Air Fryer Chicken Katsu

Hello! Happy Monday, friends. Back in November Alex bought an air fryer and I knew the first thing I wanted to air fry was Chicken Katsu. Before the Pandemic, my favorite thing to order at our local hibachi restaurant was their Chicken Katsu appetizer. Needless to say, I had been missing that dish! So we broke in the Cosori Air Fryer with this classic Japanese appetizer. As an air fryer skeptic, I was expecting this to not work out as well I wanted it to, but it worked out great!

I am sure there are some things that will, and should, always go in the hot oil for deep frying. Like Tempura…I am not sure how that would work in an Air Fryer. I will have to experiment with that one. But, this was so easy, so quick, and the clean up was a snap. I got some short grain rice going in my Instant Pot before I started the chicken. If you want to have rice with your Chicken Katsu, get that going before you begin frying.

The Set Up

Set up your dredging station with one shallow bowl of 3 beaten eggs and another shallow bowl with the panko. I sliced two breasts in half horizontally to get four thin breast pieces, instead of pounding whole chicken breasts. Pat them dry and season with Kosher salt and pepper on both sides. I like to place the breaded chicken pieces on a wire rack in a sheet tray.

I did two rounds of dredging for each chicken piece. If you want t a thinner crust, you can just do one pass in the egg and then one pass in the panko. Take one seasoned chicken breast at a time and coat it in the beaten egg, then dredge it in the panko, making sure to evenly coat the whole piece in panko. Then go back for one more coating of egg and another dredge in the panko.

Air Fryer Chicken Katsu!

Preheat the Air Fryer to 350 degrees. I can only fit two breasts at a time in my Air Fryer, so I worked in two batches. Lay two breaded chicken pieces in the Air Fryer basket, spray a light coating of cooking oil on the breasts and place the basket in the fryer. Set the timer for 10 minutes and begin frying!

When the fryer times out, pull the basket and use a spatula to flip the breasts, spray the flipped breast with a light coating of cooking spray and replace basket. Set the timer for 8 minutes.

Repeat the process for the remaining breast pieces. I quickly steamed some broccolini to go alongside, and I made some Katsu sauce for drizzling and dipping.

The crust was crispy and crunchy. The chicken was juicy and perfectly cooked. Success! So far so good with the Air Fryer. The model I have is a 5.8 quart Cosori. It’s easy to use and clean. Like I mentioned at the top, I was skeptical; I wasn’t sure I needed or wanted an air fryer. But I have to say, I am really happy with this piece of kitchen equipment. It makes the idea of frying much less daunting.

While this wasn’t exactly like the Chicken Katsu at my local hibachi place, it was very close and the katsu sauce really hits it home. Thank you all for stopping by today! If you’ve been on the fence about purchasing an air fryer, I say go for it! There are many models under $100 on Amazon, and I think it’s really worth it! Want to try another one of my favorite Japanese dishes, try my Leftover Turkey Ramen – sub in whatever leftover meat and veggies you have! Stop by facebook, Instagram or Pinterest to say hello! See you all here again Wednesday, take care and be well everyone. xo Kelly

Print Recipe

Air Fryer Chicken Katsu

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Dinner, Main Course – Japanese

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 15 Minutes – Cooking Time: 36 Minutes – Total Time: 50 Minutes

Air Fried Chicken Katsu is tender and juicy on the inside and crispy crunchy on the outside. Whip up some Katsu sauce and serve over rice.

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken Breasts, sliced in half horizontally
• Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste
• 3 Eggs, beaten
• 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
• Cooking Spray
• Katsu Sauce (makes 3 tablespoons of sauce)
• 1 tbsp. Ketchup
• 2.5 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1.5 tsp. Oyster Sauce
• 1 tsp. Granulated Sugar

Instructions

1

Slice Chicken Breasts in half horizontally and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle both sides with Kosher salt and pepper. Set aside.

2

Beat 3 eggs in a shallow bowl and prepare another shallow bowl with the Panko.

3

One breast at a time, dip and coat in egg, then dredge in Panko.

4

For a thick crust, repeat dipping in egg and dredging in Panko once more. Set breaded chicken on a wire rack set in a sheet tray.

5

Repeat process for remaining chicken pieces.

6

Preheat Air Fryer to 350 degrees.

7

Place 2 chicken breasts in air fryer basket and spray with cooking spray. Set air fryer timer for 10 minutes.

8

Flip chicken breasts and spray with cooking spray and set timer for 8 minutes.

9

Repeat with the 2 remaining chicken breasts.

Katsu Sauce

10

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well until sugar is dissolved.