This Crispy Baked Chicken Sandwich will rival anything you can get in a fast food place! Load it up with some garlic tonkatsu sauce, tomato, cucumber and crisp lettuce for perfection, and enjoy with some iced lemon tea. In Japan, we call this Chicken Katsu Sando.
What’s the best part about deep fried Chicken Katsu? Of course the golden crispy katsu shell with the juicy chicken! I am getting hungry just thinking about it. Besides enjoying by itself, another way that I love to enjoy this satisfying dish is between 2 slices of toast as crispy chicken sandwich.
Have you had it before? Maybe in Japan? I look forward to eating the katsu sandwich the following day after cooking and I always make sure that we have enough leftover so that everyone in my family get to enjoy (or more like I get to enjoy). It’s so good and totally worth waiting.
Watch How To Make Crispy Chicken Sandwich チキンカツサンドの作り方
Delicious baked crispy chicken sandwich recipe with garlic mayo sauce, in Japan we call this Chicken Katsu Sando.
But deep frying can be totally in pain (even for me). Too much oil goes to waste (unless you re-use it soon), and the house smells horrible, the stove top gets greasy, and I know, you want to stay healthy by avoiding as much deep fried foods as possible. I make deep fried foods once in a while at home because homemade ones taste much better than ones in restaurants.
No Mess and Easy Crispy Chicken Sandwich Recipe
However, remember my Baked Chicken Katsu recipe? You can actually use that recipe to make this amazing sandwich. In fact, you can go straight to make crispy chicken sandwich without eating katsu by itself because it’s so easy to make. How great is that!
Now if you are traditionalist, Katsu Sandwich in Japan (カツサンド) uses Tonkatsu. If you prefer pork, you can use my Baked Tonkatsu recipe instead. The traditional Katsu Sandwich uses just a few shredded cabbage between the sandwich bread and some don’t even include cabbage at all. MY crispy chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber is starting to look like a rebel. But a pretty one!
Roasted Garlic on Crispy Chicken Sandwich
Not only that, I made Roasted Garlic Mayo Tonkatsu Sauce and spread over the katsu instead of simple Tonkatsu Sauce. That’s the best thing about homemade. You can change it up depends on how you like it. I make regular Katsu Sandwich too, but honestly, it won’t look as pretty like this with just white bread, golden baked chicken, and tiny bit green color from cabbage.
If there is a Japanese (or possibly Asian bakery), you can purchase a square shokupan (食パン) bread which is sliced into 2 – 2 1/2 cm thickness. That’s typically used for Katsu Sandwich. And if you are still up for a traditional katsu sandwich, don’t toast your bread like I did.
I hope you like my rebel Katsu Sandwich. If you’re traditionalist, again, buy thick sandwich bread, don’t toast it, spread butter and mustard on the bread, put tiny bit of shredded cabbage and tonkatsu on top, and spread regular tonkatsu sauce over katsu. Very simple, either way.
Don’t want to miss a recipe? Sign up for the FREE Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the latest updates. Thank you so much for reading, and till next time!
- 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) (1 cup = 60 g)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (1 lb = 2 pieces)
- kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tbsp water
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) (¼ cup = 30 g)
- ½ English cucumber
- 2 tomatoes
- unsalted butter
- 4 toasts (I use Japanese “shokupan”)
- Lettuce leaves
- 1 head garlic
- 1-2 Tbsp Tonkatsu Sauce (See Notes for homemade recipe)
- 1-2 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
-
Gather all the ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Set a rack in the middle position. Start from Garlic Tonkatsu Sauce. Using your fingers, peel away most of the loose outer layers around the head of garlic. Trim about ¼ inch off the top of the head of garlic. Drizzle about 1-2 tsp. of olive oil over the exposed surface of the garlic and let the oil sink into the cloves.
- Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil and roast in the oven for 40 minutes (depends on the size of your garlic). The garlic is done when a center clove is completely soft when pierced with a paring knife. You can leave it in the oven a little longer for a more caramelized flavor (See Note 1).
- Meanwhile, combine 1 cup panko and 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan and toast over medium heat until golden brown. Try not to break the panko pieces with your spatula (I know it’s hard) and try shaking the frying pan instead of over mixing.
- When panko is nice golden brown, transfer to a bowl (or tray) to let cool.
- Butterfly the chicken breast (See Note 2). With the edge of a knife parallel to the cutting board, cut the length of the side of the breast. Carefully slice the breast in half widthwise almost to the other edge. Keep the edge intact and open the breast along the fold. Season the chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Crack the egg into a medium bowl and add 1 Tbsp. water. Whisk well to combine.
- Put ¼ cup flour in a bowl (or large tray). Dredge the chicken in flour and shake off excess flour off, and then dip in the egg mixture.
- Then dredge the chicken in toasted panko and place it in a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- If your garlic is not done yet by this time, move it to a higher rack or place it in an open space inside the oven. Bake the chicken at 400F (200C) for 30 minutes, or until it’s done.
- When the garlic is done, let it cool slightly and press on the bottom of a clove to push it out of its paper. You can use a knife to take it out as well. Put all the roasted cloves in a small bowl and mash with a fork.
- Add 1-2 Tbsp. of Tonkatsu Sauce and 1-2 Tbsp. Japanese mayonnaise and mix all together.
- Slice the cucumber with a peeler and cut the tomato into thin slices.
- Toast the sandwich bread (optional) and spread the butter. Put the lettuce and the chicken katsu on top. Spread generous amount of Garlic Tonkatsu Sauce on the chicken.
- Put the cucumber, tomato slices and another toast on top. Cut the sandwich in half and serve immediately.
1. Roasted garlic can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
2. Butterflying is a really useful technique to create a uniform thickness throughout a piece of meat, so that it will cook more quickly and evenly.
Tonkatsu Sauce Homemade recipe: Click here
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Made the sando tonight with the garlic katsu sauce. I love garlic like seriously so I loved this. This is tha second night in a row I made your oven baked chicken katsu because my boys loved it last night AND I absolutely love how easy it is to make. I really enjoy your videos and I especially like the hint to brown the panko first. key!! Being from Hawaii, katsu is like a food group. I cannot wait to make it again this Friday when my daughter flies up to visit as I now reside on the east coast. Love love your website!!!
Hi Tasha! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m really happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! Hope you have a wonderful time with your daughter this weekend! 🙂
I have a question: do I need to fry panko before coating chicken in it? On the panko package I bought it doesn’t mention any prior frying…
Thank you in advance.
Hi Bika! Well, pre-toasting panko is my original way to make panko nice golden brown. If you don’t toast panko and use spray oil and bake, it won’t turn into golden color like deep fried panko crust. So pre-toasting helps make sure to have nice color with just a small amount of oil first. It’s a trick, kind of. 🙂 If you don’t care about the color or look of it, you don’t need to. But pre-toasting definitely helps make panko crispier! 😉
You dont have to flip the chicken to the other side when its cooking in the oven? Will the bottom side of the chicken be crispy?
Hi Kyrama! You don’t have to, but you could. I want to keep one side (the top side) look nice. If you flipt, the panko gets crushed a little… but if you don’t care about the look of chicken, you could. And yes, it gets crispy as long as you use parchment paper. 🙂
Can I store the toasted panko for a long time? because I might want to eat dishes with toasted panko for a week ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Sure! Keep it in an airtight container. When you use it, if you feel the panko got some moisture, re-toast it in a frying pan – it shouldn’t take too long to get crispy again. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I saw your bulgogi onigirazu recipe and thought I should try making an onigirazu with this crispy chicken recipe for my kids and it was yummy! It was the fastest I ever saw my daughter finish a meal!
Thank you for always being an inspiration.
Hi Carol! Thank you so much for your kind feedback, and I’m super happy to hear your daughter enjoyed this dish! Yay!!! Thank you for your sweet comment! 🙂 xo
Hi Nami! I can’t wait to make this recipe. What brand panko and Japanese mayonnaise do you recommend? What do I look for to purchase the same bread at Mitsuwa?
Hi Sejal! I use Honey Panko (or other brands are good) and Kewpie mayonnaise. You can see the brand I use here with the pictures:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/
They are Japanese toast bread – You can find 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thickness, much thicker than American toasts. The white part is very fluffy and moist. 🙂 You should be able to find these in bread section and it’s square so you won’t miss it. 🙂
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Thank you, Nami! The sandwiches were great – I especially loved the sauce. Will definitely make extra sauce next time!
So happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Can you freeze the prepared chicken katsu before baking if I want to have it fresh the next morning but don’t have time to prepare it?
Hi Angela! I recommend baking first before freezing. You can put frozen chicken katsu in the oven or oven toaster to reheat. 🙂
I was wondering how long would the sauce last if I made more of it and is it okay to make it for bento? What I mean is that I don’t have to eat it right away but save it forn next day and so on.
Thanks!
Hi Lea! You can keep the sauce for 3-5 days as long as you keep it well in the fridge. And for bento, it won’t be as crispy as when freshly made as the chicken katsu won’t be crispy anymore. If that’s okay, then sure! Make sure to keep it cool all times before lunch time. 🙂
5 stars!
I made this tonight with just regular mayo and tonkatsu sauce. topped with tomatoes.
(didnt have garlic to roast)
It was sooooo good! Chic fil a WHO? I love cooking at home. Saves a ton of money! Maybe I will melt some cheese on it next time. hmmm
Hi Danielle! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback! Oh melting some cheese sounds fantastic! Thank you for trying this recipe!
This recipe is really good! Highly recommended!
Hi Carmen! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it!