If you love grilled vegetables, you’re going to love Japanese grilled vegetable yakitori.
Eating grilled vegetables off a stick is simply the best, it’s the only way to do it! The best grilled vegetable yakitori I’ve ever had were in Tokyo. I still dream of them today: fresh from the farm vegetables skewered onto wooden sticks lightly grilled over charcoal and dipped in an addictive sweet and savory sauce.
If you’ve been to Japan, you’ve most likely have indulged in yakitori: smoky, tender, juicy skewers of grilled chicken either dipped in a savory sauce or sprinkled with salt. Yakitori is the ultimate food. It can be fancy (think 3 Michelin starred restaurants) or be made at home. The chicken yakitori is amazing, but even better are the vegetable skewers. Most fancy yakitori places actually place higher value on the vegetable skewers because seasonal vegetables are exceptional and high value in Japan. You can get special vegetables like the first negi of spring(extra large Japanese green onions) or roasted gingko nuts.
Yakitori is Japan’s answer to grilled chicken. Yakitori is bite-size pieces of chicken threaded onto skewers and grilled over binchotan, a special Japanese charcoal that gets extra hot. The skewers come seasoned with salt (shio) or sauce (tare).
Yakitori is technically chicken but colloquially, people refer to all grilled Japanese skewers as yakitori. Even at specialized yakitori shops, they have skewers of things like quail eggs, beef, pork, mochi, and vegetables.
Vegetable yakitori is kind of a misnomer, but essentially, it’s vegetables skewers grilled yakitori style – that is, bite-sized pieces of vegetables threaded onto short skewers and grilled until tender and slightly charred. Vegetable yakitori can be lightly sprinkled with just salt but here we’re going to make a Japanese tare for a glossy, sweet and savory finish.
The best vegetables for grilling are ones that are slightly sturdy but don’t take too long to cook. In this case, we’re going to grill tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, red onion, bell peppers, king oyster mushrooms, shishito, and asparagus.
The best way to cut vegetables for vegetable yakitori is in 3/4 inch by 2.5 inch sticks. Think carrot sticks, but slightly shorter and stubbier. The baton-like shape makes it easy to thread the vegetables onto skewers and the large surface area helps the vegetables cook quickly and evenly. Here’s how you cut/prep everything:
Yakitori sauce is tare (which translates to sauce in Japanese) and it contains the classic Japanese combination of sake, mirin, soy, and sugar.
At yakitori shops, they have a tare pot where they simply dip entire skewers. The tare recipes are closely held secrets and there are even rumors of “forever tare” where the sauce is continuously replenished in the same pot. The result is an intensely savory sauce that develops over time as the grilled skewers infuse their flavors and fats directly into the sauce pot.
The good news is that grilling vegetables is super easy. Heat the grill to medium-high. Brush the grill or the vegetable skewers with a neutral oil then set them on the grill. Flip them every 2-3 minutes so they grill evenly on both sides. They’re done when they’re tender and have a bit of color on them, generally, it takes about 5-8 minutes, depending on the vegetable and size. When the vegetables are tender, move them off the grill and generously brush all sides with tare then place the skewers back on the grill to lightly caramelize the sauce. Enjoy hot, right off the grill, but be careful not to burn yourself on the deliciousness!
Traditionally you would use a grill with binchotan – a special type of Japanese charcoal that gets extra hot and burns bright white. At home you can use a regular BBQ grill, a grill pan, a cast iron-pan, or even the broiler in your oven. Our favorite way to grill is to use the tiny electric yakitori grill we packed home from Japan, but we also regularly use our gas BBQ grill as well.
There’s a huge variety of skewers out there for yakitori, from double pronged to thick flat sticks, to simple short rounds. Typically Japanese yakitori skewers are shorter than what you normally see at a BBQ. They’re about 6 inches in length. You can order them on amazon: here are some regular ones and here are the one that have a flat tab at the end). Usually you can find short skewers at the grocery store too. Make sure you soak them in water for at least 1 hour before grilling, otherwise the sticks might burn and break off.
Most yakitori-ya (yakitori shops/restaurants) pride themselves on their tare so they don’t really give you anything extra to season your skewers with. The exception is shichimi togarashi or sansho pepper. Both are delicious!
Usually vegetable yakitori and chicken yakitori go hand in hand and you end up pretty full. But if you’re making a meal of just vegetable yakitori, I recommend a fluffy bowl of rice, really good miso soup, and some pickled cucumber sunomono.
Happy grilling friends! I’m so happy it’s grilling season again!
xoxo steph
If you love grilled vegetables, you’re going to love Japanese grilled vegetable yakitori.
Serves 4
In a very small pot, combine the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, green onion whites, garlic, and ginger. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and when bubbly, reduce the heat to low. Let the sauce bubble away and reduce until it’s thick and glossy, it should take about 20 minutes. Keep and eye on it and stir it every once in a while. While the tare is reducing, you can prep the vegetables. When the sauce is slightly thick, remove the aromatics and discard.
Wash the vegetables and cut into 2-2.5 inch even bite-sized pieces that are easy to thread onto skewers. Long, baton-like shapes work best.
Thread the vegetables onto the skewers, with 4-6 pieces of vegetables per stick.
Grill the skewers on a medium-hot grill, flipping occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and slightly charred, about 5-8 minutes, depending on the vegetable.
Brush the yakitori generously with the tare and continue to grill for 1-2 more minutes or until the tare caramelizes slightly. Enjoy hot!
Estimated nutrition is for 1 tbsp tare, no vegetables.
Nutrition Facts
Vegetable Yakitori
Amount Per Serving (1 tbsp)
Calories 28
% Daily Value*
Fat 0.01g0%
Saturated Fat 0.01g0%
Cholesterol 0.01mg0%
Sodium 515mg22%
Potassium 30mg1%
Carbohydrates 6g2%
Fiber 0.2g1%
Sugar 3.7g4%
Protein 0.6g1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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