Tonkatsu pork

Name: Tonkatsu pork
Prep time: 8 min
Cook time: 16 min
Total time: 24 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 4 Pork Chops; 100g Flour; 2 Beaten Eggs; 100g Breadcrumbs; Fry Vegetable Oil; 2 tbs Tomato Ketchup; 2 tbs Worcestershire Sauce; 1 tbs Oyster Sauce; 2 tblsp Caster Sugar

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Pork recipe with Japanese flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 41 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 24 min total

4 Pork Chops
100g Flour
2 Beaten Eggs
100g Breadcrumbs
Fry Vegetable Oil
2 tbs Tomato Ketchup
2 tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbs Oyster Sauce
2 tblsp Caster Sugar

Step-by-step instructions

Remove the large piece of fat on the edge of each pork loin, then bash each of the loins between two pieces of baking parchment until around 1cm in thickness – you can do this using a meat tenderiser or a rolling pin. Once bashed, use your hands to reshape the meat to its original shape and thickness – this step will ensure the meat is as succulent as possible.
Put the flour, eggs and panko breadcrumbs into three separate wide-rimmed bowls. Season the meat, then dip first in the flour, followed by the eggs, then the breadcrumbs.
In a large frying or sauté pan, add enough oil to come 2cm up the side of the pan. Heat the oil to 180C – if you don’t have a thermometer, drop a bit of panko into the oil and if it sinks a little then starts to fry, the oil is ready. Add two pork chops and cook for 1 min 30 secs on each side, then remove and leave to rest on a wire rack for 5 mins. Repeat with the remaining pork chops.
While the pork is resting, make the sauce by whisking the ingredients together, adding a splash of water if it’s particularly thick. Slice the tonkatsu and serve drizzled with the sauce.

Why this works on a weeknight

Tonkatsu pork genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Tonkatsu pork actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Pork Japanese ⚡ 30-Min Dinner