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Easy chicken katsu curry (with air fryer option)

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If you’re a sucker for crispy foods – like me and the rest of the world – then you’ll love this easy chicken katsu curry with a quick homemade katsu curry sauce. This is better-than-takeout comfort food at its best!

chicken katsu curry

Better than a takeaway

I’ve always been impressed with the little Japanese lunch restaurants that you find all over Australia. They’re kind of ‘cheap and cheerful’ but the food feels nourishing, appetizing and really good value for money.

I’ve been known to pop in when I’m out and about around lunch time. Sometimes I order a simple chicken katsu (also very delicious), and other times something very similar to the katsu curry recipe in this post. AKA the ultimate Japanese comfort food.

For those times when you don’t want to eat out (or can’t), what do you know, this chicken katsu curry is much easier to make at home than you might think!

Why make a homemade Japanese curry sauce?

I’d heard a rumour that Japanese people usually buy pre-made curry sauce for a chicken katsu curry. But I wasn’t keen on the long list of ingredients I saw on the back of packets of katsu curry sauce at the supermarket.

I’m going to carry on making a homemade curry sauce for my chicken katsu. curry – and I hope you give it a try too!

What you need to make this

You’ve probably got most of the ingredients you need to make your chicken katsu curry already.

For the crispy chicken you need:

  • chicken thighs
  • flour, an egg and some panko breadcrumbs for coating the chicken
  • a few tablespoons of oil for pan frying

For the fuss free katsu curry sauce you need:

  • an onion and some garlic and ginger
  • a spoonful of flour and curry powder
  • good quality chicken stock
  • a bit of soy sauce and honey to balance out the flavours

This recipe also works with chicken breasts and tenders. Find cooking instructions/times in the recipe notes below!

How to make a chicken katsu curry step-by-step

A series of 12 process photos showing how to make a chicken katsu curry

Don’t be put off by the fact you have to coat the chicken in breadcrumbs AND make a curry sauce. Both steps are quick and easy.

Here are the basic steps:

  1. Coat chicken thighs in breadcrumbs and pop into the fridge.
  2. Make the easy curry sauce on the stove top.
  3. While your sauce is simmering away, brown the crumbed chicken in a pan, then let it finish cooking in your pre-heated oven.
  4. If you prefer, skip number 3 and ‘fry’ in your air fryer (see below!).

To assemble your meal:

  1. Blend the sauce (a hand-held blender is great for this) and reheat in the pan.
  2. Slice the crispy chicken into slices. Arrange over rice and pour over some sauce.

Got an air fryer?

If you’ve got an air fryer, you can ‘fry’ the chicken in it. In this case the air fryer isn’t really faster than the oven, but it means you don’t have to brown the chicken first in a pan.

Simply spray your breaded chicken all over lightly with oil, then air fry for 25 minutes at 200C/390F.

Personally I love air fryers because you don’t need to turn on your oven, and for many other yummy reasons such as air fryer banana bread, easy baked chicken thighs and Greek smashed potatoes!

There are many highly rated air fryers available of course, but we currently have a cheap Kmart air fryer, which works pretty well!

How to serve this

This is supposed to be a simple every day kind of meal, so I don’t complicate things.

I simply arrange the sliced chicken on top of some rice and drizzle over some sauce.

I serve with fresh and crunchy lettuce leaves and extra sauce on the side. Perfect!

If you want a bit more vegetable action, feel free to serve some steamed broccoli or green beans on the side.

Chicken katsu curry (with an easy curry sauce)

If you like this recipe, you may also like to try my simple chicken katsu recipe. It’s very similar but served with an even simpler sauce called a tonkatsu sauce (no cooking!).

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Easy chicken katsu curry (with air fryer version)

Golden, crunchy chicken drizzled with a tasty but easy-to-make curry sauce. This is the ultimate Japanese comfort food. I find it better than a takeaway and I'm pretty sure you'll love it as well!
4 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Cuisine Japanese
Servings (click to change) 4
Author Helen

Equipment (affiliate links)

wire rack
hand-held blender
food processor
air fryer

Ingredients

cups/ounces – grams/ml

For the chicken

  • ¼ cup flour seasoned with plenty of salt & pepper
  • 1 egg beaten
  • ¾ cup Japanese panko breadcrumbs approximately
  • 4 chicken thighs (large skinless boneless)
  • 3 tablespoons oil approximately, for cooking

For the curry sauce

  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves chopped finely or crushed
  • 2 cm piece of ginger peeled & chopped finely
  • 1 tablespoon plain flour
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder mild or medium
  • 1½ cups chicken stock
  • ½ tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon honey or brown sugar if you don’t have honey

To serve

  • 2 cups rice (⅓ to ½ cup per person)
  • 4 big handfuls crispy lettuce leaves

Instructions
 

  • Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in three separate bowls. Roll each chicken thigh first in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs.
  • Place crumbed chicken on a plate, cover and refrigerate while you make the curry sauce.
  • Add a splash of oil to a medium saucepan and cook the onion, garlic & ginger for a couple of minutes until softened.
  • Add the flour and curry powder and cook for another minute while stirring continuously.
  • Slowly add the chicken stock, then stir in the soy sauce and honey. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the sauce has reduced and thickened a little.
  • Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/355F. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place a wire rack on the top if you have one.
  • Heat up about 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan, then fry the chicken for a few minutes on each side until golden. Place on the wire rack on the baking tray, then finish off cooking in the oven for 20 minutes. [If you prefer to cook your chicken in an air fryer, skip this step and refer to recipe notes for cooking instructions]
  • Cook the rice according to packet instructions while chicken is baking. When the sauce is ready, blend it with a handheld blender or in a food processor until smooth. Then pour back into the pan and re-heat ready to serve.
  • Slice each crispy chicken thigh into about 4 thick slices length-wise, then serve over rice. Drizzle a little sauce over each dish. Serve with the crispy lettuce leaves and extra sauce on the side.

Notes

Chicken thighs, breasts or tenders?

Large skinless boneless chicken thighs work best for this recipe. The chicken is crispy and juicy. Mmmm.
The recipe will still work if you use smaller thighs – just cook a couple more. 
This recipe also works well with chicken breasts and tenders. Chicken breasts may only need around 15 minutes in the oven after browning first. For tenders you can skip the baking part – just pan fry until golden and cooked through in the middle (roughly 3.5 minutes on each side but it will depend on how big/thick they are). 

Do I have to pan fry the chicken first? Can’t I just bake it?

Usually I’m all about speed and ease, so I skip any unnecessary steps. I do think it’s worth browning the chicken in the pan first though in this case. 
It’s very fast and just makes sure the chicken gets nice and crispy! And for anyone wondering, it’s pretty tricky to just pan fry a chicken thigh because it’s so thick. The combination of pan frying and baking is perfect for this recipe, and I promise it doesn’t feel like too much trouble 😉

Do I really need a wire rack?

The wire rack just keeps the chicken elevated slightly in the oven so it can get crispy all over. 
If you don’t have one though, no problem! Just place the chicken on a baking tray lined with baking paper and turn over half way through cooking.
Or… do you have an oven safe cast iron pan? Pan fry your chicken in that, then just transfer the same pan to the oven. Turn the chicken half way so that it can get crispy all over. 

I prefer to ‘fry’ my chicken in my air fryer!

Great! You can skip the pan frying step. Simply spray your breaded chicken all over with a light coating of oil. Then ‘fry’ in your air fryer for 25 minutes, turning around half way through. 

Breadcrumbs

Panko breadcrumbs are the best and quickest and easiest crumbs to use. They are widely available in supermarkets in the UK, Australia, USA, and probably most other countries.
If you can’t get hold of them however, do feel free to use any kind of breadcrumbs you like. The recipe will work just as well, although panko breadcrumbs tends to make the chicken a bit crispier. 

Nutrition

Calories: 831kcalCarbohydrates: 99gProtein: 32gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 154mgSodium: 446mgPotassium: 533mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 162IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know if you liked it!

Comments

  1. Ala says

    Brown curry is one of the few curries I’ll eat, and I LOVE it so much. I never really considered making it from scratch before, so I really love this idea and inspiration! Thanks for sharing it, I’m going to make curry next week 🙂

    Reply

    • Helen says

      Hello Ala! I’ve never heard this called brown curry before, but it’s a perfect description! I really hope you give this a go some time – don’t worry, it’s so easy!

      Reply

    • Helen says

      Thank you, Nadia! I must admit I was quite pleased with these pictures. It’s a bit tricky to make brown food look appetizing sometimes!

      Reply

  3. Laura @ Raise Your Garden says

    This looks absolutely fab as always Helen and easy. It doesn’t look easy in the picture and honestly, if i make this for guests I’m gonna imply that it was hard! Is that bad? I just want people to think I went through a lot of effort for them. I love the crispy coating and how you used thighs. I am finally over my I-won’t-cook-with-thighs issue, and they seem to be more moist than breast meat. I feel as weird talking about thighs and breasts on your blog so I’m gonna take a break and unload the dishwasher and clean the kitchen!

    Reply

    • Helen says

      Hahaha … sorry to have driven you to kitchen duties, Laura! I’m really happy you like this enough to consider making it though, and no I don’t think it’s bad at all to make people think you went to a lot of trouble. You can just ‘forget’ to mention that it was easy! It really is, though, so good luck! And congrats on getting used to using thighs!

      Reply

    • Helen says

      Hi, Denise! Really happy that you like this. I just love the combination of crispiness and a simple, mild curry. Hope you do get around to giving it a go – if you do, pop back and let me know how you got on!

      Reply

  5. Just Jo says

    I remember the magical faraway tree! I remember my Daddums reading it to me as a little girl. Hungry Hubby loves Katsu and gets it frequently when we go to Wagamamas but I’ve struggled big time in replicating the flavour at home. Well, it always comes out a bit watered down for me no matter which curry powder I use. I’ll have your recipe a go but I suspect I’ll double up the curry powder. Will report back!

    Reply

    • Helen says

      Hello Jo! Thanks so much for popping by and commenting! I’m not a katsu connoisseur so this was definitely good enough for me, but I’m not sure mine can compete with Wagamama’s version! I know some versions I looked at added carrots into the mix too which could give some extra depth, but I wanted to keep things simple. I used a medium curry paste too which was spicy enough for me but the hubs said he could have enjoyed it better a bit hotter. Anyway, do let me know if you give it a go!

      Reply

  6. Maggie says

    I love katsu curry and the chicken version sounds even better! Like the way you make the curry, it looks so rich and simply. I might add a bit shredded cheese on top, YUM!

    Reply

    • Helen says

      Hi Mariana! Katsu is sooo good, isn’t it? I love it’s so simple, it’s crispy … and it’s a curry! Can’t go wrong really. Hope you give this version a go some time!

      Reply

  13. Chi says

    I love chicken katsu curry! I usually make the curry sauce with pre-packaged curry cubes from Japanese convenient store, have you tried those? Vermont Curry and Golden Curry mix are the best I’ve had.
    Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

    • Helen says

      Hello! I haven’t actually tried those cubes, but a Japanese food blogger friend told me about them. She told me Japanese people hardly ever make their own sauce – they just use pre-made. I was happy with this homemade version though as it was so simple. Glad you like this!

      Reply

    • Helen says

      Hello Kristi! Thank you so much for the compliment. Crispy chicken and curry really does go well … glad you like it!

      Reply

    • Helen says

      Hello, Angela! Thank you so much for the compliments! I’m not sure my katsu could rival the one you had at the restaurant but it was good enough for me! 🙂

      Reply

  19. Nancy | Plus Ate Six says

    I lived in Tokyo for 4 years and this was my hangover go-to food. And now it’s my comfort food hungover or not. I didn’t realise it was so easy to make though. Gorgeous photos too.

    Reply

    • Helen says

      Hello Nancy! Oh, I really hope you do give this a go for yourself then – I’m sure it will bring back some fun memories! 😉

      Reply

  23. [email protected] says

    Katsu with curry is my FAVORITE!!! Eek!! I love this easy homemade version!

    SO….when you are in Oz, remind me to tell you where to get the curry sauce from. Secret tip: No japanese home cooks make it. They use a storebought paste and you can even get it at SUPERMARKETS!!! SO GOOD! (I am seriously dangerously obsessed with it)

    Reply

    • Helen says

      Oooooh, I’m happy that you approve of this, Nagi, even though I’m sure it’s not a very authentic version 😉 Good enough for me, though …
      I will definitely ask you about the curry sauce in Oz. Even though this is easy, I bet the paste has more flavour. Great tip!

      Reply

  24. Kathleen | HapaNomNom says

    I LOVE Katsu with curry! But I haven’t had it in ages! I’m going to have to change that as soon as I get my kitchen back 🙂 And your homemade curry sauce sounds incredible!!!

    Reply

  25. Shashi at RunninSrilankan says

    Oh my gosh – I used to LOVE The Faraway Tree – Jo, Bessie and Fanny had quite the adventures! And those lands that came to the top of the tree!!! Btw, I’ve never had chicken katsu curry and it sounds fantastic!

    Reply

    • Helen says

      Oh I knoooowww … wasn’t that book ah-mazing? I could read it again right now! I really hope you try the curry some time Shashi. Bet you’ll like it!

      Reply

  26. cheri says

    Hi Helen, love crunchy chicken….especially with a sauce like this. Sounds like a great book, that would of been my favorite chapter too.

    Reply

    • Helen says

      Hi Cheri! Glad you like the chicken and curry. It definitely would have been your favourite chapter too. That place sounded seriously amazing – what a shame it’s not real!

      Reply

    • Helen says

      Ha! Thanks, Marissa! I love that book so much – I could read it again right now even though it’s for kids! Glad you like the curry!

      Reply

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