Easy Beef Sukiyaki Recipe (2023)

✅ Why This Recipe Works

Restaurant quality taste from home –By utilizing the key cooking techniques used to make top-tier sukiyaki, you can make restaurant-quality sukiyaki from home at a fraction of the cost without leaving the comfort of your own home

Cheaper than Eating Out – A typical sukiyaki meal is typically a higher cost meal, ranging from $50-$100 USD per person. By making it at home, you can satisfy your cravings at a fraction of the cost, at about $10-$15 USD per person at the time of writing.

Healthy and nutritious– This is a great healthy Japanese recipe was specially developed by yours truly to be low-calorie and macro-friendly, so you can satisfy your sukiyaki cravings while still staying in shape

💭 What is Sukiyaki?

Sukiyaki is a Japanese hot pot that consists of sliced beef and vegetables simmered in a soy-based dashi broth. It is often served with a side of egg yolk to dip the meat in before eating.

Traditionally, it is cooked in a cast iron pot, but you can also use a normal pot if you don't have one on hand.

It is also often paired with a side of rice or cooked with udon noodles to make a more well-rounded meal. It's one of my favorite healthy udon recipes.

📋 Ingredient Notes

Sukiyaki sauce

The sauce usually consists of a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, sake, dashi stock, and sugar. Most of these ingredients are relatively low calorie. However, it's best to keep higher calorie ingredients such as sake to a minimum or omit them.

Mirin – A sweet Japanese rice wine that is often used in Japanese cooking.

Soy Sauce – Key for making the base of this dish. My favorite brand is Kikkoman.

Dashi stock powder – A Japanese seafood based broth. You can buy the stock powder at most Asian or Japanese grocery stores.

Hot Pot

Beef Slices – The star of any sukiyaki recipe is the beef slices, which are delicious soaked in the sukiyaki sauce. While beef is very delicious, it is not a lean protein like chicken and is therefore higher in calories from fat, so portion control is paramount here. A 4 ounce serving of beef has 217 calories, 21 grams of which are from protein and 15 grams from fat.

The plus side is that beef is one of the few protein sources that contain all amino acids needed for muscle growth. Learn more about essential amino acids in red meat.

Udon – Noodles are a great addition to sukiyaki. However, it’s important to portion this mindfully as carbs can easily add up calorie-wise. Rice would also go well with this dish.

Dipping sauce

Poached Egg – In Japan, the egg is typically used as a dipping sauce for the beef. Traditionally, it is left raw but in countries other than Japan, it's recommended to poach the egg to reduce the risk of salmonella infection.

See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.

📖 Substitutions and Variations

Make with chicken – Swap out the beef for chicken for a chicken-based sukiyaki.

Make with tofu – For vegetarians, swap out the beef for tofu.

Pair with rice – Swap the udon and eat the sukiyaki with a side of rice.

Swap out the udon for shirataki noodles – Shirataki noodles, or yam noodles, are another popular option for noodles to eat with sukiyaki. At only 25 calories a pack, they're a great way to cut down the calorie content of the dish while still including noodles.

Prepare the veggies – Cut and wash all the vegetables and set aside.

Make the sukiyaki sauce – In a small bowl, mix the sukiyaki sauce ingredients together. Set aside.

Cook the beef – Put cast iron pot over high heat. Place a slice of beef and sprinkle with some sauce, then flip. Do this for all of the beef slices.

Simmer the vegetables – Begin to arrange the cut vegetables in the cast iron pot. Then pour in the remainder of the sukiyaki sauce. Add about a cup of water and close the lid and let the pot simmer on medium to low heat for about 5 minutes. In a separate pot, prepare the udon noodles.

Garnish and Serve – Put poached egg in a bowl with soy sauce and garnish with furikake and togarashi. Remove from heat and enjoy!

🍽 How To Serve It

In restaurants, sukiyaki is typically served with a portable stove and the raw ingredients for you to cook yourself, similar to hot pot.

You can also do this at home, but most people probably don't own a portable stove. You can also pre-cook everything on the stove and serve fully cooked.

Serve with the egg dipping sauce and with a side of rice if using.

What is sukiyaki sauce made of?

The sauce is typically made of soy sauce, mirin, dashi stock, sugar, and sake. When I make the sauce, I typically omit the sake since it is relatively high in calories and the mirin is a good substitute for providing a similar depth in the flavor. I also minimize the usage of sugar to about 1tsp since the mirin also provides a natural sweetness.

Is Sukiyaki Healthy?

Despite having a seemingly high number of healthy ingredients, sukiyaki can easily be a very high calorie dish given the usage of beef which is a higher calorie meat, as well as the addition of many other ingredients easily adding up. However, this can easily be remedied by portioning each ingredient carefully, such as what I did here, so that the recipe is at a manageable calorie content.

What cut of meat should I use for sukiyaki?

Sukiyaki is best made with thinly sliced rib-eye or chuck. If you are trying to be mindful about fat intake, look for ones that have less fat content by picking ones with less marbling.

Beef Sukiyaki Recipe

Sukiyaki is the ultimate comfort food – consisting of deliciously simmered vegetables and flavorful beef slices paired with a poached egg, I couldn't ask for a more well-balanced and tasty meal.

Nutrition

Calories: 545kcalCarbohydrates: 54gProtein: 35gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 164mgSodium: 6113mgPotassium: 451mgFiber: 16gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 10429IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 75mgIron: 2mg