Katsu Sando Recipe (+Video) Japanese Fried Cutlet Sandwich

Katsu sando is a crispy, breaded meat cutlet with tonkatsu sauce, mayonnaise, and lettuce sandwiched between two white breads. It tastes meaty and savoury, with hints of creaminess and tangy sweetness from the sauces.

Here's our recipe on how to make katsu sando at home using chicken, pork or beef. We'll be using an oven to cook our meat cutlet. However, we've also included steps you can follow to deep fry it like the traditional way or make it using an air fryer.

Jump to:

• Katsu Sando Ingredients
• Katsu Sando Recipe (Oven Baked Cutlet Sandwich)
• Katsu Sando Cooking Tips
• Katsu sando using an oven
• Deep frying katsu sando
• Using an air fryer
• Assembly Tips on How To Make Katsu Sando
• How To Store
• Variations
• Why is it called katsu sando?

Katsu Sando Ingredients

To make our katsu sando recipe, you'll need the following ingredients.

• White Bread
• Chicken (Meat)
• Cabbage
• All-purpose flour
• Egg
• Panko breadcrumbs
• Mayonnaise
• Tonkatsu Sauce
• Salt and pepper

All of these ingredients are important in making a tasteful and savoury Japanese-style sandwich.

Bread

For our recipe, we recommend using Japanese milk bread, shokupan. It's light, moist and has a sweet, subtle milkiness to its flavour.  

It's also the most common type of soft white bread in Asia used to make sandwiches, including the Korean Inkigayo sandwich. While it's not common overseas, you may be able to find it sold in loaves in artisanal Japanese cafes and supermarkets.

Otherwise, you can use thick white bread slices for our katsu sando recipe. Go for plain white bread, as it's more neutral-flavoured, and the sweetness helps bring out the taste of the other ingredients. We don't recommend using whole-grain breads. They don't work as well as they should, as they interfere with the flavours of the katsuretsu and the sauce. 

Japanese shokupan is often used for this recipe. The bread is light and has a milkiness to its flavour. 

Meat

The common types of meat to use are pork, chicken, or beef. We'll use chicken breast for our recipe, but the steps will be the same if you use pork or beef. For a strong natural flavour of the meat, use beef or shrimp.

Japanese panko breadcrumbs

Panko is made from white bread that's turned into flakes and then dried. This bread crumb type is larger and flakier than the typical bread crumbs. Panko has no taste but gives your chicken katsu sando recipe additional texture.

In Japan, this recipe typically pre-toasts the panko to make the breading coat even crispier. You can toast your Japanese panko on medium heat over the stove or in the oven for 5 minutes until it turns golden brown.

If you can't find Japanese panko, you can buy regular breadcrumbs and crush them further. Japanese panko tends to be finer and crispier. So, to emulate this, pour the breadcrumbs into a sealable vacuum bag and crush them further using a rolling pin. Then, pre-toast the breadcrumbs in the oven or on the stove until they turn golden brown. This will help make them crispy and more similar to panko.

Cabbage

Cabbage is a key ingredient that balances the meat in our recipe. This is usually thinly sliced fresh cabbage to use as a filling and adds a refreshing crunch to the overall sandwich. We like to use green or white round cabbage types.

Crispy cabbage will complement the Katsuretsu. In fact, cabbage is generally served with every Katsu in Japan, whether katsudon or sando. 

However, we would avoid using red cabbage and Chinese cabbage. While you can add other vegetables to make it more vibrant, the simplicity of the cabbage allows the katsu's flavour to shine. Adding other vegetables like tomatoes or mushrooms may interfere with the taste of the katsu meat.

If you want to add more fibre, we recommend green leaves like spinach, kale, lettuce, or cucumber (julienned).

Tonkatsu sauce 

It's not a katsu sando without the sweet and sour Tonkatsu sauce. It's a sweet barbecue Japanese condiment that you spread in the sandwich. It completes the sandwich by adding a tangy, sweet element.

The combination of tonkatsu sauce and mayonnaise creates the perfect balance. The former adds rich creaminess, while the latter makes the dish sweet and sour. 

Our favourite store-bought tonkatsu sauce to use is Bull Dog tonkatsu sauce. You'll be able to pick this up in Asian grocery stores. 

You can create your own homemade Tonkatsu sauce by scratch by following our recipe below. This makes about ½ cup of sauce, enough for 2 katsu sando and extra for dipping.

Mix:

• 3 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce  
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 tablespoon ketchup 
• 2 tablespoon oyster sauce

We won't want you to substitute Tonkatsu sauce since it's essential to our recipe's taste. However, you can alternate it with ketchup or barbecue sauce in a pinch.

Katsu Sando Cooking Tips

Here are some of the cooking tips we've collected based on our experience of making this at home.

Pounding the meat

Your Katsuretsu base flavour will depend on what meat you'll use and the texture of it. 

Pound or cut your meat into quarter- or half-inch pieces. You can cut your chicken breast meat into a butterfly and then into two thinner pieces.

Be careful not to make it too thin. You still want your meat to be tender and juicy. If you prefer it extremely juicy but slightly uneven bites, you can skip the pounding.

Depending on the cut of meat you use in this sandwich, make sure to cut some slits on the muscle on both sides to prevent it from shrinking. When cooked right, the Katsuretsu is crispy and crunchy on the outside.

Battering the meat

When you coat your meat, use one hand for dry and one hand for wet ingredients to keep the ingredients from mixing. And to keep it clean. You can also use a thong or chopsticks.

When coating the panko, press down on the meat. That will help the panko stick better to the meat. Also, it'll be easier to bread your meat when you use a shallow, long pan or plate.

Toasting your bread

For an added crunch, you can slightly toast your white bread. Adding some butter would increase the richness, too. However, you should only toast this gently. Otherwise, it will create too many crumbs and won't soak up as much of the sauce as it should.

Adding mustard 

If you love the taste of mustard, you can spread a teaspoon of it on your bread. Alternatively, you can add it into your tonkatsu sauce.

Katsu sando using an oven

As our recipe shows, you can make katsu sando in an oven. It's a relatively healthier option than deep frying. You'll still be able to enjoy a crispy cutlet, but it won't be as golden brown in colour. 

Preheating your oven to 210°C or 410°F for at least 10 minutes is key for our recipe. As you're not using oil, we don't recommend overcoating the meat cutlet with panko breadcrumbs. This will result in some not being cooked evenly, and it's not a great texture.

Instead remember to give your cutlet a gentle shake to remove any excess panko breadcrumbs. For our recipe, we bake this for about 30 minutes. However, if you're using beef to make a Katsu Wagyu Sando, 15-20 minutes is the average baking time. For shrimp or Ebi Katsu, bake for about 15 minutes only. 

Deep frying katsu sando

Deep frying your meat cutlet is the traditional way of making katsu sando. It will give you a crispier and stronger golden brown colour than an air fryer or oven baking. 

To deep fry your cutlet, use enough oil to submerge the breaded cutlet entirely. You want to deep fry at about 170°C (340°F) for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. To get an even colour, we like to flip it at the halfway mark and ladle the oil over the cutlet.

If you're making more than 1 cutlet, we recommend you check the oil temperature before deep frying again. It's common for the oil temperature to drop while deep frying.

Using an air fryer

Yes, you can make a crispy Katsuretsu without using oil. The secret to this is, you guessed it, an air fryer. Make your sandwich healthier by using an air fryer. This method cuts katsu sando calories by up to 80% and has less fat than deep frying.

1. Start by preheating the air fryer to 200°C or 400°F before putting your chosen meat in it.
2. Next, place your breaded meat on a baking sheet inside the air fry for 10 minutes at 200°C (400°F).
3. Flip your meat, respray some oil, and then cook for another 10 minutes at 200°C (400°F) until golden brown.

Assembly Tips on How To Make Katsu Sando

We mentioned earlier that Katsu Sando is comprised of three parts: sandwich, meat filling, and sauce. Here are our top tips for getting an even bite each time and a fried cutlet sandwich that doesn't crumble.

Before assembling the sandwich, make sure you've pounded the meat and thinly sliced cabbage. Both of these elements will help you get a more even bite. 

Evenly spread half your Tonkatsu sauce on one slice of bread and the mayonnaise on the other. It's important to not slab too much sauce on the bread at this stage. Otherwise, your bread will get soggy as you bite into it later.

Add your shredded cabbage on top of the bread with mayonnaise, then place the katsu and close it.

Wrap the sandwich with cling film and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. Alternatively, you can also place an upside-down plate over the sandwich. Letting it rest is important for the sandwich fillings to firm and meld with one another. 

At the last stage, without removing the cling film, cut the sandwich in half. The cling film will help keep the katsu sando fillings in place and minimise spillage while you slice it.

How To Store

Here are several storage tips if you make a little more than what you can consume.

You can store your cooked Katsuretsu in an airtight container in your fridge for 1-2 days. You can also put it in your freezer for up to 1 week. Later, you can reheat it with an oven or toaster.

Your toasted panko can be stored in an airtight container and used for later as well. Toast it again to bring back the crunchiness.

Got a big chunk of leftover Katsu? Give it a new life and cook it as a topping for Katsu Ramen.

If you bought an uncut Japanese loaf, utilise the remaining bread to make a Honey Toast Box to avoid food waste. Extend your Japanese craving a little longer.

Variations

There are different types of meat cutlets you can fill in your recipe. You can use any meat you have. Although pork Katsuretsu is the most popular, people also crave different variations of meat to use in the Katsu sandwich.

Chicken

This variation is also called panko chicken and is the most common alternative. We recommend using skinless, boneless breast parts of chicken for your Chicken Katsu Sando. The thigh part of the chicken can also work. Just make sure it's boneless.

You can prepare your chicken by pounding it to a quarter of an inch. The tenderising and flattening process will help your chicken katsu cook faster and more evenly. If you prefer a meatier bite to your chicken katsu, then skip this step.

Beef (Wagyu)

The beef variation, also known as Katsu Sando Wagyu, is one of the World's Most Expensive Sandwiches. The secret is in the beef used to make the dish.

Most restaurants that serve this recipe use Wagyu Sirloin, a Japanese steak known for its tenderness. No worries, though, as you can still make this at home with local beef.

Shrimp

Shrimp Katsu or Ebi Katsu is also a good variation of this recipe. You have two options for cooking your Ebi Katsuretsu. The first is to coat large and small shrimp in panko breading and deep fry them. The second option is to finely chop your shrimp into a paste. Either way, it tastes really good.

Iberico

Iberico Katsuretsu also had its time of popularity on Instagram. It's also a pork variation - but thicker and juicier. People who love to chew big chunks of meat will enjoy Iberico as a sandwich filling.

Why is it called katsu sando?

Katsu sando is a Japanese-style sandwich made of breaded fried meat drizzled with sweet and spicy barbeque sauce. The name comes from two words - Katsuretsu and Sandwich. Katsu is short for Katsuretsu, which means fried pork or chicken cutlet, and sando is the Japanese term for a sandwich. 

You may be more familiar with Tonkatsu, a popular Japanese dish of deep-fried pork cutlets served with rice. The cutlets are coated in flour, egg, and bread crumbs. The breaded meat is served as a sandwich filling with the cutlet sandwich.

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