This is comfort food lightened up! The chicken is crispy and light but juicy and satisfying at the same time. Plus, you do not need to deal with messy frying!
- 3/4 lbs skinless, boneless chicken tender
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2.5 oz Japanese breadcrumbs (panko)
- 3 tbsp tonkatsu sauce See notes below
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Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F or 230 degrees C.
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Butterfly the chicken tender and pound out the butterflied chicken with a meat mallet to ¼-inch thickness.
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Season with salt, pepper and sake on both sides. Set aside.
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Lay panko in a large skillet over low-medium heat to toast them until golden brown. Stir frequently. About 5 minutes. Pour the toasted panko in a shallow dish.
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Coat the both sides of chicken with mayonnaise.
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Press the chicken into the toasted panko to evenly coat the both sides with the breading.
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Stack a cooking rack on a sheet pan. This will help make the chicken extra crispy.
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Bake the chicken in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through.
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Cool down the chicken on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve the chicken with tonkatsu sauce on a side.
- You do not have Japanese grocery stores nearby to get tonkatsu sauce? No problem! You can get it at Amazon!
Or you can make homemade tonkatsu sauce in less than 5 minutes. Use this recipe!
- If you do not have mayonnaise handy, you can use an egg per serving. Just beat it and dunk the chicken before you coat it with panko.
- <<GF alert!>> To make this dish gluten free, you can use gluten-free panko which is usually available at regular grocery store! Also, omit store-bought tokatsu sauce and make one at home using gluten-free soy sauce!
Or you can make homemade tonkatsu sauce in less than 5 minutes. Use