Authentic Yakitori Recipe | Easy Japanese Chicken Skewers in a Frying Pan

We’ll show you how to easily make yakitori — one of Japan’s most beloved everyday grilled chicken dishes — at home using just a frying pan.

Yakitori, or Japanese grilled chicken skewers, is a comforting classic enjoyed throughout Japan.
It’s a familiar favorite served with drinks at izakaya pubs, and a regular feature in home-cooked dinners and bento lunches.

Part of yakitori’s appeal lies in its simplicity and depth. Each chicken cut has its own character:
juicy thigh, tender and light breast, crispy golden skin, and fluffy chicken meatballs known as tsukune.
Yakitori is also enjoyed in two contrasting flavor styles—shio (simple salted), which highlights the natural savoriness of the meat, and tare, a glossy sweet-savory glaze that caramelizes beautifully as it cooks.

As the skewers grill, the aroma becomes wonderfully smoky, the chicken skin crackles, and the shiny tare glaze turns irresistibly fragrant.
Toppings such as lemon, shichimi chili, sansho pepper, wasabi, or fresh shiso leaves add brightness and nuance—showcasing the subtle elegance of Japanese cuisine.

At yakitori shops, the chicken is traditionally cooked over charcoal on a dedicated grill.
But at home, you can still make amazingly delicious yakitori with nothing more than a simple frying pan.
Enjoy this classic Japanese comfort food in your own kitchen—aromatic, satisfying, and surprisingly easy to prepare.

The Mottainai Spirit Behind Yakitori

One of the defining characteristics of yakitori is its nose-to-tail approach to cooking.
Not only the popular cuts like thighs and breast, but also the skin, cartilage, liver, heart, and other organ meats are enjoyed—allowing nearly every part of the chicken to be used.

This reflects the Japanese concept of mottainai, a deep respect for avoiding waste and appreciating the life that provides our food.
It is more than simply “not wasting”—it expresses gratitude for the ingredient itself.

In recent years, yakitori has also been recognized as a sustainable style of eating that helps reduce food waste.
In this recipe, you’ll learn how to enjoy several commonly used cuts in ways that are easy to prepare at home.

We invite you to experience Japan’s mottainai spirit and the tradition of savoring an entire chicken through the humble yet thoughtful culture of yakitori.

Yakitori Sauce (Tare)

First, let’s make the yakitori sauce, called tare in Japanese.
This sweet soy glaze works for chicken thighs, chicken skin, and tsukune meatballs, and it’s also great as an all-purpose sauce for meat dishes, vegetables, tofu, and rice bowls.

The flavor is a perfect balance of sweet and savory with a beautiful glossy finish, and it keeps in the refrigerator for about one week.

Ingredients

• Soy sauce  2 tbsp / 2.1 oz / 60 g
• Mirin  2 tbsp / 2.1 oz / 60 g
• Sake  1 tbsp / 1.1 oz / 30 g
• Sugar (white or cane sugar) 1 tbsp / 0.7 oz / 20 g

Instructions

1		Add the mirin and sake to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 2–3 minutes to cook off the alcohol. Tip If you add all the ingredients at once, the alcohol may not evaporate properly and the soy sauce can scorch, creating bitterness. Always boil the mirin and sake first before adding anything else.
2		Add the raw cane sugar and soy sauce, then simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes until slightly reduced. Tip For a smooth, glossy sauce, skim off any foam or impurities as they appear.
3		When the sauce has thickened slightly, turn off the heat and let it cool. Tip The sauce will thicken further as it cools, giving it a beautiful shine.

Chicken Thigh Yakitori (Salt / Tare)

Ingredients (Makes 4 Skewers)

Instructions

1		Remove the skin and excess fat from the chicken thigh, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Tip Save the skin for making chicken-skin skewers later. Make small slits in the tougher sinew areas to keep the pieces tender and easy to eat.
2		Add the sake, salt, and raw cane sugar, and massage the chicken until the marinade is fully absorbed. Tip This adds flavor and keeps the chicken tender and juicy, even after cooling.
3		Marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Tip Chilling firms up the meat, making it easier to thread onto skewers.
4		Pat the chicken lightly with kitchen paper to remove excess moisture, then thread 4–5 pieces onto each skewer. Tip Soak bamboo skewers in water for about 20 minutes to prevent burning or breaking. Thread the chicken so that the skewer is not visible between pieces—this helps prevent burning. For negima skewers, alternate chicken → negi → chicken → negi → chicken. If you don’t have negi, onion works too.
5		For salted yakitori, sprinkle lightly with salt (skip this step for tare yakitori), then grill both sides over medium heat until golden. For tare yakitori, add about 2 tablespoons of the yakitori sauce to the pan and simmer until the chicken is glossy and coated. Tip Add salt just before grilling to prevent moisture loss.

Chicken Breast Yakitori (Ume Shiso Salt-Grilled)

Ingredients (Makes 4 Skewers)

Instructions

1		Remove the skin and excess fat from the chicken breast, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Tip Save the skin for chicken-skin skewers later. Cutting across the grain makes the breast meat tender and easier to eat.
2		Massage the sake, salt, and raw cane sugar into the chicken, then marinate in the refrigerator.
3		Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper, then thread onto skewers.
4		Cook the chicken skewers and shishito peppers together over medium-low heat until both sides are golden. For salted yakitori, sprinkle lightly with salt. For tare yakitori, add about 2 tablespoons of tare once browned, and simmer until glossy. Remove the shishito peppers early if they finish cooking first and sprinkle with salt. Serve with ume paste, shiso, or wasabi if desired.

Chicken Skin Yakitori (Salt / Tare)

Ingredients (Makes 4 Skewers)

Instructions

1		Parboil the chicken skin for 3 minutes after the water comes to a boil to remove excess fat.
2		Pat the skin thoroughly dry, cut into 3 cm (1-inch) strips, fold them into an accordion shape, and thread onto skewers.
3		Cook slowly over medium heat. Season with salt or coat with the yakitori tare to give it a glossy finish. Cooking it slowly creates a crisp exterior while keeping the inside tender and jiggly.

Tsukune Yakitori (Tare)

Ingredients (Makes 6 Skewers)

Instructions

1		In a bowl, combine the ground chicken, miso, sake, and grated ginger. Mix well until the mixture becomes sticky and cohesive. Tip Spread your fingers and mix while incorporating air—this helps create a light, fluffy texture.
2		Add the egg white and mix again until fully combined. Keep the egg yolk for the finishing step.
3		Add the chopped negi and potato starch, and mix until evenly distributed.
4		Place the water and kombu in a pot and heat gently. Shape the mixture into balls and poach them over low heat for 3–4 minutes. (Check the next section to see how to make an egg soup with this broth.) Tip Boiling vigorously can cause the tsukune to break apart and become dry.
5		Once cooked, remove the tsukune and drain well. Thread three pieces onto each skewer.
6		Sear the skewers lightly in a frying pan, then add the yakitori sauce and simmer until coated and glossy.
7		For extra richness, serve with an additional egg yolk on the side for dipping.

Chicken Egg Soup Made from Yakitori Tsukune Broth

Ingredients (Serves 4)

Instructions

1		Remove the kombu from the broth.
2		Heat the broth over medium heat and add the soy sauce, sake, mirin, and salt. Tip Skim off any foam or impurities that rise to the surface.
3		When the soup begins to gently simmer, reduce the heat and drizzle in the beaten egg in a thin stream. Let it sit without stirring for 5–10 seconds, then gently break it apart.
4		Pour the soup into a bowl and add the sliced negi.

Top Spots in Japan We Recommend — Izakaya

When you visit Japan, be sure to try charcoal-grilled yakitori at an izakaya.
Many Japanese izakaya serve chicken skewers grilled over charcoal, so it’s worth checking reviews in advance or peeking inside to find a place with a busy yakitori grill.

If you can, sit at the counter in front of the grill.
Watching your skewers being cooked over the charcoal, then enjoying them hot off the grill with a glass of shochu or sake, is an unforgettable experience.

Quiet, upscale izakaya are wonderful too, but skewered grilled foods in Japan have long been enjoyed as a kind of casual, everyday snack.
For many people, the most fun way to enjoy yakitori is in a lively, bustling izakaya, sharing plates of skewers with friends, family, and other people close to you over drinks in a relaxed, noisy atmosphere.