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Crispy chicken cutlets in a mild curry sauce with carrots, potato and onion. This classic Japanese Katsu curry uses curry blocks for speed and simplicity. We love this curry so much and eat it on repeat. Both of my teenagers make it for themselves too.
Nicky’s Notes
Not only is this meal on our regular recipe rotation at home, but it’s also my go-to backup dinner when I haven’t planned anything.
I’ve always got some Katsu curry cubes in the cupboard. They make a seriously flavourful curry sauce.
Is using curry cubes cheating? You might ask….
No way! In fact curry cubes are a common staple in Japanese households.
You can of course make a katsu curry sauce from scratch, but you can’t beat the cubes for a simple, consistently great curry.
The chicken
The crispy chicken cutlets are an all-important part of the curry too. I like to coat butterflied chicken in a panko mixture and bake in the oven or air fryer.
If you’re extra short on time though, ready-coated chicken from the supermarket works great!
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients for Katsu Curry
***Full recipe with detailed quantities in the recipe card below***
The Curry Blocks
You can buy Japanese curry blocks at most larger supermarkets, Asian markets and online from places like Sous Chef and Amazon (the links below are affiliate links for Amazon).
- The Yutaka Mild Katsu Curry Sauce blocks are most common in UK supermarkets, and they make a lovely mild-but-flavourful curry sauce
- S&B Golden Curry blocks are more common everywhere else. They’re also very flavourful. I use the ‘medium-hot’ blocks. They’re still very mild though (only a tiny bit warmer than the mild Yutaka brand). S&B also do a mild, hot and very hot version.
Abbreviated Recipe
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card below***
Coat butterflied chicken with flour, egg and panko. Bake or air-fry until golden and cooked through. Fry the onion in a little oil. Add water, carrots and potato and simmer until tender, then add broken up katsu cubes and simmer until thick. Serve the sauce with the sliced up crispy chicken, rice and shredded cabbage.
Recipe Tips
- Cut the size of your vegetables fairly evenly for a nice uniform look. This means the carrots will take a little longer to cook than the potatoes, so add the carrots in first. If you want the carrots and potatoes to cook at the same time, cut the carrots smaller than the potatoes.
- If you don’t want to coat the chicken yourself, you can use ready-coated chicken from the supermarket. Breaded chicken steaks, goujons or mini fillets work well.
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Pin It🍽️ What to serve it with
Traditionally Chicken katsu is served with steamed or boiled rice and shredded cabbage. You can also serve with pickles (pickled ginger or pickled radish) and/or cucumber for a fresh crunch.
Make ahead guide
- The sauce (with vegetables) can be made ahead, then quickly cooled, covered and refrigerated (for up to 2 days). Reheat on the stovetop over a medium heat, stirring often, until piping hot. You may need to add a splash of water to loosen up the sauce as it heats.
- I would recommend keeping the crispy chicken separate, if making ahead (to stop the coating going soggy in the sauce.
– Coat and bake the chicken, then cool, cover and refrigerate (for up to 2 days). Reheat the chicken uncovered, in a single layer, on a baking tray, in the oven at 180C/350F (fan) for 10-15 minutes, until piping hot throughout. Alternatively, reheat in the air fryer at 180C/350F for 8-10 minutes, until piping hot throughout. If air frying, check a couple of times during cooking, to ensure the coating doesn’t burn.
📺 Watch how to make it
Easy Chicken Katsu Curry Recipe
Equipment
- Curry Cubes Medium Curry (they do mild, hot and extra hot too)
- Yutaka Curry Cubes Mild Curry – (I think these are only available in the UK)
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 4 small chicken breasts (about 150g/5.3oz each or 600g/1.3lbs altogether)
- 2 eggs lightly whisked
- 4 tbsp flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 75 g (1 1/2 cups) panko breadcrumbs
- Spray oil (I use about 2tbsp/30ml)
Katsu Curry:
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 large onion peeled and chopped into chunky pieces
- 2 medium carrots peeled and chopped into chunky pieces
- 720 ml (3 cups) water
- 2 medium potatoes (ideally waxy potatoes) peeled and chopped into chunky pieces
- 100 g (3.5oz) Katsu curry sauce cubes I use Yutaka or S&B brand (see notes for more info)
To Serve:
- boiled rice
- 200 g white cabbage very finely shredded
- 3 spring onions/scallions chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F (fan) and line a baking tray with parchment or a silicon liner.
- Start with the chicken. Butterfly the chicken breasts by slicing into each breast horizontally most of the way through, then opening up the chicken breast – so it looks like an extra-large chicken cutlet.4 small chicken breasts
- Place one of the chicken breasts on top of a large piece of baking parchment and fold the parchment over the top of the chicken. Use a rolling pin or wooden mallet to lightly pound the chicken breast so it's an even thickness all the way through. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.
- Place the eggs in a shallow bowl, the flour, salt and pepper in a second bowl (mix it together) and the panko breadcrumbs in a third bowl.2 eggs, 4 tbsp flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 75 g (1 1/2 cups) panko breadcrumbs
- Coat one of the chicken cutlets in the flour, then dip in the egg and finally coat in the breadcrumbs. Place on the prepared baking tray and repeat with the other chicken cutlets.
- Spray the chicken evenly with spray oil and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle.Spray oil (I use about 2tbsp/30ml)
- To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until starting to soften.1 tsp oil, 1 large onion
- Add the carrots, and water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Then add in the potatoes and simmer for a further 7 minutes – until the carrots and potato are just starting to get tender.2 medium carrots, 720 ml (3 cups) water, 2 medium potatoes (ideally waxy potatoes)
- Break up the katsu cubes and add to the water with the vegetables. Stir together and simmer gently for 7 minutes, stirring often. The sauce should thicken as it simmers.100 g (3.5oz) Katsu curry sauce cubes
- Remove the chicken from the oven and slices into thick strips.
- Add boiled rice and shredded cabbage to 4 waiting plates or bowls. Ladle most of the sauce into the bowls, next add the rice to one side (so it's sitting in the sauce). Arrange the crispy chicken on top, and add a drizzle of sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with spring onions and serve.boiled rice, 200 g white cabbage, 3 spring onions/scallions
Notes
Curry Blocks
The two best brands in my opinion (aff links):- Yutaka (mainly UK and parts of europe) – I use 720ml (cups) water for 100g of katsu blocks. This is a mild curry
- S&B golden curry mild, medium hot, hot or extra hot – these come in 92g blocks. I still use 720ml(cups) water.
Cooking the chicken in the air fryer
First ensure your air fryer is large enough for 4 butterflied chicken steaks. The chicken can overlap a bit, but you don’t want to stack them in a big pile. If your air fryer is small, you may have to cook in 2 batches – so you may find it actually takes less time overall to cook in the oven. Cook on the air fry setting 180C/350F for 13-16 minutes, until the chicken is piping hot throughout and no longer pink in the middle. Check a couple of times during cooking, to ensure the coating doesn’t burn. You may need to turn to ensure even cooking. Nutritional information is approximate, per portion (this recipes serves 4) NOT including rice.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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