Chicken Katsu: a Delicious Japanese Dish

Have you ever heard of chicken katsu? It’s a Japanese dish that includes crispy and flaky chicken cutlets. When paired with a healthy dipping oil, like the one I put together for this recipe, chicken katsu is a filling meal that’s loaded with protein and healthy fats.

I love cooking up organic chicken recipes, and if you are looking for a crunchy bite, you’re going to love this chicken katsu.

What Is Chicken Katsu?

Chicken katsu is a Japanese dish that’s made with thin pieces of crispy, fried chicken. The term “katsu” means cutlet. You can find katsu done with a variety of meats, including chicken, pork and seafood.

Traditionally, chicken katsu is made by frying chicken cutlets with all-purpose, white flour, eggs, panko breadcrumbs and vegetable oil. Panko is very popular in Japanese cooking, and it’s known to make for particularly crispy cutlets because it’s lighter and flakier than regular breadcrumbs. The larger flakes absorb less oil and give you that desired crispy texture, but like most breadcrumbs on the market today, panko is made with processed white bread.

Best Ingredients

For my chicken katsu, I use gluten-free crackers that are ground into fine crumbs instead of panko or breadcrumbs that are made with refined carbohydrates.

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When dredging the chicken, I use cassava flour instead of all-purpose flour because it’s gluten-free and made by grating and drying cassava root, which is also known as yuca. Cassava flour is one of my favorite gluten-free flours because it’s also nut- and grain-free, making it easily digestible for most people.

And to fry my chicken katsu, I use avocado oil instead of typical processed oils. Avocado oil is made by pressing the fleshy pulp that surrounds the avocado pit. It’s full of healthy fats and has a high smoke point, which is really important when you’re frying foods. You need to use oils that have a higher smoke point because oils can lose their structure and create damaging compounds when they reach a certain temperature.

So if you’re looking for a recipe that gives you that crispy, flaky texture of traditional chicken katsu, but doesn’t contain gluten and/or hydrogenated oils, try my recipe. It’s simple and serves as a great source of protein and healthy fats, too.

How to Make Chicken Katsu

Alright, to start preparing this chicken katsu, I like to mix the dipping oil first. This is really simple. In a small bowl or container, mix one tablespoon of Dijon mustard, four tablespoons of coconut aminos and two tablespoons of sesame oil.

Mix these ingredients until they are well-combined. Then set your dipping oil aside until you’re ready to eat your chicken katsu.

In a large pan over medium heat, warm avocado oil while you move onto the next steps. Next, get ready to dredge your chicken cutlets. In cooking, dredging meat or vegetables means that you’re coating them when moist with a dry ingredient, like flour and breadcrumbs, before cooking them.

You need three ingredients for dredging your chicken cutlets, so take out three medium-sized bowls for this. One bowl is for one cup of cassava flour with one teaspoon of sea salt added to it, the other gets four whisked eggs and the last bowl is for two cups of gluten-free crackers that are ground into fine crumbs.

Start by covering your chicken cutlet with the cassava flour — covering all sides of the cutlet evenly. Then dip it into the eggs.

Then finish it off by coating the cutlet with the ground crackers.

Once you have repeated this process for the pound of chicken cutlets, they are ready to be fried.

When your oil is heated, add in two cutlets at a time, or as many that will fit into the pan. Fry each side of the cutlets until they are golden brown and the interior temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. This should take about 10–15 minutes.

And just like that, you have crispy, crunchy and delicious chicken katsu. Dip your chicken into your already preparing dipping oil, and you’re ready to go! Enjoy!

Other Great Chicken Dishes from Different Cultures

• Chicken paillard
• Hungarian chicken paprikash
• Greek chicken souvlaki
• Mexican chicken pozole verde
• Thai chicken stir fry
• Sweet and sour chicken
• Mediterranean chicken
• Easy pesto chicken
• Chicken Bryan
• Chicken marsala
• Chicken gumbo
• Chicken cacciatore
• Cajun blackened chicken

Chicken Katsu Recipe

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• Author: Dr. Josh Axe
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

Chicken katsu is a Japanese dish that includes crispy and flaky chicken cutlets. Here it’s paired with a healthy dipping oil, and you can also add in some sautéed bok choy or kale.

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Ingredients

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Chicken Katsu

• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• 1 pound thin chicken cutlets
• 1 cup cassava flour
• 4 eggs, whisked
• 2 cups gluten-free crackers, ground into fine crumbs
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Dipping Oil

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 4 tablespoons coconut aminos
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil

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Instructions

1. In a small bowl or container, mix Dijon, coconut aminos and sesame oil, then set aside.
2. In a large pan over medium heat, warm avocado oil while you move onto the next steps.
3. Place the eggs, cassava and crackers in three separate bowls large enough to dredge the chicken.
4. Add salt to the cassava and stir until well-combined.
5. Dredge the chicken cutlets one-by-one on all sides, in this order: cassava, eggs, crackers.
6. With tongs, place dredged chicken cutlets into heated oil in the pan.
7. Fry each side until chicken is golden brown and interior temperature reaches 165 degrees F., about 10–15 minutes.
8. Serve with dipping oil and optional veggies.

• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 15 min
• Category: Main Dishes
• Method: Frying
• Cuisine: Japanese

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 serving (213g)
• Calories: 427
• Sugar: 0.8g
• Sodium: 404mg (27% DV)
• Fat: 16.5g
• Saturated Fat: 3.3g
• Unsaturated Fat: 11.8g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 24.9g
• Fiber: 1.1g
• Protein: 42.1g
• Cholesterol: 207mg