Get extra crispy crust with my Best Chicken Katsu recipe. Chicken katsu is a Japanese dish consisting of a breaded and deep fried chicken cutlet. Serve it on its own as an entrée with rice, with Japanese curry, as a sandwich filling, or even just an afternoon snack.
Chicken katsu holds a lot of nostalgia for me. For some reason, I associate it with basketball tournaments, where parents would bring snacks for us to eat after games. I had a friend whose mom would make a huge batch of chicken katsu, and we would munch on cold katsu strips as we hung out outside the gym.
Anyway, I love chicken katsu and have loved it since I was a kid. And now my kids love it too! It’s really a family friendly meal, like one of the Asian equivalents to chicken nuggets, except it’s completely acceptable for adults to eat as well.
What is Chicken Katsu? Chicken Katsu vs. Tonkatsu
Chicken katsu is a deep fried chicken cutlet breaded with Japanese panko breadcrumbs. Unlike tonkatsu, which uses a thick cut of pork, chicken katsu uses thinly sliced chicken breast. Similarly to tonkatsu, you can serve chicken katsu with rice, cabbage, and katsu sauce. You also commonly see chicken katsu served with Japanese curry (katsu curry).
You can also eat chicken katsu as a filling in sandwiches or, if you’re like me, as a cold afternoon snack after playing outside.
Is Chicken Katsu Japanese?
Yes, chicken katsu is a popular food in Japan. However, it is actually seen as a food with Western origins in Japan, a category of food known as yoshoku. Other yoshoku dishes include curry rice and omelette rice. Perhaps chicken katsu was inspired by the German schnitzel?
Chicken katsu is also very popular in Hawai’i. You can often find it on the menu at casual Hawaiian restaurants and food trucks as part of a plate lunch served with rice.
Chicken Katsu Sauce
When eating chicken katsu as an entree, you commonly serve it with katsu sauce. Katsu sauce is like a Japanese style BBQ sauce, made with ketchup and worcestershire sauce. While you can certainly attempt to make your own at home, most (actually all) the Japanese people I know use storebought. Obviously you can find katsu sauce at a Japanese market, but these days I’ve seen it even at Walmart or Safeway. If you can’t find it near you, you can also purchase it on Amazon.
How to Get Crispy Katsu Crust
While there are many tips and tricks out there for getting a crispy katsu crust, I find my method to be the easiest. Instead of dipping your chicken first in flour, then egg, and then panko, mix a batter of eggs and flour first. Then dip the chicken into the batter. Then dip it into panko.
I promise, you get a nice, thick, crispy crust!
Another way to get your crust even crispier: you can double deep fry. I often skip this step because I’m usually too hungry to wait for a second fry, but it definitely gets it super crispy.
One last tip: make sure your chicken cutlet isn’t wet when you dip it into the batter. Crust has trouble sticking to wet meat.
Can You Eat Katsu Cold?
Yes! I often ate cold leftover chicken katsu as a snack.
Baked or Air Fried Chicken Katsu
I do not recommend baking chicken katsu because I could never get the crust very crispy. However, I did have a lot of success with making chicken katsu in the air fryer! See my recipe here!
More Japanese Family Recipes
Looking for more classic Japanese and Japanese American home cooking? Check these out:
The Best Chicken Katsu
Equipment
- Wok, deep skillet, or large pot for deep frying
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs thinly sliced chicken breast 3-4 filets
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups panko
- oil for frying at least 3 cups
Instructions
- Pour oil into your wok, deep skillet, or pot for deep frying and bring up to a temperature of 350 degrees F.
- While waiting for the oil to heat up, prepare your chicken. Lightly sprinkle the chicken filets with salt.
- In a shallow dish, mix eggs and all purpose flour. Put panko in a separate dish.
- When oil is ready, dip chicken breast in the egg and flour batter. Then dip the battered chicken in the panko, pressing firmly so the panko covers all sides.
- Place breaded chicken into the deep fryer. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until chicken is cooked through and breading is golden brown.
- Set chicken on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before slicing into strips. Katsu is commonly served on its own with rice and cabbage, with Japanese curry, or in sandwiches. Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.