Chicken Katsu Bento Box
Crispy golden chicken katsu sliced over a bed of furikake rice, with blanched sesame broccoli, tangy pickled red cabbage and fresh cherry tomatoes, finished with a drizzle of sweet-savory tonkatsu sauce. A balanced, beautiful Japanese bento that comes together in 35 minutes and packs perfectly for school, work or lunch at home.
Prep
15 min
Cook
20 min
Total
35 min
Serves
2
Ingredients
Chicken katsu
- 2 small chicken breasts (about 6 oz each), pounded thin
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup vegetable oil, for frying
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Sides
- 1 cup cooked short-grain rice
- 1 tbsp furikake
- 1/2 cup broccoli florets
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup red cabbage, thinly shredded
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 4–6 whole cherry tomatoes
To finish
- 1 tbsp tonkatsu sauce
Method
- 1
Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness and season with the salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- 2
Set up a breading station — flour in one dish, beaten egg in a second, panko in a third. Dredge each piece in flour, dip in egg, then press into the panko to coat.
- 3
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat (about 350°F/175°C). Fry the chicken 3–4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through (165°F/75°C inside). Rest on a paper towel, then slice into strips. (Air fry at 375°F/190°C or bake at 400°F/200°C for 15–20 minutes, flipping halfway, if you prefer.)
- 4
Fluff the cooked rice and sprinkle with furikake.
- 5
Toss the shredded red cabbage with the rice vinegar (and a pinch of sugar or salt) and let it pickle 10–15 minutes, then drain.
- 6
Blanch the broccoli in boiling salted water 1–2 minutes, plunge into ice water, drain very well, and toss with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
- 7
Pack the furikake rice into one section of the box and lay the sliced katsu on top or beside it.
- 8
Add the sesame broccoli, drained pickled cabbage and whole cherry tomatoes in separate sections. Drizzle the katsu with tonkatsu sauce (or pack it in a separate cup). Serve warm, or cool completely before closing the lid to pack.
Tips
- For bento, wrap the fried katsu in a paper towel to absorb moisture and keep the crust from going soggy, and pack the tonkatsu sauce separately — add it right before eating.
- Drain the pickled cabbage and broccoli well; pooling liquid is what makes a bento spoil.
- If packing to eat later, cool everything fully, refrigerate, and keep it cold until lunch — chicken shouldn't sit out more than 2 hours.
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