I’ve had an air fryer for years, but I never tried making chicken katsu in it – after making it last night, I’m happy to say that it turned out great and super crispy! It’s so much more convenient and uses very little oil to cook. The only downside I noticed was the panko coating doesn’t brown as evenly in an air fryer compared to deep frying, but that’s not a big deal for me. I use boneless skinless chicken thighs because it stays juicy even with the long air fry time, I haven’t tried chicken breasts yet, but I think it would dry out before the panko got brown enough – so if you want to use chicken breast, I would stick to deep frying. Use air fried chicken katsu for Japanese curry, katsu sandwiches, katsu plate lunches or serve it simply with tonkatsu sauce.
I air fried the chicken katsu using an Instant Omni Pro, but any air fryer should work well. If you have a basket-type air fryer, you might have to cook in two batches if the chicken katsu doesn’t fit in a single layer (they won’t get crispy if you stack them).
I served the chicken katsu with S&B Golden Curry and a sprinkle of Shichimi Togarashi
