My Chicken Katsudon (Chicken Cutlet Rice Bowl) is a comforting lunch enjoyed by all ages in Japan. In this easy recipe, I use chicken tenders to make the crispy breaded katsu (cutlets), then quickly simmer them with eggs in a savory and sweet sauce. Served over a bowl of hot Japanese rice, it‘s a satisfying and delicious meal that your family will love.
Today’s recipe Chicken Katsudon (チキンカツ丼) might “look” time-consuming but it’s actually not. It’s perfect for a busy day. I usually serve this dish with a bowl of miso soup and a small salad. Because it is served in a donburi (rice bowl) style, katsudon makes a balanced meal that is fulfilling.
A more typical Katsudon is served with Tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet). Chicken Katsudon is also a favorite, especially with the children. It’s a popular lunch dish in Japan and you can find it on the menu at every corner of shops, cafeterias, and restaurants.
My mom always makes Chicken Katsu with chicken tenders so that’s how I make it, but you can use chicken breasts or thighs. If you use chicken breasts, make sure to cut each piece thin so it will cook faster (Here’s the basic cutting technique to cut breasts thin).
Shallow Fry instead of Deep Fry the Chicken Katsu
When it comes to home cooking, I know most of you try to avoid deep frying as much as possible. For this recipe, I apply the shallow frying technique instead of deep-frying to prepare the chicken katsu. It uses less oil and creates less mess on the kitchen counter. The chicken will brown beautifully with a crispy char on the surface and tender inside.
Alternatively, you can prepare the chicken using the oven with my Baked Chicken Katsu (揚げないチキンカツ) recipe.
To enjoy Chicken Katsudon, serve the golden fried chicken cutlet with savory-sweet onions cooked in dashi and eggs over hot steamed rice in a bowl. Top it off with mitsuba (Japanese wild parsley), and you will have a satisfying meal for the family.
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Chicken Katsudon
Ingredients
For the Chicken Katsu
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) (beaten)
- 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 7 oz chicken tenders (4 tenders)
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups neutral oil (for frying)
For the Seasonings
- ⅔ cup dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
- 1½ Tbsp sake
- 1½ Tbsp mirin
- 1½ Tbsp soy sauce
- 1½ tsp sugar
For the Katsudon
- ½ onion (4 oz, 113 g; thinly sliced)
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (“cut“ the egg whites 5–6 times into smaller clumps so the yolks and whites are marbled; do not whisk or beat)
- 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice (typically 1⅔ cups (250 g) per donburi serving)
- 4 sprigs mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (chopped; or substitute green onion)
- ichimi togarashi (Japanese chili pepper) (for a spicy kick)
Instructions
- Before You Start: Gather all the ingredients. For the steamed rice, please note that 1½ cups (300 g, 2 rice cooker cups) of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice yield 4⅓ cups (660 g) of cooked rice, enough for 2 donburi servings (3⅓ cups, 500 g). See how to cook short-grain rice with a rice cooker, pot over the stove, Instant Pot, or donabe.
To Make the Chicken Katsu
- Place ¼ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour), 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) beaten, and 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) in individual bowls or plates. Next, season 7 oz chicken tenders with Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. To bread the chicken, dust each piece with the flour and shake off any excess. Then, dip it into the beaten egg to coat completely. Finally, coat the chicken with the panko, pressing the panko into the cutlet so that it adheres well. Remove any excess. Set the breaded cutlets on a plate.
- Heat 3 cups neutral oil in a frying pan. Shallow-fry the panko-coated chicken at 340ºF (170ºC) until golden brown. Remove the chicken and place it on a wire rack or plate lined with paper towels to drain the extra oil.
To Make the Katsudon
- In another (or a clean) frying pan, add thin slices of ½ onion and all the ingredients for the seasonings—⅔ cup dashi (Japanese soup stock), 1½ Tbsp sake, 1½ Tbsp mirin, 1½ Tbsp soy sauce, and 1½ tsp sugar. Cover and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, lower the heat to medium low and cook the onion, covered, until wilted.
- Place the chicken katsu on top of the onion slices and turn the heat up to medium. While you‘re waiting for it to heat up, prepare the eggs by lightly “cutting“ the egg whites with chopsticks 5–6 times into smaller clumps so the yolks and whites are marbled (do not whisk or beat). Once the cooking liquid is simmering, evenly distribute 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) over the chicken katsu and onion in a circular pattern, avoiding the edges of the pan where the egg can easily overcook. Cover to cook until the eggs are set to your liking, roughly 30 seconds. Tip: For more tips and tricks for "cutting" and cooking the eggs, see my Oyakodon recipe.
- Top with the chopped 4 sprigs mitsuba (Japanese parsley) and turn off the heat. Divide 2 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice into individual bowls. Gently transfer the simmered katsu and eggs on top of the steamed rice. Sprinkle the top with ichimi togarashi (Japanese chili pepper) for a spicy kick. Enjoy!
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month.
Hi, I do not have dashi, sake and mirin. Should I substitute it with something else or just omit it. Thank you.
Hi Stefani! Hmmm it’s a tough call… You can substitute sake with dry sherry or Chinese rice wine. For mirin, you can substitute with sugar and dry sherry/rice wine. Dashi… this is a key for Japanese food, but if you can’t find kombu or dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi)…. you can use chicken stock or water. Please understand it really lacks of authentic flavor, however, it’ll still taste good! 🙂
Thank you Nami. I live in regional area in Australia so its a bit for me to find asian product. But I really want to make it, I love your recipes ^o^
Hi Stefani! I see… I understand. One more thing – try checking online shops like Amazon as well. Thank you so much for following my blog! xo
This recipe is very delicious. What I particularly like is the seasoning and how it later became infused to the beaten (donburi) eggs. As you suggested above about preference over deep fry or not, I used the crispy chicken katsu instead.
Easy and fantastic recipe. It deserves 5 stars!
Thank you, Leo.
Thank you so much for your kind feedback Leo! I’m glad you liked this recipe! 🙂
this recipe looks really good, but when I made it, it came out really salty… Am I doing something wrong? I measured everything out before i put it in the pot so I know it cant be that. If you know what I might be doing wrong can you let me know! thanks!
Hi Christina! Thank you for trying this recipe! Assuming you also added dashi (to dilute the seasonings), the only salty ingredient is soy sauce. You might want to add 1/2 Tbsp. first, and then 1/2 Tbsp. more if you want to add more flavor. Hope this helps. 🙂
About a half hour to put together, no kidding! Very good; I’ll make it again.
Hi Diane! Thanks for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
Isn’t this okayodon, except you used chicken katsu instead of regular chicken? Just trying to understand the difference.
Hi Foodie! When we says “oyakodon” in Japan, it usually means simple chicken and egg donburi, and not deep fried Katsu even though katsu don has chicken and egg. Katsu don sometimes don’t have egg; however, Oyakodon will always have chicken and egg (which is why Oyako (parent-child) don. Hope that helps!
Hey Nami,
Please forgive my inexperience. I read the recipe and the comments, but did not find an answer. Is step 1 using 1 egg and step 5 using the other egg (of 2 eggs mentioned in ingredient list)? And what does it mean to “dredge” flour, egg, and panko?
Hi Nyx! I’m very sorry my recipe is not clear. I’ll edit the recipe later when I get more time. Thank you for noticing and letting me know! “Dredge” means to cover with flour, egg, and finally panko. Hope that helps!
Thanks Nami! I’m excited to try it! 🙂
Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
thanks for the recipe Nami we cooked it today at it taste great! also with sunomono with cucumber as a side dish 😀 its a 10 star for me
Hi Klarc! Thank you so much for making those two dishes! So happy to hear you enjoyed them. And thanks for the 10 star!!! YAY! 😀 xo
Hi, could you please advise what sort of side dishes you would have with this? I really want to cook this but I like to have more veggies in a meal (I was looking at all your veggie side dishes but couldn’t decide which one to do lol 🙂
Hi Stephanie!
Um, that’s a hard question! I am not sure your preference in taste/texture/flavor, so I am not sure how to give you the best side dish to go with this dish.
However, if “I” make this dish, I’d pick something refreshing (since Katsu is deep fried) and light (donburi is heavy).
How about these options?
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/japanese-cucumber-salad/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/spinach-ohitashi-japanese-spinach-salad-with-bonito-flakes/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/sunomono-with-cucumber-and-wakame/
Hope this helps. 🙂
those look perfect, thank you! 🙂
You are welcome! 🙂
just tried it. came out great, though I could use some more instruction on the final assembly. How much liquid should remain with the onions, and does the egg go over the chick on just in the sauce? How do you cook it (on stove or in broiler?) I’ll be repeating this recipe.
Hi Reza! Regarding the final assembly, it’s really up to your preference. If you prefer your rice to have more sauce, you can pour the sauce as much as you like. Same goes to how far you want your egg to cook. Most Japanese prefer it to be rather runny, while here I try to cook egg a little longer (in Japan we eat raw eggs, but not here in the US). Hope this helps. 🙂 Thank you for trying this recipe!
Hi Nami, what is a good substitute for mitsuba? I don’t know where to find it. Can I use chinese parsley instead?
Hi Belinda!
Mitsuba tastes like parsley and celery. Some recommends to substitute with celery leaf, some say Italian parsley, or even Chinese parsley. To me cilantro seems a bit strong and different so I’d just use green onion and omit Mitsuba. If you have a Japanese market nearby most likely they have it. But I know it’s impossible to find if you only have Asian store.
Hope this helps.
Hi Nami! Thank you for your recipe and wonderful instructions. I am a novice when it comes to cooking however i can’t believe that i cooked this myself, and it tasted quite good too! Keep up the good work on posting recipes! 🙂
Hi Charlie! I’m glad you try this recipe and liked it! Thank you for your encouragement and kind feedback! 🙂
Nami, I was looking for the solution to create evenly coloured Dorayaki and I found your blog. Thank God! I just want to pop by and say that your blog is very informative and I really appreciate your hardwork and your detail posts and photos. I’m so glad that I found your blog, you inspire me 🙂
Hi Clara! Oh you made my Sunday night so special. Thank you for your compliment and encouraging words. 🙂 Did you find the solution for evenly colored Dorayaki? I hope my instruction can help you make nice Dorayaki. Hope you enjoy cooking Japanese food. 🙂
Yes! I found out that I have been putting too much oil to grease my pan. Your instructions in the Dorayaki post is just what I need. Thanks for the tips! I love Japanese food and I have just started making them myself. You have no idea how much fun and enjoyment I get while reading your posts, makes me want to start cooking now!
Thank you for your kind words Clara! I’m glad you got the tip. Enjoy dorayaki and other Japanese dishes. 🙂
Oishii!
I wanted to make chicken katsu don for forever but I have problem getting ingredient in Norway. But I bought Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce can I use them for the seasonings since I read that teriyaki sauce also consists of all the ingredient.
Oshietekudasaimasenka.
Thank you so much in advance.
Konnichiwa Jole! I think Kikkoman’s Teriyaki Sauce is a bit different for Chicken Katsu Don…but if that’s the only one you can find then I guess you can give it a try! I assume those Teriyaki Sauce is very thick, so you need to dilute a bit. Even though the ingredients (soy sauce, mirin, sugar, sake, dashi stock) are the same, the portion for each ingredient is different. So I think your Chicken Katsu Don might be a little salty. If you can find soy sauce + sugar + white wine (sake is better), it might create better result… But do try and let me and other readers know. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Arigatou gozaimashita. The teriyaki sauce that I had is diluted, but one problem, extremely salty, maybe I can add some sugar to make it less salty. I will experiment it and get back to you. thank you for you reply.
😀
Hi Nami!!! I really love your website. I am currently living in Japan as a student for a year, and I have found your website very helpful in cooking Japanese food. My Japanese is okay, but I’m more comfortable looking up recipes in English. I don’t want to eat out a lot because of my budget, so I’m trying to cook more. With that said, is dashi usually not supposed to boil at all? I just tried this dish and the last part came out really salty. Otherwise, it would have been really good. I will continue to check your website for other recipes in English.
Hi Aimee! Thank you for checking my blog. When you make dashi, you don’t boil it (See my How To Make Dashi).
If you didn’t cook too long or didn’t make any adjustment such as using just one egg instead of two, only way for you to make this dish less salty is to reduce soy sauce (1 Tbsp. or less) to your liking.
Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I hope you find dishes you like on my blog. 🙂
How much Dashi should we use though?
Hi Brian! The recipe is above. It should be ⅔ cup dashi (liquid form). To learn how to make it, please click on the ingredient link. I explained in details.
Hi Nami. I tried this dish and it turned out well. I do have a question here, in step #5 –
“Put chicken katsu in it and turn the heat up to medium high heat. Pour and distribute egg evenly”, do I need to pour the egg over the chicken katsu? And if so, do I need to flip the chicken to cook the egg? Cheers
Hi Yoon! Thank you for trying this recipe and also asking the question. Yes, we usually pour over the katsu. But if you want to keep it crispy, you don’t have to. And no flipping. We like to keep egg 85-90% cooked. Basically egg is like a connector between Katsu and onion. When egg is cooked to your liking, you can scoop up and serve on top of rice. Let me know if I can explain more. 🙂 Thank you so much for your feedback!