Korokke (Japanese Potato & Meat Croquettes) are mashed potato cakes that are coated with panko and deep-fried. With a golden crispy crust and creamy succulent interior, Korokke is a well-loved food in Japan! So delicious with rice and salad, or in your bento lunch.
In Japan, Korokke (コロッケ) are as ubiquitous as fried chicken in convenience stores. They are tasty street food, casual diner food, specialty food, and a home-cooked dish loved by all ages. These potato and meat croquettes come with a crispy-crunchy crust that reveals a creamy, mashed potato filling. You need to try it to believe how good they are!
Since I always have a soft spot for potato dishes and crunchy food, korokke easily tops the chart of my favorite food. I once had six pieces of these golden fried patties for one dinner. Shhh…I shouldn’t be too proud of my big appetite, but I’m absolutely excited to share my best korroke recipe with you today.
What is Korokke?
Korokke is said to be originated from the French croquette or Dutch kroket. I don’t speak French, but when I looked it up, I learned that croquette came from the verb croquer in French, which is to crunch. Makes total sense! Since everyone loves a good crunch, the Japanese started adapting croquettes and it became a popular Japanese-western food in the early 1900s.
At the most basic, korokke is made of a mixture of mashed potatoes, ground meat, and vegetables that have been shaped into small round patties. They are then coated in panko breadcrumbs, and deep-fried until crispy.
These days you can many versions of korokke, with a variety of additions such as ground meat, vegetables, or seafood. Some are flavored with curry powder, and some make use of leftovers from nikujaga. Another must-try flavor is kabocha croquette (my recipe). Each region of Japan also has its own korokke, featuring famous local ingredients such as shrimp, crab, or sweet corn.
Quick Tips for Making the Best Korokke At Home
- Use starchy potatoes such as russet potatoes
- Use quality ground beef – I used organic beef.
- When mashing the potatoes, leave some small chunks for textures.
- Discard any moisture before combining the cooked meat & vegetable mixture with the mashed potatoes
- Use only panko breadcrumbs for an extra crispy exterior.
- Lastly, always make extra because they are great for leftovers, and store well in the freezer for up to a month!
My mom makes her Korokke without any written recipes, so over the years, I’ve developed my own version by adopting my mom’s method and personal adjustment.
The recipe that I am sharing here includes carrots and shiitake mushrooms, which are missing from my mom’s and the regular korokke from the stores. I like to add them to give some colors and extra nutrition for the kids.
I’ve finally got my mom’s korokke recipe in March 2012 if you’re interested. It’s good stuff so do give her recipe a try too!
Can I Air Fry or Shallow Fry Korokke?
The short answer is YES. I don’t own an air fryer; so I can’t provide the exact steps. However, many of my readers have tried air frying with my korokke recipe with success.
You can also use a frying pan to shallow fry Korokke. The inside is already cooked, so all you need to do is to brown the breaded outer layer. You just need less than 1/2 inch (<1cm) oil in the pan! It’s easy for cleanup too.
What to Serve with Japanese Croquettes
Korokke can be enjoyed as a snack, appetizer, main, or as a featured dish in your bento lunch box. They are delicious on its own, but we also often serve it with a sweet-savory Tonkatsu sauce.
This homemade Korokke won’t disappoint you at all!
More Korokke Recipes You’ll Enjoy:
- Mom’s Best Korokke Recipe (Japanese Croquettes)
- Baked Croquettes
- Korokke Bento
- Kabocha Korokke
- Croquette Sandwich
- Creamy Crab Croquette
Sign up for the free newsletter delivered to your inbox and stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
Korokke (Potato & Meat Croquette)
Ingredients
For Korokke Patties
- 2 lb russet potatoes (about 4 potatoes)
- 1 onion
- ½ carrots
- 2 shiitake mushrooms
- 2 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc) (for sauteing)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 large egg (50 g w/o shell)
- 1 tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- ¼ tsp white pepper powder
- freshly ground black pepper
For Breading
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- 2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
For Deep Frying
- 3 cups neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc)
For Serving
- tonkatsu sauce (for my homemade recipe, click here)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Make Korokke Patties
- Peel and cut the potatoes in quarters. In a large pot, put water and potatoes, and bring it to a boil. Cook potatoes until a skewer goes through the potato easily, about 15-20 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain the water completely. When you do so, use a lid to partially cover so the potatoes don’t fall off from the pot.
- Move the pot back to the stove. On low heat, shake the pot so that the remaining moisture will completely evaporate (but don’t burn them).
- Turn off the heat and mash the potatoes. Unlike the typical mashed potatoes, you don’t have to mash completely. I like leaving some small chunks for texture. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, chop onion, carrot, and mushrooms finely.
- In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Sauté onion until soft.
- Add carrot and shiitake mushrooms and cook until they are soft.
- Add the meat and break it up with a wooden spoon. When the meat is cooked through, add salt, white pepper, and black pepper. Remove from the heat.
- Add the meat mixture to the mashed potatoes in the large pot, leaving the cooking liquid behind as we don't want to introduce too much moisture to the mixture.
- Add an egg.
- Mix it all together until everything is well combined.
- While the mixture is still warm, but not hot, start shaping the mixture into Korokke patties. Cover and let the Korokke patties rest in the fridge for 30 minutes (Do not skip!). TIP: Resting and cooling down the patties prevents the croquettes from exploding while deep frying. The cold patties in the hot oil will not release any steam; therefore, croquettes will not explode in the oil. If you skip this process and the patties are still warm, the temperature of the patties will go up and start to steam, which will then puncture a hole in the panko coating and explode. It also helps the ingredients to meld together.
To Bread the Korokke
- After 30 minutes, coat each patty with flour, egg, and panko, in that order.
- Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To Deep Fry
- In a wok (or Dutch oven or frying pan), heat oil over medium-high heat. Deep fry Korokke until they are golden brown. The inside is already cooked, so all you need to do is to fry them until nicely brown.
- Transfer Korokke to paper towels and let the oil absorbed in the paper. Serve immediately with Tonkatsu Sauce.
To Store
- You can store the leftover in an airtight container and freeze up to a month. To reheat, put frozen or half defrosted korokke on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper and bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 15 minutes or until inside is warm.
is it ok to freeze these after breading or do i have to cook them first before freezing?
Hi Clara! Thank you for leaving a question here. Some people freeze after breading but you should use it in 1-2 weeks. I just think it’s easier to deep fry once and freeze. You can keep it up to 1 month or so. In order to freeze, you have to wrap in foil and then put it in a ziplog bag to avoid the oxidation process. You can defrost naturally, then put it in the toaster oven to make it crispy. Or I sometimes just put it into the toaster oven straight from freezer (but lower temp first). Hope this helps. 🙂
I was about to make a batch of these (I already tried them twice, soooo delicious, I love white pepper!) and I was asking myself the same question! Thank you, won’t have to wait for the reply!
I’m so happy you liked this recipe Sunny! Make many and freeze to enjoy later. 🙂
Clara, I tried frying them first, cooling them totally and then wrapping them in foil as suggested by Nami and then putting them in a plastic bag in the freezer, and when I wanted to use them again after 10 minutes at 450 they turned out perfectly crispy. So it is possible to do!
Awesome! Thank you Rosemary! 🙂
It’s been five years since I last had korokke. I often reminisce about the two weeks in Hachioji where I would walk to the supermarket every single day just to buy korokke to snack on. Never thought of googling for the recipe as I avoid deep-frying as much as I could. However, since I started making bento lunch for my brother to bring to work (thanks to the pandemic his office do not allow employees to order food delivery anymore), I stumbled into JUST ONE COOKBOOK while googling how to make teriyaki sauce and has been using recipes from your blog since. I made Potato salad a couple of days ago and since he loves it, I thought of making korokke (gotta get over the dislike for deep-frying sooner or late lol).
I appreciate and am grateful for all the recipes, tips and clear instructions. Thank you so much!
Hi Yen!
Thank you very much for trying many of Nami’s recipes and for your kind feedback.
Do you know, Nami has a Baked Croquette recipe? Of course, this deep-frying version is the best, but we want to introduce it to you just in case!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/baked-croquette/
We hope you enjoy it as well.😊
Hi Nami, I found your blog recently. I forget how now but I really love your helps and your recipes and the step by step instructions. I lived in Japan for 8 years although I’m not Japanese and my mom cooked many Japanese inspired dishes so I love Japanese food. Korokke is a fond memory that I have of my mom because when I would go with her to the market she would buy me one, still hot since they were fried on the spot. I’m glad I have a recipe now because I was going to try to make it on my own. I think your blog name is so clever too! Congratulations on all your awards! You deserve every single one. I am going to make your pickled cucumber and spinach recipes for dinner tonight. I can’t wait to taste them.
Hi Susan! Thank you so much for writing! Your Korokke story reminds me of my own too. Isn’t it great to have a stand like that in Japan? And they are specialized in Korokke (or other deep fried stuff) and they are so good… I miss them a lot. Oh you are the first person who commented about my blog name! I’m so happy you liked it too. My husband wasn’t into the name, but I told him this name means a lot to me as I really wanted JUST ONE COOKBOOK for myself, yeah it’s all about me. =P I hope you enjoyed pickled cucumber and spinach recipe. Thank you again for visiting my site! It was such a great encouragement to me. 🙂
I’m so excited to try this recipe! Looks like delicious. I’m sure I can eat 6 or more of these too! We’ll eat them in secret together!
Hi Kim! This is a time consuming and tedious…but it’s so good to eat right after you deep fried… Oh yeah we should cook + eat get together! This is a fun project. 🙂
THIS WAS AMAZING AND I HAVE TO ADD , YOU WERE VERY ORGANIZED WITH THE COATING. I HAVE TRIED THIS AND IT CAME OUT PRETTY WELL .
Hi Simran! Thank you for letting me know! I’m so happy and feel motivated by you now. 🙂 I hope all the work was worth it.
I made a vegan version of these – basically just removing the meat and using the vegg instead of eggs. I actually forgot to season them, but they turned out great apart from that! Great with the simple instructions and pictures, kudos 🙂
Hi Anders! Thank you for trying a vegan version! I’m so happy to hear you could adapt this recipe and enjoyed this. 🙂 Glad the pictures and step by step was helpful. Thank you for taking your time to give me your feedback!
quick question : in the ingredients list you have a total of 4 eggs, and on step 10, you only add 1 egg on the mixture? and the remaining 3 is for the breading?…just clarifying…thank you 🙂
Hi Kathy! Yes, 3 eggs for the breading. If you want, you can use 2 eggs and dilute with milk. I’m sorry it wasn’t clear. 🙂
hi nami,
it’s me again…i can’t help but say THANK YOU SO MUCH for this recipe 🙂 i made it today, and it was incredible 🙂 it was not oily and it goes well with the homemade tonkatsu sauce 🙂
Hi Kathy! Thank you for taking your time to come back to leave your feedback. It’s very kind of you. I love to hear readers’ feedback, so I really appreciate it.
I think you deep fried perfectly. If you do it right, it’s not oily at all and inside is already cooked, so it’s just to make the panko crispy outside for the perfect texture when you bite on the korokke… thinking about it make me hungry. 🙂
Thanks again!
yes i did (at last)…it took me a little more patience to wait for the oil to reach its right temperature 🙂 …and its all worth it…thank you for the How To tip on How to Deep Fry…it helped me a lot… 🙂 thanks so much again 🙂
Oh glad to hear that How To Deep Fry page was helpful. Thanks once again!
Hi Nami,
Found your recipe yesterday and made it today! It is so delicious! Even my 3 y/o picky eater son loves it! Definitely worth the time!
Hi Reira! Yay, I’m so happy you and your son liked it! 🙂 Yes, it’s a bit time consuming but I usually make a big batch when I have time and freeze the leftover. 🙂 I really love korokke and am glad to hear you also enjoyed it!
Thanks Nami!
I really like this recipe! It’s really simple 🙂
Thank you Billy! This is always my favorite food that my mom makes. Thank you for trying this recipe!! 🙂
Yay got all my ingredients for my Japanese cooking experience! This is one of the first things I’m about to make. Instead of frying them though I’m going to bake them in the oven for about 350 for 20 minutes and flip them over halfway through baking. Going to make these mostly a nice snacking item.
Hi Katie! Let me know how baking them will turn out! Hope you enjoy Korokke. This is my favorite food growing up! 🙂
There’s one I know its called Mitsuwa in Edgewater, NJ they have all kinds of Japanese food hot and cold. They also have different kinds of Korokke my son loves the lobster.
Hi Tina! Yes we have Mitsuwa here too (I’m in Bay Area). It’s nice to get various food, but wish we have some specialized shops here where we can get hot deep fried korokke. That would be nice! 🙂
Just made a half recipe (made 10) of these to freeze. I kept 2 that im eating right now and im surprise because im neither a big fan of potatoes or beef and this really pleases my tongue! Thanks to your mom for this awesome recipe.
Hi Sunny! Glad you liked this recipe! Yes it freezes well. When you re-heat it, please use an oven or toaster oven to heat it (slowly so inside will be warm too), instead of microwave. The outside will be crunchy again. 🙂
I love croquette the most except the store bought ones are usually cold and not really appetizing, sometimes it even stink of oil. Hence I thought I’ll make my own xD
When I saw your recipe and its even illustrated with pictures, I thought, “Hmm, I really need to bookmark this page!”
Haha, hope it works well for me this Sunday （≧∇≦）
Is it okay to use other meat beside beef? Like pork or chicken (I really have no idea)
Thanks!
Hi Meg! I love korokke too but don’t like store-bought korokke at all… it’s very different from ones I make at home. 🙂 Hope you enjoy (or enjoyed) the korokke! I just had my mom’s korokke (I’m home in Japan), and they were so delicious!
Oh, about the meat… usually it’s beef and potato, and never tried (or heard of) with ground pork and chicken. 🙂
May I ask what sauce is good for croquettes? Do you have a recipe? I tried dipping my croquettes with hot and sweet ketchup but I am not satisfied. Thank you!
Hi Merlene! In the recipe, I have a link for Tonkatsu Sauce. We usually use Tonkatsu Sauce for Korokke. I usually buy one from a Japanese store, but I also included the recipe (taste is not as same, but close enough). Hope that helps!
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/tonkatsu-sauce/
Hi, thanks for your reply. I added grated cheese to my croquettes it tastes good, please comment …
Hi Merlene! I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed the korokke with grated cheese! 🙂
Hi Nami-san! Thanks for the recipe!
I recently trying to make korokke with your recipe, and it’s taste good! I makes it for family gathering tomorrow, so it will really great with them!
Hi Felli! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed korokke! Hope your family like it as much as you do. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback!
One of my favorites from childhood, and ditto – my mother rarely used recipes! Thank you for documenting it. You have inspired me to make these again, soon.
Hi Linda! Thank you so much for your comment. I hope you enjoy making this recipe and eating… these are so delicious! 🙂
Hey Nami,
I wanted to make this recipe with my mom and wanted to know what brand/kind of panko you recommend since it’s not specifically mentioned in your list.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Tom!
I use this brand.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/panko/
Shirakiku is a Japanese company who imports Japanese products. You can get other brands that are available. Usually there are two kinds, one is coarse and the other one fine. It’s your preference. Some people like panko to be very fine but I like little more crunchy side (coarse panko). 🙂
Thank you for the recipe nami, I really like crouqete. Every weekend I went to Japanese supermarket in jakarta indonesia to buy crouqette and other snack. And now I know how to make it at home.
Hi Maya! Me too, I LOOOOOVE korokke <3 I'm glad you can make it at home. It should taste better with good ingredients you buy and oil is fresher than the oil from store. 🙂 Thank you for your feedback!
thanks for the recipes :))) they’re very delicious :))
You’re welcome, Bao! 🙂
Hi, Nami! I just love this recipe, especially when I use them for bento boxes. I was also wondering what other vegetables and ingredients besides carrots and shiitake mushrooms? Please let me know of any recommendations C:
Hi Crystal! As long as it doesn’t release too much water, you can use anything. You can use corn kernels, green peas, chopped green beans… use colorful ingredients. Don’t put too much as this is still potato and meat korokke. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Hi, thanks for the recipe!
I added 1 cup of diced baby spinach leaves, came out great. Took me a lot longer than 2 hours, though I do all of my own dishes while I cook which is probably why. I used corn oil for frying and they came out great, nice and light.
V/r-
Hi Jess! So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you so much for letting me know! It’s a bit tedious and I also cook other things while making Korokke and it does take a bit longer too. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your recipes to the world Nami! I made these for lunch (just 2hrs ago lol) and my parents loved it! I love how Japanese food are so easy to make and you made it even easier by providing us with pictures of the entire procedure 🙂 I think I made my Korokke balls quite big… but no one pointed it out since they had fun eating it. My mom even suggested to add carrots, celery, and parsley to the mix (I’m Filipino btw so I guess our taste buds are more in tune w/ Chinese food.)
I set aside about 4 big Korokkes and put them in a freezer bag that I’ll cook tomorrow for lunch at work. I know my co-workers will definitely want me to share it tomorrow lol.
Will look forward to trying your other recipes here! 😀 Thanks again!
Hi Fatz! So happy to hear that you and your parents enjoyed this recipe! I’m glad you thought the process was easy to follow. Thank you!! Hope you enjoy trying other recipes from my blog! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I’ve tried making croquette several times using my own recipe (potatoes, mince meat, butter, salt and pepper-I’m too lazy to put too many ingredient in it) but each time I fry them, it breaks apart or it sinks causing a hole in the croquette. I’m wondering where I went wrong. I see in your recipe you add egg in your mixture, is this what keeps the croquette from breaking?
Hi Karin! I don’t have any issue with breaking apart. It’s probably something to do with the moisture in the potato (make sure to let all the steam evaporate – see step 3) and the ratio between potatoes and meat may be not right. Also the sauteed onion is important to bind the ingredients, too. The egg in the mixture doesn’t make too much difference though. You can omit it if you like. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi, I’ve always loved the recipes you post with the step-by-step instructions. Your recipes are easy to follow and always seem to be successful whenever I make them! May I ask if I want to freeze the extra korokke’s, do I do it after finishing all the steps (including dipping into eggwash and Panko) or do I stop just before doing the dipping into Panko step? =D
Happy to hear you enjoy my recipes! Finish deep frying first and let it cool and pack in air tight container to freeze. Defrost and use oven or toaster oven to reheat for crunchy texture. Don’t microwave it because it can get mushy. Hope this helps!
Hi, Nami.
I’ve made korokke 3times already. The first one, I followed someone’s recipe at Youtube. It did sucess, a beautifull delicious korokke. The 2nd time, I followed your recipe. It was awful, sticky and a failure. The 3rd time, again I followed step by step from your recipe carefully. I even make sure to drained everything in order to make it really liquid-free. The result just the same. Failure. Then I looked back at my first recipe from Youtube. It doesn’t add an egg to mixture everything. Then, I want to ask you how come you can make it happen with egg? I just don’t understand which part is my mistake.
Thank you before.
Hi Mary! I’m so sorry for my late response (I’m currently traveling). I honestly don’t know why as I wasn’t in the kitchen with you, and this recipe works fine for me and for others from the feedback I get (I share their photos on Facebook page). Some onions and potatoes have more moisture than others. And ground meat can be fattier and juicer etc. Maybe that can be it?
I have another Korokke recipe that does NOT include an egg but I also don’t include shiitake mushroom and carrot.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/moms-korokke-croquette/
Both recipes work for me (and others who gave me feedback) and I make these recipes for a long, long time… I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you.
Delicious recipe and very well photographed! Just lovely. Thanks!
Thank you so much for your kind words! 🙂
Awesome Dish, I had a lot of fun making this and is very delicious.
Hi Crystal! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy making and eating this Korokke! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! 🙂
I am looking forward to making this! I was just wondering, if I didn’t have any all purpose flour, should I use strong (bread flour), weak (cake flour), or katakuriko (potato starch) to cover them? Does it really make a difference? Thanks!
Hi Linda! Mix strong and weak, and that’s all purpose flour. 🙂 No katakuriko for this recipe. Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Hello… Can you also use sweet potato?
Hi Anne! Sure you can use it. 🙂
Can you make a vegetarian version of this I’m going to try with tuna tomorrow and thought broccoli would be nice
Hi Nikita! Sure! When you use more vegetables, make sure they are not too wet when you mix in. 🙂 Enjoy!
Hello. Is it best to fry the korokke and put it in the freezer and reheat, or will the result be best if you put the korokke “not fry” in the freezer and fry it frozen?
Hi Kim! I’m sorry for my late response. You fry first, let it cool, then put it in an airtight container to freeze. When you eat, don’t defrost. Put it in the oven or oven toaster and bake at 400F until inside is warm, about 15 mins. Never use a microwave to re-heat. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi, can i leave the beef out? Thanks.
Hi Annie! Sure! 🙂
My family doesn’t eat beef, so is there a substitute that we can use? Thanks, I’d really like to try this recipe!
Hi Lia! You can use other meat. Some told me they tried with ground pork and chicken too. Vegetables only is okay too (chopped into smaller pieces). 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Would it make any difference if you were to bake them until golden brown? Someone suggested this on another site but I’m not sure wether it would have the same effect! Thanks!
Have you tried baking panko crusted food in the oven before? It’s very hard to keep all sides nice and golden brown “evenly”. With my method, all sides are already nice color and inside is all cooked so it’s fast. 🙂
Oh my gosh! I LOVED this recipe. I was worried it’d be a little too simple to my family’s taste, but it was just AMAZING! I was also worried about the homemade tonkatsu sauce being too salty, but once you dip the korokke in it, it’s just lovely. I love your recipes and I can’t wait to try more of them! <3
Hi Mari! I’m so happy to hear you like this recipe! It’s my favorite Japanese food. 🙂 I’m glad you and your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying this recipe! I have a baked version too, if you want to cut down on oil intake (but tastes much better when deep-fried).
https://www.justonecookbook.com/baked-croquette/
Thank you so much! This was such a great and surprisingly easy recipe. It took me a little longer than expected due to my inexperience in cooking, but it was all worth it.
Hi Victoria! I’m so happy you liked this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Do you recommend freezing before or after frying? If before, should I thaw before frying? If after, what would be the best way to reheat?
Hi Desiree! AFTER deep frying, and cool down (no moisture in the air-tight container). Do not use microwave to reheat as it can explode. Instead, while it’s frozen (could be defrosted half way), put it in the oven or oven toaster and reheat at 350F for 15 minutes or until it’s warm inside. It’s crispy and delicious!
You have revolutionized how I cook at home. Every recipe I’ve tried has been amazing and easy to make! My favorite so far is the Miso Salmon recipe (with ginger rice of course!) and tonight I will attempt to make korokke! If I want to make a Japanese dish, your blog is my go to for recipes! Thank you Nami!
Hi Brittany! “Revolutionized”! What a powerful word, and thank you for giving me such an amazing compliment for my blog. I am honored to be a part of your cooking journey! Thank you for your kind words. I hope you like Korokke. I have 3 versions, in case you missed. One is baked, one is my mom’s recipe – similar to this. Hope you enjoy my favorite food in the world! 🙂
Hi, I would like to ask for storing leftovers, does the korekke need to be cooked?
Hi Jia en! So sorry for my later response. You have to deep fry, cool down, and then you can freeze them. 🙂
I made these for dinner tonight. They are really good and incredible soft, have a smooth taste and the sauce goes well with them. I served with lettuce, tomato and green onion. Yummy! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Majacica! I’m so happy you tried this recipe, and thank you for your kind feedback! Your comment made me very happy! Thank you!
I love this recipe, I just had one issue with it (although I’m sure it’s a fault of mine and not the recipe). Mine turned out a bit dry, could I add a bit of milk to my mashed potatoes to counter that?
I was also wondering, do you personally like these more, or the ones your mother makes? I would love to try them as well but I’m not too sure what I would do for veggies in that case.
Do you like kabocha korokke too? Would you ever make a recipe for them? I tried them in a restaurant once and fell completely in love, I would love to be able to eat them again 🙂 although I am unsure I can ever find a kabocha or even any sweet pumpkin where I live.
Sorry for all the questions 🙂
Hi Emy! Yes, you can add milk to the mashed potatoes. Water content in potatoes vary depending on the type of potatoes and where they are from. My mom often comments “my onion/potatoes have more water today”, and I experience it too. So do adjust – add butter if you like too!
Oops, sorry my laptop screen is small and I didn’t get to read your entire comment earlier.
I make “Mom’s Korokke” recipe more than this one simply due to less work… but I love love love the flavors from carrots and shiitake mushrooms! Make me want to eat these now…
I make kabocha korokke too, as kids love them more than when kabocha is used in other forms of cooking. It’s on my list of recipes to share, but every year I get too busy and I fail to share during the kabocha season… I’ll attempt this fall again. 😀
No problem! I tried them a few days ago with different potatoes and my gosh they were amazing! I also used the mushrooms this time (I didn’t have any last time) and it’s surprising what a difference it makes, so good!
I agree, it is quite a bit of work but the flavors are wonderful from the veggies. I also don’t feel bad just eating the korokke for dinner (with a small salad on the side), because of the inclusion of the veg.
Oh if you are able to, please share the recipe of the kabocha korokke when you make them! I will wait for fall as well, but I miss them so much 😀 .
Is there a good substitute for kabocha if you can’t find it?
Hi Emy! I’m glad you liked it! Yeah, vegetables add great flavors. I wanted to include them as a way to introduce more vegetables for my kids. 🙂
Yeah I’ll try my best to make kabocha korokke this year. Good substitute… casava is a Filipino (?) pumpkin and I think it’s similar… Kabocha is very sweet, and other pumpkin has different flavors. I’m not sure where you live, but Japanese grocery stores sometimes carry frozen kabocha too. I think it’s hard to get that natural sweetness and bright orange color from other pumpkin/squash (even you add sweetener). 🙁 My simple answer is it’s no good sub, but you can try with other pumpkin… just not the same….
Ah okay, fingers crossed I will find it one day. 🙂
Thank you for the advice!
Hi Nami, I am so happy I was able to find kabocha pumpkins in the Asian supermarket in my area! Do you have any advice on how to make kabocha korokke?
Hi Emy! Kabocha Korokke recipe will be up on Monday! 🙂
What the hell!!??? 1hr and 45min cooking time!
Hi Michael! If you make small portion, it’ll take less time to prepare (this recipe yield for roughly 6). Korokke recipe requires tedious steps from boiling potatoes to stir frying veggies and meat, and shaping to deep frying… I don’t make often but it’s truly worth it.
Some people like my Baked Korokke recipe to save time on deep frying one by one.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/baked-croquette/
This look absolutely delicious! Will be trying this tonight! Thank you ver much for sharing.
Hi Cath! I hope you enjoy this recipe. 🙂
I’ve made this korokke recipe multiple times now for dinner (paired with your soba salad, which is always a BIG hit!), and I must say – it is by far the best korokke recipe I’ve ever had! When I made it for my sister, she said it tasted even better than our favorite Japanese restaurant’s version, and my boyfriend declared it to be one of the best supper’s I’ve made! The crisp exterior surrounding that light, pillowy mashed potato center is just TO DIE FOR delicious. I can’t thank you enough for this oustanding recipe!
I was always afraid of deep-frying, but thanks to your tips I managed to pull it off for this recipe, so thank you so much for helping us frying-newbies! Your detailed instructions, step-by-step photos, and videos are always so helpful, and very much so appreciated! Love your site so much, and I will continue to make this recipe plus many others for my family 🙂
Hi Shannon! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe and thanks so much for trying many times! Excited to hear your sister and your boyfriend likes this recipe too! Thank you for your kind feedback.
I’m glad to hear my recipes are helpful and your kind compliment means so much to me. Thank you!!!
コロケの日です！すごっこ美味しかった！ありがとうございます???? 二回はカレルーとチャハンレシピです！ホワイトペッパー入れます！
こんにちは、グレイソンさん！コロッケのレシピ作ってみてくれてありがとうございます。気に入ってもらえて嬉しいです。カレーのルーとチャーハン、がんばってくださいね！ありがとう！
Finally, 2 years after first seeing this recipe I made it. The main reason was that I bought some horrible, wet, greasy korokke at the supermarket 2 weeks ago and thought… can this be it?
I am not big on frying food, as for deep frying I can count on one hand how many times I attempted it. Recently I got a nice Tefal wok (amazing for frying for, no mess at all) and by coincidence had all the ingredients and free time to attempt it. Now or never.
It turned out amazing 400gr of potatoes and 200g beef was the right amount for 8 medium ones ( enough for 3 people). My husband would have eaten all of them, but I saved one to see what it tastes like tomorrow, for future reference.
Thank you Namiko-san, perfect recipe!
Hi Kornelia! Thank you so much for your kind feedback, and I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it! I always believe my homemade korokke taste better because we can use better beef (important!) and good quality ingredients, including fresh oil (instead of well-used one from store). Thank you for writing!
These are actually easy to make! I’ve made them before but with this recipe makes it so much easier!
Hi Ed! Yeah! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
I cooked these tonight and guess what? It took exactly 2 hours. I think I overdid the amount of potatoes so I’ll pay more attention next time. Wonderful recipe.
Hi Rachel! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and I’m glad you liked it. Thank you for your kind feedback. Korokke takes a while to make, so even though it’s my most favorite food my mom makes, I don’t get to make that often. 🙂
Hi Nami, do you think I could vale these?
Hi Jessb_it! What does vale mean? 🙂
Typo, sorry.
Meant to say Bake!
Oh!!!! OMG I’m so sorry I couldn’t guess it quickly. And yes, I do! https://www.justonecookbook.com/baked-croquette/
My mom makes them too! But we have always used canned tuna with potatoes. And since in Spanish they are called croquetas, the same as dog’s food, my friends were always shocked and a bit worried when I said I was happy because that day I was going to eat croquetas.
Hi Andrea! So the dog food is called croquetas?! How interesting! Haha, I can imagine your friend’s face. 🙂 Tuna and potato goes well together, so I can imagine, your mom’s korokke must be so good!
Thank you for the recipe! This was so delicious, my husband and daughter gobble it up too. Instead of boiling the potatoes separately, I used the instant pot. Sautéed everything in the instant pot per your directions, then added chopped peeled potatoes, high pressure cook 6 minutes and NPR. Then mashed and followed rest of your recipe.
Hi Jacki! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed the Korokke recipe! I love your Instant Pot hack! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Absolutely delicious! I served them with fresh, stir-fried veggies and everyone in my family enjoyed them.
Thank you!
Hi Martha! So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you so much for trying it and for your kind feedback! 🙂
Can i use air fryer to deep fry my croquettes? Thanks.
Hi Delie! Yes, you can. 🙂
I tried using normal holland potatoes instead of Russel potatoes but my croquettes become very soft is this because of the potatoes or I did wrongly?
Hi Lim,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Russets potatoes are low in moisture and high in starch, so they cook up dry and fluffy. If you follow Nami’s direction (Step 4) and make sure the moisture is completely evaporated, it may work for other potatoes as well.
I hope this is helpful.😊
I made a large batch of these this morning. Made extra of the sauteed veggies and I once again made adjustments for my low FODMAP diet by using the green tops of leek in place of my onions (I am actually enjoying that flavor even more than onion. Two batches, one using Panko and the other using GF breadcrumbs that are made with rice flour. Looking for that wonderful croquette crunch, I was pleasantly surprised by the results of the GF crumbs. Having some ground pork, I used half beef and half pork. Accidentally forgot to dredge in flour but you would never know! Excellent!!!! Husband approved. Thank you once again!
I forgot to mention I air fried mine…. 390 degrees (F) for five minutes. Light spray of avocado oil prior to cooking.
Hi Margaret!
Air firer!🤩 Nice!
Thank you for the great information.🙂
Hi Margaret,
Wow! It sounds delicious!
Thank you for sharing your cooking experience and tips with us!
I try this recipe…It looks delicious..
Thank you, Nancy!
Hello, may I ask if this can be used in an air fryer instead of deep frying? Thanks
Hi J, We had never tried in an air fryer, but many readers had told us that it works. So sure, you can use it! Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
Hi, I love your recipes. They are my one stop shop for making Japanese food at home. I’m trying to be gluten free, while I found a gluten free panko I’m wondering if something like corn starch could work instead of all purpose flour?
Hi Susan, Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
In this case, yes, you may use corn starch (lightly). We hope this helps.🙂