Tonkatsu and tater tots are a match made in heaven! The tonkatsu sauce is ketchup heavy so the flavors are already working together. The mashup just makes sense! The only thing that makes it make more sense is adding cheese sauce!

The inspiration for this recipe

Perfectly crispy pork tonkatsu is one of the best bites of food you can eat. I thought it would be fun to pair the crispy pork with crispy tater tots and pile it up with lots of cheese and tonkatsu sauce. It’s also fun because you can call it TOTkatsu. At first I was just gonna make it a big pile with smaller bits of pork, but later on I decided to layer it a bit, starting with the tots, then the cheese, then the pork, then the sauce. It came out amazing and I couldn’t stop eating it! I live streamed this recipe and you can watch the replay here.

Make the cheese sauce

I actually went back and forth about melting cheese on top of the tater tot tonkatsu, or doing a sauce, and sauce won the debate. When cheese sauce is in a debate it’s hard for anything else to win. This simple sauce is milk, cornstarch, and cheese.

Make the Tonkatsu Pork

Slice the pork thin, then pound it out even thinner with a kitchen mallet. Then you just bread it with flour, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs.

Then fry it in a pan! The crispier the tonkatsu is, the better it will taste on top of the tater tots!

Assemble the tater tot tonkatsu

Pile up the tots first, then the cheese sauce.

Pork next, then the sauce. The sauce has ketchup, sriracha, soy sauce, rice vinegar, worcestershire, and honey.

then the tonkatsu on top of the tater tots

Top with thin sliced cabbage and scallions and serve the tater tot tonkatsu!. So tasty! So crispy! The best bites are when you have a little bit of everything! The cheese sauce melds together really well with the tonkatsu sauce.

Twists on tater tot tonkatsu

You could serve the tater tot tonkatsu in a pile like I originally intended. This is more like appetizer style totchos instead of the way I served it like a main course. You could also use a different tonkatsu recipe. I really love this one.

For more fun tater tot action, check out my banh mi tots, spicy pickle deviled tots, or these brussel sprouts and tots with sweet chili sauce!

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TOTkatsu – Tater Tot Tonkatsu

Tater tots topped with cheese sauce, pork tonkatsu, sauce, cabbage, and scallions.

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Total Time1 5

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Japanese

Keyword: Mash-Up, Tots

Servings: people

Calories: 1038kcal

Ingredients

TONKATSU SAUCE

1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons sriracha
1/4 cup worcestershire
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey

TOTS

1 pound tater tots
1 tablespoon oil
1 pinch salt

CHEESE SAUCE

1/2 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
1 cup shredded cheese 4 oz

PORK

4 pork cutlets thin sliced and pounded
1 cup flour
3 Eggs
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
oil for frying

TOPPINGS

thin sliced cabbage
sliced scallions

Instructions

Mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside until ready to use. Taste and adjust to personal taste
Preheat oven to 450. Put the tots on a sheet pan and toss with the oil and salt. Bake for about 25 minutes, tossing once after about 15 minutes, until crispy.
Whisk the milk with the cornstarch and pour it into a small frying pan or sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and kill the heat. Add in the cheese and stir until it is melted. Add a little more milk if it feels too thick. Hold on low until ready to use.
Season the pork with salt and pepper. Bread the cutlets by first dipping them in the flour, then the eggs, then the panko, making sure to shake off excess after each step. Set aside on a plate.
Preheat a pan with about a half inch of oil over medium heat. Cook the pork to brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Allow to cool for 1 minute and chop into thin strips.
To serve- Add tots to a plate, top with the cheese sauce, add on the pork, drizzle on the sauce, and top with the cabbage and scallions.

Nutrition