One of the first questions new teppanyaki grill owners ask is what to cook, and the honest answer is that the list is much longer than most people expect. The flat, even heat of a teppanyaki surface suits an enormous range of ingredients and cooking styles, from quick weeknight proteins through to slow, interactive entertaining spreads that become an event in themselves.
This guide covers the best foods to cook on a teppanyaki grill, organised by category, with practical tips for getting the best out of each one. Whether you are cooking on a UltraDine® MO series built-in teppanyaki grill in your outdoor kitchen or setting up a UltraDine® portable teppanyaki grill at the dining table, these ideas will keep your cooking fresh and your guests coming back.
What to Cook on a Teppanyaki Grill
Beef and Lamb: The Crowd Pleasers
Beef is the ingredient most people associate with teppanyaki cooking, and for good reason. Thinly sliced scotch fillet, sirloin, wagyu, and rump all perform brilliantly on a flat teppanyaki surface, where direct contact with an evenly heated plate produces a sear and crust that a BBQ grate simply cannot replicate. The patented ThermoFlex® technology in every UltraDine® grill keeps rendered fat and cooking juices pooled at the centre of the plate, basting the beef continuously as it cooks and producing a depth of flavour that speaks for itself. Marinades to try: soy and ginger, garlic butter, teriyaki, or simply good salt and pepper with a finish of butter on the plate.
Lamb is equally at home on a teppanyaki grill and suits the Australian entertaining table perfectly. Lamb backstrap sliced into medallions, lamb cutlets cooked directly on the plate, or even kofta-style mince pressed into small patties all cook quickly and develop a beautiful caramelised crust on a hot, well-seasoned teppanyaki surface. A rosemary and garlic marinade applied directly to the plate as the lamb finishes cooking concentrates beautifully in the ThermoFlex® dip and coats every piece. For both beef and lamb, slice against the grain, cook in small batches to maintain surface temperature, and rest briefly before serving.
Chicken: Versatile, Crowd-Pleasing, and Easy to Master
Chicken thigh is the cut to reach for when cooking on a teppanyaki grill. Its higher fat content keeps it moist through the cooking process and it caramelises better than breast on a direct heat surface, developing a golden, slightly crisp exterior while staying tender through the middle. Slice thighs to a consistent thickness of around one centimetre for even cooking, or butterfly them if cooking whole. Marinades that work particularly well on the teppanyaki plate include honey soy with a touch of sesame, lemon and herb, miso and sesame, and a simple garlic butter finish applied directly to the plate in the final minute of cooking.
Chicken breast works well too, particularly when sliced thin and cooked quickly at a high temperature to seal in moisture. For thicker pieces that need a little longer to cook through, place them on a slightly lower heat zone toward the edge of the plate and cover briefly with a dome or a piece of foil to trap heat without overcooking the exterior. Chicken is a natural choice for a teppanyaki entertaining spread because it suits almost every palate and takes marinades readily, making it easy to offer a range of flavour profiles across a single cook session.
Seafood: Where a Teppanyaki Grill Truly Shines
If there is one category where a teppanyaki grill leaves every other cooking method behind, it is seafood. Prawns, scallops, barramundi, salmon, whiting, squid, and mussels all cook with a precision and gentleness on a flat, even teppanyaki surface that a BBQ grate or a pan with uneven heat simply cannot match. Delicate ingredients stay intact, nothing falls through the gaps, and the direct contact between the ingredient and the hot, seasoned plate develops a flavour and texture that is genuinely difficult to achieve any other way.
Garlic butter is the classic teppanyaki seafood sauce, and it performs brilliantly when applied directly to the cooking plate: it foams, concentrates, and coats everything around it, with the ThermoFlex® dip keeping it pooled at the centre rather than running off the edges. Citrus, fresh herbs, ponzu, and a squeeze of lemon at the end are all natural partners for seafood on the teppanyaki plate. Practical tips: pat seafood completely dry before it hits the plate to encourage searing rather than steaming, do not overcrowd, and cook seafood either last in the session or in its own zone of the plate, away from stronger-flavoured proteins.
Vegetables: More Than a Side Dish
Vegetables cooked on a teppanyaki grill have a way of surprising people who have only ever had them roasted or stir-fried. Direct contact with a hot, seasoned surface transforms everyday vegetables through caramelisation and char that brings out natural sweetness and adds a depth of flavour that steaming or boiling never achieves. Mushrooms, zucchini, corn sliced from the cob, capsicum, broccolini, Asian greens, bean sprouts, and sliced onion are all excellent choices, and they cook quickly enough to serve alongside proteins without any complicated timing.
Halloumi is a standout addition to the teppanyaki vegetable spread and one that Australian home cooks have embraced enthusiastically. Sliced about half a centimetre thick, halloumi cooks on the teppanyaki plate in under two minutes per side, developing a golden, slightly crisp exterior without melting or sticking. A drizzle of honey and a squeeze of lemon directly onto the plate in the final thirty seconds creates a caramelised coating that makes it genuinely irresistible. For all vegetables, cut to a consistent thickness for even cooking, add them to the plate after proteins so they benefit from the seasoned surface, and finish with garlic butter, sesame oil and soy, or a simple drizzle of good olive oil and sea salt.
Eggs and Rice: The Teppanyaki Breakfast and Fried Rice Game-Changer
The teppanyaki grill is one of the best surfaces for cooking eggs at home, and once you have tried a fried egg cooked on a properly seasoned teppanyaki plate you will find it difficult to go back to a standard frying pan. The even heat produces a perfectly set white with a runny yolk and a lightly crisped edge every time, without hot spots or uneven cooking. For a weekend breakfast spread, the large cooking surface lets you run eggs, bacon, and vegetables simultaneously across different heat zones of the plate, serving everything hot and fresh without the juggling act of managing multiple pans.
Teppanyaki fried rice is in a category of its own. Use day-old cooked rice (freshly cooked rice is too moist and clumps on the plate), spread it across the hot surface, and press it down gently to allow it to toast and develop texture. Add a splash of soy sauce, a beaten egg, spring onion, and whatever protein or vegetables you have on hand, and toss everything together directly on the plate using your spatulas. The result is better than most restaurant fried rice because the large, evenly heated surface creates the wok hei effect, the high-heat caramelisation that gives great fried rice its signature depth of flavour, in a way that a home wok on a domestic burner rarely achieves.
Noodles: A Teppanyaki Favourite
Noodles cooked directly on the teppanyaki plate are one of the most satisfying and crowd-pleasing things you can make on this style of grill. Yakisoba noodles are the classic choice, pre-cooked and then tossed on the hot surface with cabbage, sliced pork or chicken, spring onion, and yakisoba sauce until everything is caramelised and coated. Udon noodles work equally well with a simple garlic, oyster sauce, and soy combination. Rice noodles are a lighter alternative that take on surrounding flavours quickly and suit a seafood or vegetable-focused cook.
The key technique for great teppanyaki noodles is to pre-cook them before they hit the grill. Adding dry noodles to the plate does not work well. Once pre-cooked and drained, spread them across the plate in a thin layer and press them down briefly to allow the surface contact to create some texture before tossing. Add a small splash of water or cooking sake as you toss to create a brief burst of steam that loosens the noodles and helps the sauce coat everything evenly. Noodles pick up the residual flavour from proteins and vegetables cooked earlier in the session, so cook them last and let the plate do the seasoning for you.
What to Cook for a Teppanyaki Entertaining Spread
Planning a teppanyaki cook for a group is one of the most enjoyable ways to entertain, and the cooking itself becomes part of the event. The sequence matters: start with prawns and scallops as guests gather, because seafood cooks quickly and gives everyone something delicious to eat while the main proteins are underway. Move through beef, lamb, and chicken in the order that suits your group’s preferences, keeping proteins warm under foil as they finish. Follow with vegetables and halloumi, then finish with fried rice or noodles that soak up every bit of flavour left on the surface.
A UltraDine® portable teppanyaki grill set up at the dining table transforms this kind of entertaining into something genuinely memorable. Guests watch, participate, and eat as each batch comes off the plate, and the cook becomes a host rather than someone disappearing into the kitchen. The UltraDine® portable range delivers the same precision cooking surface as the built-in MO series, wherever you choose to set it up. For guidance on how to sequence and manage a full teppanyaki cook session, Cook N Dine’s teppanyaki grill how-to guide covers the full process from preheat to post-cook care.
Sauces and Marinades That Work on a Teppanyaki Grill
The sauces you use on a teppanyaki grill are applied differently to how you would use them in a standard kitchen. Rather than marinating ahead of time (though this helps with flavour development), the most effective teppanyaki technique is to add sauce directly to the cooking plate around your ingredients and let it reduce and caramelise in the heat of the surface. The ThermoFlex® dip keeps liquid sauces pooled where they are needed rather than running off the edges, which means less sauce achieves more flavour.
The sauces that work best on a teppanyaki surface include teriyaki (applied in the final minute of cooking for a glossy, sticky coating), garlic butter (foamed directly on the plate for seafood and vegetables), ponzu with a squeeze of citrus for a lighter, acidic finish, oyster sauce and soy for noodles and Asian greens, honey and lemon for halloumi and chicken, and sesame oil with mirin as a finishing drizzle across the entire plate just before serving. Keep sauces close at hand during the cook and add them in small amounts, a little goes a long way on a hot teppanyaki surface.
FAQs:
What Meat Is Best on a Teppanyaki Grill?
Thinly sliced wagyu beef and scotch fillet are the standout choices for classic teppanyaki cooking, but lamb backstrap, chicken thigh, and pork belly also perform brilliantly on the flat cooking surface. The key with any meat is consistent thickness for even cooking and cooking in small batches to maintain the surface temperature and keep the sear active. For Australian entertaining, a combination of beef, lamb, and chicken gives guests a range of options and keeps the cook interesting.
Can You Cook Vegetables on a Teppanyaki Grill?
Yes, and they are often the highlight of the spread. Mushrooms, zucchini, broccolini, corn, Asian greens, sliced onion, capsicum, and halloumi all cook beautifully on a teppanyaki surface. The direct contact with a hot, seasoned plate produces caramelisation and flavour development that other cooking methods do not achieve. Cook vegetables after proteins so they benefit from the seasoned, flavoured surface, and finish with garlic butter or sesame oil for maximum impact.
What Sauces Go Well With Teppanyaki Cooking?
The best sauces for teppanyaki cooking are ones that caramelise and concentrate on the hot cooking surface rather than staying liquid. Teriyaki, garlic butter, ponzu, oyster sauce and soy, honey and lemon, miso and sesame, and ginger and spring onion all work exceptionally well applied directly to the plate. With UltraDine® ThermoFlex® technology, sauces pool naturally at the centre of the cooking surface, coating ingredients as they cook rather than running off the edges.
Can You Cook a Full Meal on a Teppanyaki Grill?
Absolutely. A teppanyaki grill is capable of producing a complete meal from start to finish on a single cooking surface: proteins, vegetables, eggs or rice, and noodles can all be cooked in sequence on the same plate. The cooking surface builds flavour with each ingredient, and the sequence of proteins to vegetables to carbohydrates ensures the plate is always at the right temperature and seasoning level for each stage of the cook.
Conclusion
The teppanyaki grill is one of the most versatile cooking surfaces available for Australian home entertaining, and the range of what you can cook on it is genuinely impressive. From wagyu beef and garlic butter prawns through to halloumi with honey, teppanyaki fried rice, and yakisoba noodles, every session is an opportunity to try something new and make the cooking itself part of the occasion.
Whether you cook on a permanently installed UltraDine® MO series built-in teppanyaki grill or set up a UltraDine® portable teppanyaki grill wherever the evening takes you, the cooking surface and the results are the same. Explore the full UltraDine® range at cookndine.com.au or call the team on 1300 655 031 to find the right model for your kitchen and your lifestyle.