Chicken Katsu has got to be one of the most popular meals of all time. We personally eat chicken katsu at a minimum of two times a month, and I could easily eat it one time a week if I felt my family could handle that much chicken. However, I suck at frying, like really really suck at frying stuff. In addition, it always makes the house all smokey, and I always have this guilty feeling about using that much oil to cook food. So that is why we cook Baked Chicken Katsu at home. It tastes great, is super quick, and is healthier. It doesn’t help that you only need chicken thighs, salt, pepper, garlic powder, flour, and panko to make a great chicken katsu. These are all ingredients that we always have on hand in our house.

Chicken katsu is a great first dish to start cooking Japanese food. The steps you learn are invaluable. You learn how to score chicken, how to flour, egg, and coat your chicken, and you figure out how long to cook chicken in your oven. When I started cooking there were a lot of dishes that have the exact same steps just with different sauces. By cooking chicken katsu in the beginning I was able to get much more comfortable cooking dishes like Tatsuta Pork. So if you aren’t sure what dish to start cooking Japanese food with, then I think this Baked Chicken Katsu is great addition to your cookbook.

Tips for making Baked Chicken Katsu

Mix the panko a ton – Always be mixing when you are frying up the panko. The moment you step away is the moment you get a bunch of burned panko. I also put 1 tbsp of vegetable oil on top of the panko in the beginning in addition to the 1 tbsp on the bottom of the pan.
Chicken Thighs – I’m of the opinion that chicken thighs are the way to go all the time. Chicken breast is good, just not as good as thigh to me.
Bulldog sauce – My favorite sauce to go with baked chicken katsu or tonkatsu is Builldog sauce. Soo, good, so tasty, so tangy.
Over panko – If you have the extra panko, put more than you think is enough to cover the chicken. When you are baking the chicken some of the panko always falls off, so add extra.

What to eat with Chicken Katsu

Steamed rice – Of course, steamed rice has got to be the number one thing to eat with chicken katsu.
Mac salad – Nothing as good as Hawaiian mac salad to go with chicken katsu.
Garden salad with sesame roasted dressing – Kewpie makes a great brand of sesame roasted dressing. This dressing is great with shabu shabu, great with steamed vegetables, good with everything in my humble opinion.

If you are up for trying out more Japanese recipes with chicken then I recommend the Tatsuta age-chicken or Honey garlic soy chicken too.

I adapted this Baked Chicken Katsu recipe from Justonecookbook. She has a great Japanese recipes, and is my go-to website for all things Japanese food. I added garlic powder, changed it from breast to thigh, and changed the way that the chicken is prepared for the spices.

Baked Chicken Katsu

Baked Chicken Katsu is a sweet and savory Japanese chicken dish that is quick and easy to make. Add steamed rice and some vegetables and you have a great weeknight dinner.

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Servings

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Equipment

Non-stick Pan
Oven safe rack

Ingredients

1/2 cup Panko
1/4 tsp Garlic powder
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1 lb Chicken thigh
2 tbsp Vegetable oil
2 Eggs
1/4 cup Flour

Instructions

Get Ingredients
Add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a non-stick pan, and then put 1/2 cup of panko in the non-stick pan and put on medium heat.
Add another 1 tbsp of vegetable oil on top of the panko and fry for about 5 minutes. Make sure to mix the panko over and over so that you it doesn't burn one area. You want a golden brown color.
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Put your chicken thigh on a cutting board and pound it with the knife edge. You don't want to cut the chicken but you do want to create texture in it.
Add 1/8 tsp of garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper to one-side of all the chickens. Then flip and add 1/8 tsp of garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper to the other side of the chickens.
Get your egg mix ready by cracking two eggs and mixing them in a bowl.
Get your flour ready by putting 1/4 cup of flour on a plate.
Then after your panko is ready transfer for it to a heat-safe pyrex or plate.
Then you dip your chicken into the flour.
Then you dip your chicken and flour into the egg mix.
Then you dip your chicken, flour, and egg into the panko mix. Make sure to cover the entire chicken with panko.
Then put the chicken onto a rack on top of an oven safe pan.
Cook for 27 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees.
After it is done cooking, remove and put and cut into thin strips.