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Today’s recipe is a rich and flavorful Japanese katsu curry. Here, crunchy chicken cutlet or pork cutlet is served over rice and smothered in a creamy curry sauce. It is the ultimate comfort dish!
The Japanese absolutely love curry and deep-fried food. So it only makes sense that we pair the two together for a hearty and scrumptious dish like this Katsu Curry (カツカレー). Don’t be surprised when I tell you there are so many paths to put this popular curry dish together!
What is Katsu Curry?
Katsu Curry (カツカレー) is a combination of Japanese Curry and a panko-breaded cutlet. It is the ultimate comfort dish when you have a craving for a big meal. When I make curry at home, Mr. JOC always prefers adding katsu on top. He just loves the crunchy texture of katsu mixed with the flavorful curry sauce, and I don’t blame him.
At Japanese curry restaurants, you get to choose different toppings to go with your curry over rice, and katsu is one of them.
How to Make Katsu Curry at Home
We never get tired of making katsu curry at home because you get to switch things up easily. It’s essentially a mix and match dish, where you can pair a leftover curry with some fresh out of the fryer pork cutlet (tonkatsu) or baked chicken cutlet or fried fish cutlet.
1. Choose Which Japanese Curry You Want to Make
Stovetop
Pressure Cooker
Watch How to Make Beef Curry
Savory and hearty beef curry made with beef, potatoes, carrots, mushroom, and Japanese curry roux.
2. Pick Your Choice of Katsu
You can literally make your protein choice with different options! Not a big fan of pork or chicken? You can also enjoy Katsu Curry with shrimp or fish (See below).
Deep-Fried Katsu
- Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet)
- Chicken Katsu (Chicken Cutlet)
- Crispy Tonkatsu (Thin Pork Cutlet)
Baked Katsu
- Baked Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet)
- Baked Chicken Katsu (Chicken Cutlet)
- Gluten-Free Baked Chicken Katsu (Chicken Cutlet)
- Baked Salmon Katsu (Salmon Cutlet) – Use a white fish instead of salmon for Katsu Curry.
Other Options
- Menchi Katsu (Minced Meat Cutlet)
- Baked Ebi Katsu (Shrimp Cutlet)
- Ham Katsu (Ham Cutlet)
- Ebi Fry (Fried Shrimp)
Watch How to Make Baked Tonkatsu
Tender and juicy pork loin wrapped in a crispy golden panko crust, serve with tonkatsu sauce and ground sesame seeds.
Make Speedy Katsu Curry with Leftovers
There are 3 parts that make up the dish: curry, katsu (panko-breaded cutlet), and the rice. You can cook the curry from scratch, frying the katsu, and cooking the rice all at the same time. To simplify and shorten the cooking process, here are what I usually do:
Option 1: Make the curry on the stovetop or instant pot and prepare the katsu in the oven.
Option 2: Speed it up by using leftovers! I usually cook my choice of curry the night before, then warm it up and serve it with a fresh make katsu. If I happened to have both Japanese curry and katsu in the freezer, I could just defrost them and put this together instantly. While you warm up the curry in a saucepan on low heat, you can reheat the katsu in the oven, which takes less than 30 minutes.
It is a hefty meal but immensely satisfying. I hope you give the fabulous combo a try!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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This recipe shows you how to assemble Japanese Katsu Curry. Rich and flavorful, this curry dish is the ultimate comfort dish! Please read the blog post to see how you can customize your own.
- Your choice of Japanese curry (Read the post for choices)
- Your choice of katsu (cutlet) (Read the post for choices)
- Cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- Furkujinzuke (red pickled daikon)
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Make your choice of curry: Beef Curry, Chicken Curry, Instant Pot Curry, Pork Curry, Instant Pot Seafood Curry, Vegetarian Curry, and more on the blog post. If you have time, I recommend making the curry one day before you serve Katsu Curry. It's easier to reheat the curry (and the flavor is better the next day!) while you prepare Katsu.
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Make your choice of katsu: Tonkatsu, Baked Tonkatsu, Chicken Katsu, Baked Chicken Katsu, Gluten-Free Baked Katsu, Fried Shrimp, Baked Ebi Katsu, Baked Fish Katsu, Menchi Katsu, and more on the blog post.
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Make steamed rice (I recommend Japanese short-grain rice for Japanese curry) using a rice cooker, a pot over the stovetop, or a pressure cooker (Instant Pot).
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Serve steamed rice and Japanese curry in a plate/bowl. Place Katsu on the top. Garnish it with Fukujinzuke on the side.
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 and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing these recipes. I made Chicken katsu curry last night for a dinner party (following your instructions for everything including the homemade curry sauce and the rice) and it came out amazing; everyone loved it.
I can’t wait to try all your other recipes!
Hi Michelle! I”m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for trying the recipe! Hope you like other recipes from my blog as well. 🙂
This video literally made my mouth water..and that was after I’d eaten dinner! Thanks for another great recipe. Love you videos and photography with great lighting and a steady hand and of course the music choice was super. And thanks for giving me a great curry option without the ubiquitous coconut found everywhere these days, cant wait to try it and share with my facebook fans over at Good, Cheap and Healthy Eats.
Hi Tanya! Aww thanks so much for watching my videos! We spend a lot of time filing videos and your comment make me and Mr. JOC very happy! Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Awsome! Incredably tastey. Our kids love this dishes!
Thank you so much for the great recipe, and FREE!
Hi しおみ！ I’m so glad to hear you and your children enjoyed this dish. Thank you so much for your kind words! 🙂
Hi Nami,
When making the curry, should I be omitting the chicken or beef from the recipe, as it will then be served with the katsu?
Hi De! I usually add some kind of protein in the curry for good flavor. If I serve Tonkatsu or Chicken Katsu, I usually make beef curry (or chicken/pork which is not same as katsu). 🙂
I MADE THIS TODAY AND IT WAS SOOOOO GOOD!!! Thank you thank you thank you!! I also added the “fond” (little bits of stuff in the pan after I cooked the beef?) into the curry right after adding the red wine and it was yumm. I also learned a new thing about food organization. Putting the katsu between the curry and the rice makes for such great presentation because it doesn’t get mixed up!
Hi Keenan! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it! Thank you for trying my recipe! xoxo
Comment on Katsu Curry recipe
I don’t understand. Why would I make Beef Curry and then put Tonkatsu with it? for that matter why would make Chicken Curry and put Tonkatsu with it? Meat on meat? I just want to know whow to make the curry sauce. I followed your recipe to make the Roux, but I need to know how to turn that into a curry I can use.
Please help, I have a serious craving for Katsu curry.
Hi Martin! Here is the chicken curry recipe – https://www.justonecookbook.com/simple-chicken-curry/ Hope you enjoy!
Loved this recipe – It is the ultimate comfort food! I am a big fan of CoCo’s and make it a point to eat there whenever I am in Japan!
Hi Jason!
CoCo! It’s a popular Curry shop in Japan. 😁
Thank you for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hi Nami! Is your Roux recipe enough to make the Curry recipe? Using a boxed Roux (200g) doesn’t seem to correspond to the 1/3 cup Homemade Roux.
Also, I have the same thoughts as Martin actually. You link the curry recipes with meat already in it. But then we need to make the Katsu still – so double meat.
To Martin, I guess you just cook the curry according to the recipe and leave out the meat.
Hi WiMo!
Thank you for trying this recipe!
1/3 cup homemade roux is enough for your curry recipe that requires 3-4 cups liquid. If not sure, please make double as everyone prefers different consistency for a curry.
As for the Curry recipe, it is up to your preference. As Nami mentioned in the recipe card, it is “Your choice of Japanese curry.”
We hope this helps!🙂
Thanks Naomi. Yes, I read that too but we were not asking about the type of curry to cook. We were commenting that the recipe already includes meat in it but then would need to deep fry another meat. But no worries, it’s all good 🙂
Hi WiMo!
You may cook vegetable curry as your choice.
For me, I use leftover curry for this recipe. The first day will be a regular curry with meat in it. The second day will be leftover curry with no meat and Katsu on top.😁
Made this today and was so happy with it! So simple and quick, and much cheaper than buying premade blocks!
I’m planning on gifting some to my friend, and I was just wondering how long it can be stored in the fridge or freezer? I know you mentions 3-4 months, but I wasn’t sure if that was just if stored in the freezer 😊
Hi Rory!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
To store homemade curry roux, you may store it in the refrigerator for a month or freezer for 3-4 months to make your favorite curry.
We hope this helps!