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Crispy chicken katsu is simmered in a delicious dashi broth and eggs, then served over steamed rice. This Japanese chicken rice bowl is the ultimate comfort food! It’s wonderfully savory from the soy sauce, umami from the dashi, and a touch of sweetness from the onions. It’s so easy and delicious, you’ll want to make this dish over and over again.
What is Katsudon?
Katsudon is a combination of two Japanese words: katsu (a breaded cutlet) and donburi (rice bowl). It’s a popular Japanese dish that’s a wonderful blend of flavors and textures. Crispy chicken simmered in a savory sauce with onions and eggs. When it’s topped over a warm bowl of steamed rice – what’s not to like??
You might be wondering why bother crisping up breaded chicken just to sog it up in some sauce? Well, something amazing happens when the chicken simmers along with the savory sauce and soft eggs. It creates a lovely contrast of textures, and the breading and chicken soak up all that delicious goodness.
It’s something you really need to try for yourself to understand!
How to Make Katsudon
For this recipe, chicken is breaded with panko and air-fried until crispy. I use the technique from Just One Cookbook and pre-toast the panko breadcrumbs before baking in the Air Fryer.
Next, combine onions, dashi stock, mirin, and soy sauce in a pan and let it simmer until the onions soften. Add the chicken katsu back into the pan, gently pour over eggs, and let it simmer gently until the eggs are just cooked.
Pour the whole mixture over rice and let it absorb any extra sauce and eggs. Oh, it’s so good!
This is a great recipe to use with leftover katsu. I actually enjoy making my Air Fryer chicken katsu to eat for dinner and save a cutlet or two to make katsudon the next day. You get a completely new dish this way.
Katsudon Main Ingredients
- Chicken breast – You’ll use chicken breasts, pounded flat for even and quick cooking.
- You can substitute with boneless, skinless, chicken thighs or pork loins.
- Panko Breadcrumbs – These breadcrumbs are light and airy, and is the key to giving the chicken katsu that amazing crunch.
- You can find them at an Asian supermarket, the regular grocery store, and online.
- Dashi – Dashi is a Japanese broth and has a savory umami flavor. For this recipe I use dashi powder mixed with water for ease.
- If you can’t find dashi, you can try using chicken stock instead.
- Mirin – This is a Japanese rice wine with a subtly sweet flavor.
- If you can’t find mirin, you can substitute with a couple teaspoons of sugar.
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy:
- Air Fryer Chicken Katsu
- Salmon Sushi Bake
- Fried Tofu With Teriyaki Sauce
- Ground Beef Bulgogi With Gochujang Sauce
Easy Chicken Katsudon
Equipment
Ingredients
For Air Fryer Katsu
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1/2 pound chicken breast (about 1 filet)
- salt
- ground pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 teaspoons water
For Katsudon Sauce
Additional Ingredients
- 2 servings steamed rice
Instructions
Prepare the chicken katsu
- Start with toasting the panko bread crumbs. In a nonstick pan, add panko and cooking oil and heat the pan over medium heat. Occasionally stir the panko until it becomes golden brown, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat, transfer panko to a shallow bowl, and set aside while you prepare the chicken.
- Next, pound the chicken to get it an even thickness. Take out one chicken breast, place on a cutting board, and lay down a piece of plastic wrap over top. Using a meat pounder or rolling pin, pound the chicken so it is an even thickness, about 1/2 inch. Once flattened, cut the chicken breast in half. Repeat with the second chicken filet. You should have four pieces of chicken.
- Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Time to set up the dredging station. In a shallow dish, add flour. In a second shallow dish, combine eggs, water, and whisk. The third dish will have the reserved toasted panko bread crumbs.Take a chicken piece and coat it in flour, shaking off the excess. Next, dip the chicken into the egg mixture. Lastly, dip the chicken into the toasted panko, coating evenly. Set the chicken aside, and repeat with the other chicken pieces until all are coated.
- Preheat the Air Fryer to 375°F. Place the chicken pieces on the Air Fryer basket. Bake the chicken for 10 minutes, flip the chicken and bake an additional 5 minutes. (See notes if you don't have an Air Fryer)
- When the chicken is done, transfer to a cutting board and chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Set aside as you prepare the dashi broth mixture.
Prepare the katsudon sauce
- In a container, whisk together dashi powder, water, soy sauce, and mirin. Set aside.
- In a pan, toss in sliced onions with a teaspoon of oil and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Next, add in the dashi mixture to the pan. Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
- Lay the chicken katsu neatly into the pan with the simmering dashi mixture. Let it simmer for about 1 minute.
- Lower the heat to low. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs into the pan. Cover with a lid and let it simmer until the eggs are just cooked, about 2-3 minutes.
- When the eggs are cooked, turn off the heat. Serve the entire mixture of steamed rice and enjoy!
Notes
- If you don’t have an Air Fryer, bake the breaded chicken at 400ºF for about 25 minutes, flipping halfway through
- Substitutions:
- The chicken breast can be substituted for boneless, skinless chicken thighs are pork loin.
- If you can’t find dashi, you can try using chicken stock instead.
- If you can’t find mirin, you can substitute with 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Love that you Air fried the chicken istead of frying in oil. The egg and chicken combination is unique. I made a chicken quiche with breaded chicken breat and it was very delicious 😋. I am sure your dish is even more fingerlicking delicious 😋.
Thank you! I really enjoy using the Air Fryer because I hate the clean up of all the oil.
This made me really hungry lol it looks really amazing and I can’t wait to try this!
Bookmarking this!! I’m starting to be dependent on my airfryer and I love that your recipe uses one. Not only is it hassle-free, the airfryer makes this recipe healthier. I have also always wondered how recipes with eggs underneath are done and this post solved the mystery for me. 😀 Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for checking out my recipe. I love my Air Fryer, too!