23 Japanese Chicken Recipes You’re Going to Want to Cook Every Week
Updated: Jan. 17, 2024
It's hard to resist the umami-packed flavors in Japanese chicken recipes like teriyaki chicken and miso butter roast chicken. Here are some of our favorite recipes from our own Test Kitchen and blogs across the internet to satisfy your Japanese food cravings.
When it comes to Japanese chicken recipes, variety is undoubtedly the spice of life. These recipes offer a balance of sweet, sour, salty and umami that is often hard to replicate in other dishes.
From southern Japan, where chicken nanban, a crispy fried chicken with a sweet and tangy vinegar sauce, reigns supreme to warming bowls of ramen packed with Japanese-inspired flavors, these recipes from bloggers around the web and our own Test Kitchen show that there’s much more to Japanese cuisine than just sushi and wagyu.
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Chicken Yakitori
Perfect for summer potlucks, these Test Kitchen-approved chicken skewers can easily be doubled or tripled—a single recipe makes six servings and pairs perfectly with homemade Japanese mayonnaise. For a complete meal, serve with a side of sushi rice and freshly made tsukemono.
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Miso Butter Roasted Chicken
White miso paste imparts a sweet, umami-rich flavor to this Japanese chicken recipe that feeds six. The recipe is perfect for hectic days—the only heavy work you have to do is spatchcocking the bird before placing it in the oven to roast.
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Yakisoba
We love a one-pot Japanese chicken recipe that’s ideal for busy weeknights or meal planning prep. Not only is this popular Japanese dish packed with flavor and greens, but it’s also highly customizable. Add in some cubes of cooked chicken and you’ll end up with a high-protein meal and plenty of leftovers to last you through the end of the week.
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Teriyaki-Grilled Chicken
If you love a good bone-in chicken breast, this Japanese chicken recipe is for you. Plan ahead if possible: Marinating the chicken in a soy-based marinade overnight results in a wonderful depth of flavor. A dash of ground coriander seasoning or Chinese five spice powder will take the flavor of this dish to the next level.
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Chicken Tempura Rolls
Crispy chicken tempura served like sushi is the fusion of two of our favorite Japanese foods that we can’t get enough of. If you have picky eaters who might not like sushi-grade fish, try this cooked chicken alternative.
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Ramen Chicken Stir Fry
Frozen stir-fry vegetables and a couple of packets of instant noodles make this Japanese-inspired chicken recipe an effortless pantry-friendly lunch. Throw in some zucchini, snap peas, mushrooms, scrambled eggs or tofu, and you’ve got yourself an even heartier meal to serve at dinner.
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Chicken Ramen
Comfort in a bowl is just one way to describe this homemade Japanese chicken recipe. Want to increase the savoriness of the broth? Adding some miso paste or fish sauce will bring out the dish’s umami flavoring, making it hard to say no to seconds!
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Tempura Chicken Wings
This Japanese-inspired chicken wing recipe uses an unlikely ingredient to help achieve its finger-licking sweet-and-sour glaze: currant jelly. Do you have Chinese five spice powder on hand? If you do, sprinkle it into the pan when making the sauce.
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Teriyaki Glazed Chicken
This chicken recipe may be straightforward to make, but the final dish is anything but. Sweet onions and julienned carrots add a natural sweetness to counteract the salty flavors of the soy-based glaze. Short on time? Make use of a store-bought teriyaki sauce instead.
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Sake Steamed Chicken with Ginger and Scallions
Sake is the secret ingredient that blogger Kate Jackson of Framed Cooks uses to get her steamed chicken recipe tender and succulent—the key here is adding the sake to the water, allowing the steam to infuse the chicken as it slowly cooks. Not only can rice wine add a rich umami taste to your dishes, but its uncanny ability to tenderize meat and fish makes it an essential Japanese ingredient for your pantry.
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Chicken Nanban
Transport your taste buds to Miyazaki prefecture in southern Japan with this simple 30-minute Japanese chicken recipe by blogger Yuto Omura of Sudachi Recipes. The perfect representation of fusion cuisine known as yoshoku, this flavorful fried chicken combines a Western dish with Japanese ingredients, including a Japanese-style tartar sauce for dipping.
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Restaurant-Style Japanese Sesame Chicken
Thirty minutes is all you need to make this Japanese chicken recipe plus the wonderfully complex marinade by blogger and culinary scientist Jessica Gavin. Planning ahead? Gavin recommends marinating the thinly sliced chicken breasts overnight in the garlic-rich marinade to enhance the flavors further.
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Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
Another recipe from Jessica Gavin, this Instant Pot teriyaki chicken takes the hassle out of weekday meal prep. All you need is 10 minutes of prep time, then the Instant Pot does all the heavy lifting. Swap out the soy sauce for coconut aminos or gluten-free tamari to keep the dish gluten-free.
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Easy Chicken Teriyaki with Marinade
Soy sauce, mirin, sugar and minced ginger or garlic are all you need to make this simple teriyaki marinade recipe by blogger Jamie of Drive Me Hungry. While grilling or pan-frying the chicken thighs is quickest, Jamie also provides instructions for how to bake and glaze the meat. Don’t have any mirin on hand? You can swap it out for sake, white wine or stock.
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12-Minute Oyakodon
If you’re short on time, Jamie from Drive Me Hungry also created this Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl recipe. Using tsuyu, a concentrated dashi-based broth, imparts a rich depth of flavor, making it hard to believe that you’ll only need 12 minutes to get this dish from prep to plate. Serve atop of a bowl of freshly cooked white rice—we’re big fans of using a rice cooker—for a hearty lunch or dinner.
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Tsukune (Japanese Chicken Meatballs)
These Japanese-style chicken meatballs by bloggers Sarah Lawrie and Laura Turner of Wandercooks are perfect to make on hot summer days. All you have to do is fire up the outdoor grill. In Japan, you’ll generally find tsukune made from a mix of chicken breast and thighs, but this succulent recipe keeps things simple and uses chicken mince. Short on time? Lawrie and Turner recommend glazing the meatballs with teriyaki sauce instead.
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Nagoya-style Tebasaki (Japanese Chicken Wings)
A sweet, yet savory, glaze and extra crispy skin make this Nagoya-style chicken wings recipe by blogger Marc Matsumoto of No Recipes a fan favorite. The key to keeping these saucy wings nice and crisp? Matsumoto suggests quickly dipping the wings in the tangy glaze as soon as they’re done frying in the hot oil. Serve them with one of our favorite chicken wing sauces.
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Honetsukidori (Grilled Seasoned Chicken Maryland)
This specialty chicken recipe from Japan’s Kagawa prefecture pays homage to chicken Maryland, a dish of pan-fried breaded chicken with a garnish of banana slices. For some carbs, recipe creator Yumiko Maehashi of Recipe Tin Japan recommends serving honetsukidori with a side of onigiri.
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Japanese Fried Chicken (Karaage Chicken)
Yumiko Maehashi from Recipe Tin Japan has a recipe for delicious karaage chicken. All you need is seven ingredients, and at least an hour in the kitchen. The secret to getting these bite-sized pieces crunchy and golden on the outside but still tender on the inside? Double-frying them! Check out this recipe for Japanese fried chicken.
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Chicken Katsu
Simple recipes are often the best—and this 30-minute recipe for chicken katsu by blogger Namiko Hirasawa Chen of Just One Cookbook is proof. For this Japanese classic, boneless chicken breasts are first marinated in sake, then breaded in panko and deep-fried. Serve with your favorite tonkatsu sauce for an easy, family-friendly meal.
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Soboro Don
Jo and Mark of Low Carbing Asian give this classic Japanese chicken recipe a healthy makeover. The protein-packed ground chicken bowl relies on sake, soy sauce and sweetener for flavor, then is nestled on a bed of fluffy cauliflower rice. And the best part? It’s on the table in a mere 15 minutes!
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Japanese Roasted Lemon Chicken Legs
Crispy skin? Yep. Superb citrus flavor? You got it. On the table in less than an hour and a short ingredient list? Check and check! Blogger ChihYu Smith of I Heart Umami has a Japanese chicken recipe that checks all of our boxes for a satisfying, easy dinner. Just don’t forget to end your meal with a delicious Japanese dessert.
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Chicken Katsu Ramen Bowl
Nothing warms the soul quite like a big bowl of ramen, especially on chilly nights. ChihYu Smith of I Heart Umami brings us a recipe we want to make over and over again. This keto-friendly version of chicken ramen features crispy strips of katsu-style chicken, a hearty broth and spiralized zucchini noodles for a healthy twist.Originally Published: August 23, 2021
