,
I was wondering what can I use instead of mirin and sake?
Thank you 🙂
Hi Z! If you can’t consume alcohol, you can avoid both of them, but add more sugar (and water to dilute a bit). 🙂
I’ve had lots of soboro in Japan, and this recipe is WAAAAAY sweet! Next time I would use much less sugar; the mirin adds quite a bit of sweetness as well.
Other than that, great recipe. Thank you!
Thanks so much for your feedback, Amy! 🙂
Hi dear Nami San
Domo domo
It’s looks fantactic
I love to make it I have all the ingredient
I love you recipes and you job!!
Gambate nee!!
Regards
Sirous
Arigato Sirous! I appreciate your support and love! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for sharing all your Japanese recipes here. They’re really very simple (especially when you took the trouble to take and post photos of each step of instructions). I cooked this today for our lunch and my two fussy kids just loved it. Only thing I changed was that I opted out of the ginger as they didn’t like it. I also tried your Oyakodon recipe last night and again, it was a success. So, once again, thank you so much for sharing your recipes here.
Btw, hope you don’t mind but I’ve recommended your website/blog to a friend of mine who wanted to try out what I made. Hope you have a great day. Cheers
Hi Jennifer! Aww thank you so much for your sweet and kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear your children enjoyed this dish! It’s a bit sweet dish, so it’s easy for children to enjoy. 🙂
These step by step pictures were taken by myself back then, so it was limited, but now Mr. JOC helps taking step-by-step pictures and we make the videos together so it’s slightly easier to cook without a camera in one hand. 🙂
Thank you for introducing my site to your friend! I hope she/he will enjoy my site! Happy cooking! xo
Nami,
If I don’t have mirin, will only using the sake and sugar be enough?
Hi Aileen! It’s not the same, but 1 Tbsp. mirin = 1 Tbsp. sake/water/chinese rice wine/dry sherry + 1 tsp. sugar. 🙂
I made this with leftover roasted chicken thighs, mince very fine. I made lunch for 2 Japanese ladies in their 80s. They had never had soboro made from chicken. Only canned tuna (which is what I grew up with). But they loved it and thought it tasted just like tuna soboro. They were quite impressed along with the other traditional Japanese food I prepared.
Hi Chieko! I’m so happy to hear that! How wonderful that they also enjoyed your meal!!! Thank you for sharing your story! 🙂
hi! I only just came across your blog recently! Am keen to try this recipe! just wondering though, are there any alternative vegetables that would go with this donburi? Our family’s not really into peas…
Hi Footai! Welcome to my blog! Of course, any green vegetable is okay. Green beans, snow peas… any green. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I just fed this recipe to Nana and she liked it. At her age it is hard to make real home cooking. Thanks for the directions and recipes.
Hi Rose! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear she liked it too. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback. xo
I made it tonight for the first time and we liked it! I almost never cook chicken as my husband doesn’t like chicken. But today he bought ground chicken by mistake 🙂
Our preschool daughter ate a lot as it was a sweet taste.
I was surprised how quick and easy it was. And we saved some for tomorrow’s lunch. Thank you!
Hi Olha! So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thanks so much for trying this recipe. Lots of kids love soboro because of sweet taste. I think restaurants tend to serve much sweeter version, but we can keep it less sweet for homemade version. 🙂
Sometimes when I feel depressed or just simply in need of cheering up I make this dish. It really makes me feel at home and loved. My mom used to make something similar when I was a kid but she typically used beef and it tended to be taco or catsup flavor. She always served it with a bit of sour cream or some mayonnaise on top. It was really comforting back then.
Hi Charise! It’s a comfort dish! Thank you for sharing your story with us! 🙂
If I were to use beef instead of chicken would it still call soboro donburi ? Is it okay to use beef ?
Hi June! It’s called Gyu (beef) Soboro, like Gyudon (beef donburi). 🙂 Somehow, the beef one is seasoned stronger (more soy sauce and more sugar) as beef has more flavors and need to season more. 🙂
Hi Nami ! Thanks for replying. I see so what would be the seasoning ratio you would suggest if I want to try it wit beef ?
Hi June! You can try this same recipe and see if the adjustment is necessary. I haven’t tried this portion with beef before but if you need to adjust, you can add more soy sauce or mirin or sugar, depending on your preference.
Sounds easy and delicious! Just wondering, is it possible to substitute the sake with something else or leave it out completely?
Hi Mapes! Sure, use 1 Tbsp. water instead. 🙂
Great, thanks Nami!
HI i love a lot of your recipes but I think for this one in particular it came out too sweet. perhaps it could be cut in half for the chicken/less mirin instead of sake 🙂
Hi Lisa! When you have soboro don or soboro bento at restaurants or outside, it’s actually very sweet, way sweeter than this recipe. I don’t know why, but it’s a signature of this dish. 🙂 Maybe that’s why a lot of kids love this dish.
I have a teething 13 month old who hasn’t been eating lately because his mouth hurts. I tried this recipe tonight and he ate it all up!!! I am so happy he loved it!!!
Hi Lacey! Aww I’m so glad he enjoyed it! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
I’m trying out new things for my children’s lunches and I came across this. I’m from the Midwest where eggs are generally a breakfast item and served hot. I see that you allow the meal to cool before closing the box. These items are not heated back up for lunch? I’m wondering how the eggs will be received when served cool. Thank you! I’m interested in trying these for myself, too!
Hi Carisa! I’m so happy to hear you’re trying out new things with/for your children!
Yes, I allow the meal to cool completely so that when you close the lunch box lid, it won’t create condensation, and then possibly food goes bad (bacteria likes warm and wet environment).
Japanese lunch box (bento) is meant to be enjoyed at room temperature. We choose the dishes that taste good at room temperature. The meals are usually seasoned slightly stronger so it is not bland at room temperature. And this dish in general is more on the sweet side, so the kids love it.
Hope you and your children enjoy(ed) this dish. 🙂
What a nice looking bowl of lunch or dinner! I like how simple and pretty this looks! I will be making this for lunch this week : ) Thank you for the easy to follow pictures and directions
Hi Anna! I hope you enjoy this recipe! Just FYI, you may think it’s more on sweeter side but that’s how it usually taste. Feel free to adjust. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your recipes. It’s a big help.
Hi Hilda! Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m glad my recipes have been helpful. 🙂
Great recipe!!!! reminds me of when I lived in Japan for sure <3
I'd only say put a little less sugar, I love sweet but it was juuuust a little too much.
Hi Allison! Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! 🙂
My 2 yr old (well he will be 2 next week) loves this dish! Today I made it but I didn’t have ground chicken so I used some left over shredded kalua pork and he went nuts for it!
Hi Lacey! Happy Early Birthday to your son! I’m so happy he enjoyed this dish! Thank you for trying this recipe. 🙂
Absolutely delicious, and so easy to make. Thanks for another great recipe.
It was also very beautiful to serve.
Thank you so much Matthew! This tastes delicious even when it’s at room temperature (because the meat has sweet and salty taste) so it’s perfect for lunch box too. Thank you for your kind feedback!
just like home! thank you 🙂
Hi Sam! Wonderful! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I loved this recipt, but having a hard time keeping the chicken moist, how do I keep it from being dry from overcooking them (while waiting for the liquid to dries up)?
thank you!
Hi Catherine! Maybe the cut of ground chicken you cook is not fatty. I think that’s the only thing I can think of. Yours is probably more lean with breast meat. I buy my ground chicken from a Japanese grocery store and I don’t think it tells how lean it is but it has pretty good fat in it (white parts). If you are mincing your own with food processor etc, add more chicken thighs. Hope that helps!
Hi Nami, I made this last night experimenting with adding the cornstarch to the ground chicken before cooking, and it works like magic! 😊 it was a win with my toddler and 1yo. Thank you for replying!
Hi Catherine! I’m so happy to hear you made it work! Thanks so much for your feedback. 🙂
This is absolutely delicious!! I replaced the sake with rice wine vinegar as I couldn’t find cooking sake at the grocery store. So easy to cook and a wonderful comfort food for a cold rainy day!
Hi Tiffany! Thank you for trying this recipe and I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂 Just FYI, “rice wine vinegar” or “rice vinegar” is a vinegar and not alcohol like rice wine. It’s almost like you’re adding red wine vinegar instead of red wine. The taste profile is a bit different. So if you can’t find sake, use dry sherry (closest white wine) or Chinese rice wine (probably easier to find in the Asian market). The alcohol removes the unwanted smell from meat and fish and you will see most Japanese recipes use sake in cooking. 🙂
Ohh okay! Thank you for letting me know, I’m going to try a different grocery store because I’m determined go make authentic Japanese food haha! Next time I make this with cooking sake I’ll be sure to let you know how it was!!
You’re very welcome. Feel free to ask me if you have any question. 🙂
So easy to make and I substituted the veggies to cut sugar snap peas – my family loved it.
Hi Cathy! Yay! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. 🙂
Amazing recipe! Made it last night and the hubby wolfed in down 🙂 Thank you!!
Hi Jean! Oh really!!! I’m so glad! Thank you for your feedback! xoxo
thanksなみ!
どういたしまして Matt! 🙂
Good Afternoon: sorry for the non sequiter but I am looking for a high quality rice cooker. What is your favorite.
Hi Jim! Do you mean an electric rice cooker? I have this one: https://amzn.to/2KoAvW4
For stovetop, I love this donabe rice cooker called Kamadosan (https://amzn.to/2URpTmT). It makes the best rice, and I try to use this more than rice cooker whenever I have more time in the kitchen.
Hope that helps!
Hi from 2020! With everything going on, I’ve really been trying to use what I have in the house to cook so I don’t have to go out for groceries. I stumbled across this recipe and it seemed easy enough so I figured why not!
Let me say I’m not a cook, haha. What I made probably can’t be called そぼろ丼 anymore. I didn’t have chicken so I subbed silken tofu, didn’t have sake or mirin so tried some substitution suggestions and prayed over the pan while it was cooking (didn’t have any of the substitutes you suggested in your other great article for the sake)…
Anyway, back to the point: this was delicious, and thanks for sharing! It’s going to be my lunch for the next week and I am not the least bit sad about it.
Hi Evvi! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! Crumbled tofu is a great idea and it sounds delicious, too. 🙂 Thank you for taking your precious time to write your feedback! xo
Another amazing recipe, Nami!! Even my 1-year old liked it. I will cook this again for him but tweak the recipe a bit – less soy sauce & sugar, and add a little chicken stock for easier mixing with rice.
Oh…i have a regular grater so i had a hard time with the ginger. So I used both fresh grated ginger and ginger powder for this. I dont think the dish will still be as good if I only used ginger powder.
Hi Anna! Thank you so much for trying my recipe! I’m so glad your 1-year-old baby liked it! 🙂 If you make Japanese food often, we often use grated ginger and daikon. This is my favorite grater.
https://amzn.to/2zTRYo7
Do you think it would be ok to feed this to a 1 year old baby? Or would it require any removal of the ingredients?
Hi TK! When my kids were small, I didn’t introduce adult taste until much later on. Always light or almost no seasonings (just natural ingredient taste). Also I grinded/mashed the food, but you know your baby well. 🙂
I love your blog and it is my go to when I wish to try to make a Japanese fish. I made this for my family today but I had to switch a few things. I had to use minced pork and cucumber instead of peas. I also used dashi for the eggs instead of sugar. My family loved it and loves the presentation…Thank you so much!
Hi Maggie! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Your version sounds really good! So happy to hear your family enjoyed it!
I just want to say thank you, so much. I’d review the whole site but couldn’t find a place to do so so I’ll just say it here! Five years ago, my adventure started in college when I started dating this guy from Japan, knowing zero about the language, culture, or cuisine. Very quickly, he became my husband, and I was desperate to cook him something to ease his homesickness and do it on a college budget. Your Soborodon was the first Japanese dish I ever cooked, but I’ve cooked a good portion of your recipes and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed. Everything has been delicious, and I’ve not only learned about recipes but about ingredients, techniques, and notes about Japanese culture at large. The photos and videos are especially helpful and I’ve gone from zero knowledge to being able to impress my in-laws.
Then I actually moved to Japan, where I’m writing from now! Right from the start I knew the ingredients in the supermarket and exactly how to use them. I save so much money and eat so much healthier because I can use Japanese foods instead of expensive imports! I can cook with my Japanese friends and am practicing lots of obentos for when my son starts yochien in the spring. Life is just a lot easier knowing how to cook and eat like a local, and you’ve been my sole resource for making that happen. It’s not an exaggeration to say you have really changed my life in amazing ways. Again, thank you, so much!
Hi Lindsay! Aww thank you so much for your kind feedback and it really warmed my heart. Feedback like yours brings me joy and inspires me every day to do better at blogging. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Wow, you did a lot of things in the past 5 years, including moving to Japan too! So happy that you can connect with locals and I agree, food plays such an important role in Japanese culture that it definitely helps to feel closer to people around you. You have great food source for cooking Japanese food in Japan that I can’t always get, and I hope it will encourage you to cook some dishes that I can’t share too. Lots of seasonal dishes that I miss… good luck with Yochien and bento making! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to write to me! xo
Hi JOC
i’ve made this with pork mince and it’s delicious. Wondering if you can also make this with chopped mushrooms and tofu to make it vegetarian please? Thanks for your advice!
Hi Sharon! Yes, you can totally do that! 🙂
My group of 8 has been playing a feudal Japan themed game and I wanted an easy Japanese recipe to make for one of our game nights. I made this with the Green Tea Cookies and served Matcha tea and it was a big hit. Thank you!
Hi Anita! What a fun game night with a delicious meal!!! With matcha tea and green tea cookies (lots of caffeine), all of you must have a lot of energy to play all night. LOL. Thank you so much for trying my recipes!
Hi Nami,
Thank you for all your recipe. I like to try your easy recipe, I have a busy schedule with kids and works, your recipe help me to serve healty, good, delicious and beautiful meal. Thank you!
Hi Caroline,
You have no idea how much your kind words meant to us! Thank you!
If you haven’t check this post, please check out this one for more easy Japanese recipes!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/15-easy-japanese-recipes/
Happy cooking!
Is this a dry flsvoured mince has no sauce? The kids will complain the rice will be dry without sauce?
Pls advice.
Hi El,
As Nami mentioned in this post, this recipe’s name Soboro (そぼろ), refers to ground meat, fish, or eggs cooked into fine, crumbled pieces. Hence it serves on the dry side. Therefore, in Step 6, we cook the ground chicken until the liquid is almost gone.
If you prefer serving this dish with sauce, you may increase the seasoning amount and leave some liquid in step 6.
We hope this is helpful.☺️
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this since trying it out – it’s become our no 1 favourite comfort dish, often making it (usually with minced turkey instead) several days during the week recently – its fabulous
Many thanks for sharing this
This is a great recipe! I’m a young man who works out a lot and therefore I often need vast quantities of food to satiate me. I find this meal very satiating and tasty! I love it with ground beef. An awesome meal to eat post-workout!
Hi Mo!
Yay! We are so glad to hear this dish is very satiating and tasty!😊
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
I’ve made this a dozen times so far. My husband, picky one year old, and five year old all love it 🙂 I double it and pack bentos for my boys for the next day. My son’s Japanese teacher complimented his bento when I packed this for him for a field trip.
Hi Kristen,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this dish!😊