Chicken Katsu (Japanese Chicken Cutlet) is a crispy, golden brown chicken cutlet that can be enjoyed for lunch or a weeknight dinner. It is a standard Japanese dish that is commonly served with rice, vegetables, and tonkatsu sauce for dinner. Make it ahead of time for meal prep and enjoy for a Japanese restaurant experience at home!
What is Chicken Katsu?
Chicken Katsu is a fried Japanese chicken cutlet breaded with flour, egg, and panko breadcrumbs. It is prepared using a dredging method and is then deep-fried until crispy and golden. Another popular katsu dish is tonkatsu, or Japanese pork cutlet.
Chicken Katsu is a staple weeknight meal that can be made with just a few pantry ingredients and fresh chicken thighs or breast. It is often served with Tonkatsu Sauce, a Japanese vegetable-based sauce with umami flavor.
Ingredients
The secret to delicious golden Chicken Katsu is the quality of its ingredients. Here are the key ingredients you need to make tender, crispy katsu:
- Chicken thighs - Chicken thighs are the most tender cut for katsu. Trim the excess fat off of the thighs and tenderize them with a meat tenderizer to ensure they cook evenly. Chicken breast is also a good cut for katsu.
- Panko breadcrumbs - Panko breadcrumbs are a Japanese pantry staple. They are light and crispy breadcrumbs that result in extra crunchy texture. Panko breadcrumbs are larger than traditional breadcrumbs. The increased surface area gives more area to fry and therefore, a crispier chicken.
- Tonkatsu sauce - Tonkatsu sauce is an essential ingredient for Chicken Katsu and tonkatsu (Japanese pork cutlet). It is made of onions, apples, and carrots, and has a rich umami flavor. Bulldog Vegetable and Fruit Sauce is the best and most popular brand of Tonkatsu sauce. Find it online or at your local Japanese grocery store.
Instructions
- Tenderize the meat - Trim the fat off of the meat. Then, arrange a couple of chicken thighs in a flat layer inside of a gallon zip-top bag and remove as much air as possible. Use a meat tenderizer to gently pound until it is an even half-inch thickness. Remove the flattened chicken and set aside. Repeat to tenderize all of the chicken thighs. Tenderizing the meat allows the pieces to cook evenly.
- Season the meat - Place the chicken in a large bowl and season the meat with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Season the flour mixture - Place the panko and flour individual shallow dishes. In the flour dish, gently whisk in kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and togarashi.
- Make the egg mixture - In a mixing bowl, add eggs and milk. Beat the eggs and milk mixture until homogeneous. You can also omit the milk and just use eggs.
- Dredge the meat - Coat each piece of chicken with flour and brush off excess flour. Then dip each piece in the egg mixture. Finally, coat both sides of the each chicken piece in panko by pressing the chicken into the panko crumbs.
- Fry in oil - Heat 1 inch of oil in a large heavy skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place 2 or 3 pieces of chicken in the hot oil and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, or until the chicken is golden brown. Carefully remove crumbs from the oil with a mesh skimmer or spoon so they do not burn the oil after each batch is fried.
- Cool on rack - Transfer the fried chicken to a wire cooling rack or a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve - Serve the chicken immediately with Tonkatsu Sauce and lemon wedges.
Substitutions
- Pork - To make Tonkatsu (pork cutlet), use sliced pork loin instead of chicken thighs.
- Salmon - Salmon Katsu is a healthier alternative to chicken and pork. Use a salmon fillet instead of chicken thighs.
- Vegetarian - Replace chicken thighs with eggplant or tofu.
Variations
Giving the visitor ideas on how they can change this recipe to better suit their dinner guests, or their cultural cuisine, is a great way to increase the chances they make the recipe
- Spicy - Mix in chili oil or sriracha to the Bulldog sauce.
- Healthy - Enjoy this chicken katsu recipe with a simple side salad featuring your favorite dressing or prepared vegetable.
- Gluten free - Use gluten free panko.
- Deluxe - Serve your Chicken Katsu with Curry (Chicken Katsu Curry) for even more flavor and richness.
Equipment to Make Katsu
Chicken Katsu requires a few kitchen essentials, all of which can be used for many other common recipes. To make these chicken katsu, you will need a knife, cutting board, meat tenderizer, large zip-top bag, mixing bowls, like this glass mixing bowl set, shallow dishes, fry pan or dutch oven, fish spatula, and cooling rack.
To explore more kitchen items to make your kitchen complete, head to our Kitchen Essentials Shop.
Storing Katsu
Chicken Katsu can be frozen for future meals. After the chicken is deep-fried, allow it to cool then place in an airtight zip-top bag or container to freeze up to 1 month.
To heat the frozen Chicken Katsu, heat the oven to 350ºF and place the pieces of katsu on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until thoroughly warmed. Serve immediately with Tonkatsu Sauce.
Top Tips
- Don't overcrowd the skillet so you have enough room to flip the chicken over while it's cooking.
- Use a fish spatula because it is long and slotted, making it easier to pick up the chicken than it would be with a traditional spatula.
What Do You Eat Katsu With?
Chicken Katsu is most commonly enjoyed with Japanese rice and a refreshing side salad. It is also common on top of a hot bowl of ramen, in a Chicken Katsu sandwich, and with Japanese curry and rice.
It tastes delicious with a bed of Japanese short grain rice and a side, like Furikake and Lemon Shishito Peppers or Elote-Style Corn with Furikake.
Chicken Katsu
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs Boneless skinless chicken thighs tenderized
- 2 cups panko
- 1 cup Flour
- 3 Eggs beaten
- ¼ cup Milk
- 2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt divided
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper divided
- ½ tsp togarashi
- Tonkatsu sauce Bull Dog sauce
- Lemon wedges optional
Instructions
- Trim the fat off of the meat. Then, arrange a couple of chicken thighs in a flat layer inside of a gallon zip-top bag and remove as much air as possible. Use a meat tenderizer to gently pound until it is an even half-inch thickness. Remove the flattened chicken and set aside. Repeat until all of the chicken thighs are tenderized. Tenderizing the meat allows the pieces to cook evenly.
- Place the chicken in a large bowl and season the meat with ½ tsp kosher salt and ½ tsp black pepper.
- Place the flour in a shallow dish. Gently whisk in ½ tsp kosher salt, ½ tsp black pepper, garlic powder, and togarashi.
- In a mixing bowl, add eggs and milk. Beat the eggs and milk mixture until homogeneous. You can also omit the milk and just use eggs.
- Place the panko in a shallow dish.
- Coat each piece of chicken with flour mixture and shake off excess flour. Then dip each piece in the egg mixture. Finally, coat both sides of each chicken piece in panko by pressing the chicken into the panko crumbs.
- Heat 1 inch of oil in a large heavy skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place 2 or 3 pieces of chicken in the hot oil and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, or until the chicken is golden brown. Carefully remove crumbs from the oil with a mesh skimmer or spoon so they do not burn the oil after each batch is fried.
- Transfer the fried chicken to a wire cooling rack or a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve the chicken immediately with tonkatsu sauce and lemon wedges (optional).
Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Loooooved this chicken! Don't skip buying the Bull Dog sauce - this was essential and so delicious. Officially a pantry staple. Husband requested this be in the regular recipe rotation!
Really crispy and yummy! Better than the katsu I have had at most Japanese restaurants.