Meat, Grills & Lauk · Japan

How Many Calories in Tonkatsu?

Also known as とんかつ, 豚カツ, ロースかつ, Rosu Katsu, Japanese Pork Cutlet.

A thick pork loin cutlet coated in panko breadcrumbs and deep-fried until the crust shatters, sliced and served with shredded cabbage, tonkatsu sauce and mustard. The teishoku adds rice, miso soup and pickles.

442kcal / 1 rosu katsu (cutlet only, no rice)
One rosu (loin) tonkatsu cutlet is about 442 calories on its own. That is Matsunoya's published figure for their single cutlet. As a teishoku with rice, cabbage and miso soup it is 830 calories, and as a katsudon on rice with egg it reaches 1,011.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 rosu katsu (cutlet only, no rice) (160g)AmountPer 100g
Calories442 kcal276 kcal
Protein19 g12 g
Carbs24 g15 g
Fat30 g19 g

Where the calories come from

Pork loin, raw120g
260 kcal
Panko, flour and egg coating35g
110 kcal
Frying oil absorbed8g
72 kcal

The real talk

The cutlet alone is 442 calories, and 30g of that is fat, which means 270 of the 442 calories are fat calories. A 120g piece of raw pork loin has about 15g of fat to begin with. The panko crust then soaks up another 10 to 15g of oil in the fryer. That is why a hire (fillet) katsu, made from a leaner cut, comes in about 100 calories lower at the same weight. The crust is identical, the meat underneath is not.

The teishoku is where people lose track. Matsunoya's rosu katsu teishoku is 830 calories: 442 for the cutlet, about 250 for the rice, 28 for the miso soup, and the rest is cabbage, pickles and sauce. Many tonkatsu specialists offer free rice and cabbage refills, and a second scoop of rice is another 250. A 'refill twice' lunch is 1,300 calories, more than a full day of eating for some people, for about 1,000 yen.

Tonkatsu sauce is 25 calories per tablespoon, not terrible. The cabbage is 20 calories for the whole pile and worth eating first. The other thing to know is the size range. A regular cutlet is 120g raw. The 'thick cut' or 'rib loin' cutlets that specialist shops push are 180 to 200g and 650 to 700 calories on their own, so the same teishoku becomes 1,100.

How the portions compare

442 kcal
Cutlet only
830 kcal
Rosu katsu teishoku
1011 kcal
Rosu katsu don (katsudon)

Tonkatsu variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Hire katsu (fillet), cutlet only340 kcalLeaner cut, same crust
Rosu katsu, cutlet only442 kcalMatsunoya published figure
Hire katsu teishoku730 kcalWith rice, cabbage, miso soup
Rosu katsu teishoku830 kcalMatsunoya published figure
Thick-cut rib loin teishoku1100 kcal180 to 200g cutlet

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

How many calories in a tonkatsu set meal?
About 830 calories for a rosu katsu teishoku with rice, cabbage and miso soup. That is Matsunoya's published number. Specialist shops with bigger cutlets are 900 to 1,100.
Hire or rosu katsu, which is lower in calories?
Hire (fillet) is about 100 calories lower per cutlet, around 340 versus 442, because fillet has about a third of the fat of loin.
Is tonkatsu high in protein?
Moderately. A single cutlet has about 19g of protein, but 30g of fat. Chicken karaage delivers more protein per calorie.
How many calories in tonkatsu sauce?
About 25 calories per tablespoon. Two tablespoons on a cutlet is 50 calories, less than the rice refill most people take without thinking.

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Calorie and macro figures are estimates for a typical restaurant, ramen shop or konbini serving. Actual numbers vary by stall, recipe and portion size. Use them as a guide, not gospel.

Calorie figure based on Matsunoya published nutrition PDF (単品ロースかつ 442 kcal, ロースかつ定食 830 kcal, ロースかつ丼 1011 kcal), Sep 2026. Macros estimated from the ingredients.

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