Juicy chicken, crisp bits of skin, smoky char, and a shiny glaze make these grilled Japanese meatballs (tsukune) worth the grind.

Years ago, I asked Joshua Bousel, one of the recipe developers at Serious Eats, if he'd be interested in working on a recipe for an entirely grilled Italian-American Sunday gravy. I had recently been to a Japanese restaurant in Brooklyn that served tsukune—grilled chicken meatballs coated in a sweet-and-savory tare sauce—and thought to myself, "Why don't we grill meatballs more often?"

I'm not talking about sausages, which are an entirely different (and delicious) beast unto themselves. I'm talking meatballs, with their looser structure, more tender texture, and rougher exteriors.

At their best, tsukune are juicy, flavorful, slightly springy, with plenty of smoky charcoal flavor and crispy bits of fat to balance out the sweetness of the teriyaki-like tare sauce. As far as texture goes, having a bit of internal contrast is often a sought-after feature. Many yakitori shops will chop little bits of soft chicken cartilage into the meatball mixture to give it a bit of crunch.

So how do you make restaurant-quality tsukune at home?

The Case Against Pre-Ground Chicken

I've made tsukune at home with varying degrees of success. Flavoring has never been an issue. I typically keep things simple with the standard scallion and shiso (red shiso if you can find it!), along with a touch of ginger. If I'm sitting on a big pile of garlic, I may add some in as well, though garlic is not a typical flavor here. Salt, MSG, a touch of sesame oil, and my teriyaki sauce are the only other seasonings I need.

Texture is where things get a little more difficult. The one factor that has separated the successfully juicy, springy batches from the dry, mealy ones is using pre-ground chicken versus grinding it myself.

I know, I know. Grinding your own chicken sounds messy, anxiety-inducing, perhaps a bit dangerous. But hear me out.

Pre-ground chicken these days is simply the worst. Even a decade ago the ground chicken you could buy in the shop had some semblance of texture, flavor, and fat to it. These days all I can find is a homogenous paste that cooks into a dry, flavorless, mealy mass. Even the classic tricks like adding bread crumbs, eggs, or other binders and moisteners can't save it. No thank you.

The Grind Makes the Meatball

My solution is to start with skin-on chicken thighs and grind them myself in the food processor, using the same technique I use when I want to make chopped beef for a texture-packed burger. The trick is cutting the chicken into small chunks, placing them on an aluminum sheet tray (aluminum is important—its high thermal conductivity will encourage rapid freezing) and chilling it briefly in the freezer until the pieces start to feel a bit crusty. Keeping everything cold and firm like that lets the blades chop the meat and skin cleanly instead of smearing the fat around.

Speaking of fat, using skin-on thighs is important. That skin brings fat, flavor, and a bit of that prized textural contrast.

I also tested versions with egg white, breadcrumbs, and starch, all common additions intended to help bind the mixture. In the end, I preferred the simplest version: just chicken and seasonings. It has a cleaner chicken flavor and the pleasantly juicy, bouncy texture I want from tsukune.

There are a few traditional ways to shape tsukune for the grill. I like to shape them into balls using hands that I've moistened with a bit of roasted sesame oil. After shaping the balls, I skewer them three at a time, then gently flatten them. (Flattening them makes it much easier to manage them on the grill.) Once skewered, the tsukune can be stored in the fridge for up to a few days before you actually start grilling.

The Perfect Temperature

Tsukune are traditionally cooked over a coal grill, but gas will get the job done, or even a broiler if it's all you've got. Whatever cooking method you choose, make sure to use a good instant-read thermometer—like the Combustion Inc. Predictive Thermometer made by my friend Chris Young—to ensure that the chicken cooks to around 175°F (80°C), the sweet spot where the fat from the skin has softened and rendered, but the meatball still retains plenty of tender juiciness.

Once cooked, you can serve them as-is, or do what you’ll commonly see at yakitori restaurants and serve them with a raw egg yolk for dipping.

And for the record, Joshua delivered on that Grilled Sunday Gravy recipe, and I still maintain that we need more meatballs on the grill.

Recipe: Grilled Chicken Tsukune with Teriyaki

Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.

What I love about this recipe:

Grinding skin-on thighs gives you much juicier, springier chicken than supermarket ground chicken.

No eggs, breadcrumbs, or starch needed.

Repeated layers of teriyaki sauce turn into a glossy, savory-sweet glaze on the grill.

The skewers can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated until you’re ready to grill.

Yield: 2 to 4 small servingsActive Time: 30 minutesTotal Time: 45 minutesNotes: You can find shiso at Japanese or Korean supermarkets. It may be labeled "perilla" or "beefsteak herb". You’ll need about 6 to 8 short bamboo skewers. If cooking on a conventional grill where the exposed ends of the skewers will sit over the heat, soak them in water before using to help prevent them from burning.

Ingredients

1 pound (450g) skin-on boneless chicken thighs

6 to 8 scallions, roughly chopped, plus more thinly sliced scallions for serving if desired

8 to 12 shiso leaves, roughly chopped (optional, see note)

One 1/2-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped (optional)

Roasted sesame oil, for seasoning and shaping

Kosher salt

MSG (optional)

Teriyaki sauce (such as my Seattle-Style Teriyaki Sauce) for glazing

Raw egg yolks, for serving (optional)

Shichimi togarashi, for serving (optional)

Method

Cut the chicken thighs, including the skin, into roughly 3/4-inch chunks. Spread on a parchment-lined aluminum baking sheet and transfer to the freezer. Freeze until the meat and skin are firm and have a frozen crust, but are not frozen solid, 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer the chilled chicken to a food processor along with the scallions, shiso, ginger, and a small drizzle of sesame oil. Season with a teaspoon of kosher salt and small pinch of MSG. Pulse until the chicken is finely chopped and the mixture becomes cohesive and slightly sticky, but don't process it all the way to a smooth paste. Fry or microwave a small piece to taste, then adjust the seasoning with more salt and MSG if desired.

Transfer the chicken mixture into a bowl. Lightly oil your hands with sesame oil. Lightly oil a small sheet tray with sesame oil. Using oiled hands, form the chicken mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Working three balls at a time, line them up flat on your cutting board and thread a bamboo skewer through all three. Gently flatten the balls, then transfer to the oiled sheet tray. Repeat with remaining balls. At this point they can be covered and refrigerated until you're ready to cook.

If using a charcoal grill: Light 3/4 chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate.

If using a gas grill: Set half the burners to high, cover, and preheat for 10 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate.

Place the skewers over the hot side of the grill, cover, and cook until lightly browned on the first side, a minute or two. Flip and brown the second side. Continue flipping and cooking the chicken, using an instant-read thermometer to keep track of its internal temperature. Once it hits around 150°F (65°C), begin glazing it.

Brush the meatballs generously with sauce. Flip, brush the other side, and continue cooking, flipping and brushing with additional sauce periodically. The goal is to build up several thin layers of sauce as it reduces and caramelizes onto the chicken.

Continue grilling until the tsukune are glossy and browned and the centers register around 175°F. Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with a final layer of teriyaki sauce. Serve immediately with raw egg yolks for dipping, shichimi togarashi, and sliced scallions, if desired.

Watch the full Kenji Eats Japan series.