Piping hot mashed potato with meat encased in a crunchy golden panko shell, the Japanese Baked Croquette (Korokke) is simply irresistible. This recipe requires no deep frying, making it healthier and easier to prepare at home.
If you have been following my blog for a while, you probably know how much I love Korokke (コロッケ), a Japanese croquette. It’s always my first and last homemade meal that I request from my mom whenever I visit my home in Japan.
I have shared my mom’s Korokke recipe on the blog (here) and it’s one of the most popular recipes on Just One Cookbook. Throughout the year, I’ve been requested by many readers if they could bake Korokke instead of deep-frying. So today, I am really excited to share the baked version. The method is very similar to how I make this popular Baked Tonkatsu recipe.
What is a Japanese Croquette?
A culinary import from France, the Japanese adopted these beloved fried potato rolls when French croquette was introduced to Japan in the early 1900s. Japanese croquettes are closely resembled to the French version, but the main difference is we typically serve them with tonkatsu sauce. We call this dish Korokke and write it コロッケ.
Japanese croquette consists of panko-breaded, deep-fried patties, filled with mashed potatoes with ground meat and onions. There are some variations which include curry flavors, cream filling with seafood, and vegetable filling like kabocha squash.
The shape is usually flat oval, although my mom makes her version thicker than store-bought Korokke. In case you wonder why I love my mom’s Korokke so much, it’s because she uses really good quality ground beef and she’s very particular about which potatoes to use too. If you’re in Japan, you want to get 男爵芋. Her Korokke also includes more ground beef, so it is really outstanding.
Baked Croquette vs. Deep-Fried Croquette
My love of Korokke has passed down to both of my children so they often request for it. Like many of you, I love deep-fried food but it’s messy to clean up and the house definitely smells a bit unpleasant. Well, you no longer have to worry because baked croquettes make all those headaches go away.
Your next question is probably, which one tastes better, baked or deep-fried?
As a huge Korokke fan, I have to be honest with you and admit that nothing beats deep-fried Korokke out of the deep fryer. The crispy shell on the outside and the piping hot mashed potatoes mixed with juicy beef on the inside. Croquette, borrow from the French word croquer, “to crunch” says it all. It’s simple, yet amazing comfort food.
However, this BAKED recipe is REALLY REALLY CLOSE to the deep-fried version! And my family agrees.
For those of you (actually many of you — thank you!!) who tried my Baked Tonkatsu recipe can testify how close the baked Tonkatsu is compared to deep-fried Tonkatsu. This version of Korokke is just like that.
If you love Korokke, I highly recommend giving this baked version a try. You are guaranteed with no mess and no oily smell in the kitchen, and a much HEALTHIER Korokke to enjoy. If you do try, please let me know what you think in the comment below.
Great Party Finger Foods!
If you make your Korokke slightly smaller, they can fit perfectly in these Origami Cups (tutorial video here). These crunchy treats are great for appetizers, or even as a main dish for kids’ parties (in that case, make sure the croquettes are cooled slightly).
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Baked Croquette
Video
Ingredients
- 2 lb russet potatoes (about 4 potatoes)
- 1 onion
- 3 Tbsp neutral oil (divided)
- 1 lb ground beef
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for the beef)
- 2½ cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for the potatoes)
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (beaten)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- tonkatsu sauce (or make my Homemade Tonkatsu Sauce)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Make the Patties
- Peel and cut 2 lb russet potatoes into thirds or half and place in a large pot. Add water until it covers the potatoes by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring it to a boil and cook the potatoes until a skewer goes through easily, this will take about 20 minutes depending on the amount of water.
- While cooking the potatoes, you can finely dice 1 onion.
- In a large fry pan, heat 1 Tbsp neutral oil on medium-high heat and sauté the onion until soft. Then, add 1 lb ground beef and cook until no longer pink.
- Season with freshly ground black pepper and ¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Combine 2½ cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) and 2 Tbsp neutral oil in a separate frying pan and toast over medium heat until golden brown. Transfer the panko into a bowl or shallow dish and allow to cool.
- When a skewer goes through the potatoes easily, transfer the potatoes to a large bowl and drain.
- Mash the potatoes and season with freshly ground black pepper, ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and 1 Tbsp unsalted butter.
- Add the meat mixture into the mashed potatoes and combine well. Some onions and meat yield more juice after cooking. In that case, avoid adding any juice into the potatoes. Wet potatoes will make it harder to shape the croquettes.
- While the mixture is still warm, but not hot, make thick oval patties, about ½ inch thick. Let the patties rest in the refrigerator for 15–30 minutes.
To Bread the Croquettes
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Coat the patties with ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)and pat off any excess flour.
- Then coat the patties with 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (beaten) and finally the panko.
To Bake
- Place the croquettes on a baking sheet lined with a wire rack (so the bottom of croquettes will be crunchy) or parchment paper. Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) for 10 minutes. Serve immediately with tonkatsu sauce.
To Store
- In order to store the Baked Croquettes, please bake all the croquettes first since you use raw eggs. Let cool completely, put them in an airtight container, and store in the freezer for up to a month. To reheat, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight, put half defrosted (or frozen if you didn‘t thaw in advance) croquettes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 15–45 minutes (based on how defrosted they are) or until the inside is warm. I don‘t recommend microwaving because the croquettes will explode. You can only microwave for a very short time, but finish in the oven for a crispy shell and hot on the inside.
Hi Nami, thanks for this recipe. I can make it ahead then bake it in the oven later. I actually made 9 large croquettes but I will definitely try to make smaller ones for younger kids. My family like to eat shepard’s pie and I think this will become a favorite dish too.
Hi Darlene! Thank you for trying this recipe! Oh yeah shepard’s pie has similarity to croquette. 🙂
I made these the other night and they didn’t get crispy in the oven. The appearance was basically the same as when they went in – probably why the toasting of the panko, of course. I did hope for some crispier texture or something like it’d be if deep fried. Now I realize the texture cannot be the same, so I am curious – can this baked version be picked up in one piece? Or are they eaten by cutting away bites at a time? Thanks!
Hi Susan! In short, we can achieve pretty “close” to deep frying texture but nothing beats REAL deep fried version. Simply we can’t beat it.
However, mine gets pretty close to deep frying, and I also get pretty good feedback from my readers. I’m trying to see what went wrong or what was missing. Maybe oven temp was lower for you? Did you use Japanese panko (it won’t work with breadcrumbs)? Did you use beef? And yes, you can pick up in one piece. Maybe your onion and potato has more moisture. This happens, when I change potatoes or the particular ingredient. Sometimes onion has more moisture than usual, etc. We can bite or use a chopsticks to cut into small pieces and eat. Hope this helps.
To make them Dutch kroke, add about 5cl of cream and 5-10cl of gravy to the mixture. It will make creating them more difficult ,but the end result is a nice change
Hi Niels! Thanks for sharing Dutch version!! 🙂 Sounds delicious!
I absolutely this recipe, I’ve made it so many times and a few times replaced the mince with a meat substitute this is such a wonderful and versatile recipe
Thank you so much
Hi Dana! I’m so happy to hear that you liked this recipe! It’s slightly lower calories than real deep fried croquette too. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi, do I freeze baked patties or unbaked ones? Hope you can help me as I will be making this for dinner tom. Thanks!
I apologize for my late response. Always freeze after baked and cooled. Food manufactures freeze before baking/deep frying, but we don’t have the same process, so the food will not stay well compared to after being baked. Hope this helps!
Is there anything i have to do if I just want to make potato croquette and just leave out the hamburger? Should I increase the potato amount?
Hi Devon! Are you including onion? I haven’t tried this recipe without ground meat, but it should work. You probably need to adjust the amount of onion vs. mashed potatoes. 🙂
I made this today and found the patties to be too soft to properly shape and it got even worse after applying flour (which I believe dries the patties out?).
Where I think I may have gone wrong: I used half pork/half beef minced meat and when mixing it in with the mashed potatoes I mashed a bit again causing all the juice inside the minced meat to make the whole thing too wet (plus probably hurt the texture, or is it supposed to be like a potato/meat mash?).
Also, next time I will shape them more like croquettes, I’m not a big fan of big mouthfuls of mashed potato to be honest 🙂
Thanks again for another great recipe Nami!
Hi Lawrence! I see – probably the liquid makes the mixture too wet. Was it so wet that it stuck to your hand while making shapes? I kind of imagine what you went through. Be careful with the liquid that goes into the mixture as you can’t undo it. Thank you for trying this recipe! xo
Hi Nami,
Can I substitute kabocha or sweet potatoes for the russet potatoes? I used to have kabocha koroke a lot when I was living in japan. And I love them. Would it affect cooking time?
Thank you,
Mela
Hi Carmela! Sure! Kabocha tends to have more moisture so you might need to adjust a little. You might experience a bit harder to roll than potatoes (but it depends on kabocha too). Add more panko if necessary. 🙂 Cooking time will be same as both potatoes and kabocha are cooked through. Enjoy!
Thank you for the quivk reply! I cant wait to try this and your baked version of menchi katsu! Tonight i’ll be making your recipe for tsukune. My absolute favorite kushiyaki. Thank you so much Nami. Because of you, I can enjoy authentic tasting homemade Japanese food (Most Japanese restaurant around here in SD just dont do it for me) and bonus that there are healthier versions!
Hi Mela! Hope your Tsukune came out well! I’m happy to hear you enjoy cooking Japanese food at home. 🙂
Very good recipe. The baked katsu technique is awesome (I have used it for chicken also). These turn out tasty even when made with ground turkey instead of beef, and they do in fact reheat really well. They took me longer than the recipe says, and the cooking time was also longer… so not a meal i can make on weekdays, but still very good.
Hi Kate! Thank you for your kind compliment. Croquette is my favorite food but I can’t make it as often as I like too. it’s just time consuming process so it’s always a special treat. Thanks so much for trying this recipe! I now want to eat some… 🙂
Can I bake the croquettes the next day after coating with panko? Thanks.
Hi Cleris! Sure, you can. HOWEVER, the panko will absorb moist from the onion/potato/meat, so I will recommend breading the panko AGAIN before baking again (so that croquettes have good texture panko around it when you bite into it).
Also when you save in the fridge, place a sheet of paper towel UNDER the croquette, and ON TOP of croquette, then wrap with plastic wrap. Extra moisture will be absorbed and no condensation will affect croquette.
You can do it only one day before. No more than that. 🙂
Hope this helps!
Nami, thanks for your reply. I shaped the croquettes in oval shape the day before. Before dinner, I started to coat the croquettes with flour, egg and panko for baking. They worked out well except they were not hot enough for 10 minutes at 400 degree in the oven. I’m wondering if I should bake them longer because the croquettes have been kept in the fridge for 1 day and they are colder.
Hi Cleris! Yes, it’s important to bring back to the room temperature because it affects the final result. Since everything is all cooked, the baking time is just 10 minutes, which may not be enough to heat up inside. 🙂
If I want to freeze them probably best to do before breading them? Then when the time I want to bake, take them out from the freezer, coat with panko then bake?
Hi Jos! I do recommend finishing to cook first, let cool, and freeze. All you need to do is to defrost and reheat in the oven to make it crispy again. It’s hard to make the inside of the croquettes warm when you deep fry the frozen croquettes. It won’t be warm enough.
I love this recipe. My family likes it better than the fried version. It’s so light and leftovers perfect for breakfast with an egg. I substitute turkey for the beef as we try not to eat beef. And I put peas in the recipe “cause that’s how my mom did it! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Hi Caroline! Thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoys it too! Good to know that turkey works just fine too. Love the peas in the croquette too! Thank you for your kind feedback, Caroline! xo
Hihi Gd morning, just saw your video which is very easy to follow. Just some queries;
1. if i do no not take beef can this be replaced by chicken or pork
2. can panko be omitted
3. I do not have an oven and i do not like to deep fry, can these be pan fried instead.
Hi Evelyn! Here are my answers:
1) Sure you can do that. Not as flavorful with chicken, but yes you can.
2) No, panko is the key for croquette. How do you want the final dish want to be like? Just the patty only?
3) I see… I would highly suggest similar dishes like this but not croquette. The feature of this dish is deep fried (or oven baked like this) with crispy panko shell. If you omit all that, there is not much to it in this dish. Here are some suggestion I have:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/hamburger-steak-hambagu/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/chicken-meatballs/
Hi! Thank you for the recipe. I just tried this recipe and it come out great. One problem, the croquette doesn’t seem to hold its shape, it’s kinda mushy inside, eventhough the outside is crispy. What did I do wrong? I think I didn’t drain the potato perfectly, is that the reason? Or is there any other thing that could end like this?
Hi Lys! From what you describe, I’m thinking the same. Probably the potatoes weren’t drained water/moisture. After you mashed, did you see some liquid? While mixing etc, the steam will evaporate, but if there is “liquid”, it’s hard to evaporate. Also, the meat mixture. At Step 8, avoiding adding juice is important so the potato mixture is not too wet. Hope this helps! I’m glad you liked the recipe and hope next time will come out perfectly. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Love your recipes! I was just wondering with the freezing option, do you freeze the korokke after you coat them in Panko or do you cook then freeze them?
Thanks heaps 🙂
Hi Cassandra! You can freeze after you finish making this dish. Then let them cool and freeze. When you are ready to eat the leftover, don’t defrost. It gets soggy, so you can put the frozen piece directly to the oven or toaster oven and reheat. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Hi, I am a big fan of your recipes! I would love to try this for my 20month old son but he is allergic to eggs. What would be a good substitute for egg wash? I don’t mind fried version either. Thanks!
Hi Brenda! You can skip the egg and use milk or somethign similar instead. 🙂