What oil does Benihana fry in?
Benihana cooks with Safflower oil on the teppan grill for hibachi entrees, fried rice, and tempura frying (consistently reported by hibachi chefs and copycat-recipe sources, and tied to Benihana's safflower-flower name/logo; not explicitly named in Benihana's own nutrition PDFs), finished with a garlic-soy compound butter.
The 5 cleanest things to order at Benihana
Learn this once: a salad with grilled protein and the dressing left off is nearly always the lowest seed oil order anywhere. So the list below sticks to real meals, salads included, never just a water.
| Item | PUFA |
|---|---|
| California Roll | 2.0g |
| Spicy Tuna Roll | 3.0g |
| Hibachi Shrimp | 4.0g |
| Hibachi Scallops | 5.0g |
| Shrimp Tempura Roll | 5.0g |
Lower PUFA is cleaner. These are estimates from published nutrition data and disclosed oils; preparation varies by location.
Why the frying oil matters
Most fast-food chains fry in seed oils like soybean, canola, corn, or a blend of them, which are high in polyunsaturated fat (PUFA). A handful still use beef tallow or other stable fats, which are far lower in PUFA. The oil a kitchen fries in is the single biggest driver of how much seed oil ends up on your plate. See the full breakdown on the Benihana report card, or where it lands on the Seed Oil Index.
Frequently asked
Does Benihana use beef tallow?
No. Benihana cooks with Safflower oil on the teppan grill for hibachi entrees, fried rice, and tempura frying (consistently reported by hibachi chefs and copycat-recipe sources, and tied to Benihana's safflower-flower name/logo; not explicitly named in Benihana's own nutrition PDFs), finished with a garlic-soy compound butter, not beef tallow. See which chains fry in real fats on Tallow Watch.