Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Katsu with Spicy Soba Noodles

For another round of my series of combining my favorite things, I bring you my airfryer chicken katsu with spicy soba noodles. The crunchy chicken katsu is a perfect match for the gingery, garlicky soba noodles. Plus, I am using the air fryer and bok choy so this is obviously healthy.

My air fryer chicken katsu with spicy soba noodles is nutritious, delicious, and super satisfying. It’s also ready in about 35 minutes and does not require loads of chopping or pile up dirty dishes in the sink. It’s a unique and different recipe that will ignite your taste buds and make you hungry for more global cuisine.

If you’re not familiar with chicken katsu it’s just a breaded chicken breast that is typically deep fried and served with tonkatsu sauce. It reminds me of a Japanese style chicken parmesan without the cheese and the tomato-y sauce is the tonkatsu instead. Today, I am adding the tonkatsu ingredients to the sauce for the noodles. The crunchy chicken with the slurpable noodles is really an award winning combination.

In my air fryer chicken katsu with spicy soba noodles recipe, I am using cha soba, which is a soba noodle made with matcha (green tea) powder because I love the flavor and color, but you could just as easily make this with regular soba noodles. I mean, there are really so many options when it comes to making this. Swap out the bok choy for broccoli; that would still be delicious. Sensitive to spice? Don’t use the chilis or use way less. The choice is yours with this air fryer chicken katsu with spicy soba noodles!

Serves 4

Tools:

An air fryer is the obvious one.

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:

4 chicken breasts, pounded thin (about 1/2 inch)

2 eggs, beaten

1 & 1/2 cup of flour

2 cups of panko bread crumbs

spritz of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt

For the soba noodles, bok choy, and spicy sauce:

2 packages of cha soba or soba noodles

4 heads of baby bok choy, trimmed and separated

1/3 cup of ketchup

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 teaspoons of worcestershire

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 inch of ginger, minced

2 green chilis or 1 jalapeno, minced

1/3 cup of scallions, chopped (reserve some for the pretty!)

2 teaspoons of rice vinegar

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat your air fryer to 400F. Meanwhile, dry your chicken breasts and pound to about 1/2 inch thickness and salt both sides.
2. Set up a breading station with beaten eggs, flour, and breadcrumbs separated into 3 large bowls. Dredge the chicken breast in flour, then the egg, and finally coat with the breadcrumbs. Arrange the chicken breasts in your air fryer and spritz with olive oil. Cook for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
3. While the chicken cooks, boil salted water for your noodles and prepare the bok choy by trimming the bottoms and separating the leaves.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine the sauce ingredients: ketchup, soy sauce, worcestershire, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, chilis, scallions, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Stir to combine.
5. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, adding the bok choy during the last 4-5 minutes of cooking. Drain and return to pot.
6. Stir in the sauce over low heat, making sure the bok choy and noodles are coated.
7. To serve the airfryer chicken katsu with spicy soba noodles, add the noodles to a bowl and top with the chicken. Garnish with scallions and enjoy.

If you like the cha soba noodles, be sure to check out my crispy salmon recipe with green tea noodles and tantalizing wasabi vinaigrette or my yakisoba recipe!