One of life’s greatest pleasures, this homemade chicken schnitzel recipe is a family favorite in my house. Breaded and fried, it’s golden on the outside and tender and moist in the center. Budget-friendly and quick to prepare, it’s one dish I’ve been making for years, and I’m sharing all my tips and tricks so you can have it on the table in just over 30 minutes!
Love schnitzel? Try my Italian schnitzel bites, portobello mushroom schnitzel, and corn & pepper panko schnitzel, too.
Table of contents
In case you’re unfamiliar with the history of chicken schnitzel, it is a dish made with crispy fried chicken breasts originally from Austria. Traditional schnitzel is made with veal (known as Weiner schnitzel) or pork. However, the dish quickly became popular in Germany as well and later found its way to Israel through European Jews.
Like many other foods, Jews adapted this regional dish to suit their dietary kosher laws, replacing pork (which is treif) and veal (which was expensive and difficult to obtain) with chicken and turkey. Now, chicken schnitzel is popular throughout the world and is a particular favorite in my household.
Ingredients and Notes
Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the complete details!
- Chicken – Boneless chicken breasts are best for schnitzel, because their mild flavor pairs with the breading nicely. However, boneless, skinless chicken thighs will also work. I like to butterfly the chicken breasts, then pound them between sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Consequently, this makes the chicken cook more evenly, resulting in a crispier result.
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour for the base of the breading. However, if needed, you can substitute a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour to keep this recipe gluten-free.
- Breadcrumbs – You can use a variety of ingredients for coating the schnitzel, including breadcrumbs, matzo meal, and Japanese panko. Overall, breadcrumbs are the most popular choice and my go-to for a classic schnitzel. Matzo meal is used during Passover, when Jewish cooks have a kosher restriction on leavened grains. Panko breadcrumbs produce a very light, crisp, and airy coating.
- Oil – Make sure to use an oil with a high smoke point for frying. I prefer avocado oil, but grapeseed oil also works well.
How to Make a Classic Chicken Schnitzel Recipe
- Butterfly the chicken. Trim the tenderloin off the chicken breast, if needed, along with any extra fat. Then, butterfly the chicken, and slice the breasts in half, creating four chicken fillets.
- Pound the chicken. Use a meat mallet or heavy-bottomed pot to pound the chicken until each piece reaches a uniform thickness.
- Bread. Create a breading station using three large, shallow bowls. Working one at a time, dredge the chicken with flour, followed by the beaten egg and breadcrumb mixture. Let any excess breading drip off.
- Fry. Working in batches, fry the breaded chicken breasts in hot oil in a large skillet until a golden brown crust forms on the first side. Then, flip, and continue to fry until the chicken cooks through. Transfer the cooked chicken schnitzel to a wire rack or a paper towel-lined plate to catch any of the excess drips of oil. Repeat as needed, cooking all the chicken pieces.
- Serve. Season with salt as needed, and enjoy warm.
Tori’s Tips for Making Crispy, Juicy Chicken Schnitzel
- Pound the chicken evenly. The key to achieving crispy, tender chicken schnitzel is to pound each chicken piece to an even thickness, roughly 1/8 inch thick.
- Add flavor to the breading. I like to season my breadcrumbs with paprika and salt. Then, I add white sesame seeds for a little extra crunch and a subtle nutty taste.
- Heat the oil slowly. Let your oil warm over medium heat, allowing it to become nice and hot without burning, which can create an unpleasant flavor and prevent the chicken from cooking properly.
- Avoid overcrowding. Work in batches, leaving space all around each piece of chicken. This promotes fast, even cooking and allows the breading to become golden and crisp on all sides.
- Use a meat thermometer. Eliminate any guesswork when cooking, and use a meat thermometer to ensure your chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C), meaning it’s fully cooked and safe to eat.
- Rest before serving. Let your chicken pieces rest for at least 5-10 minutes before serving. This allows the natural juices to redistribute, keeping it tender.
Serving Suggestions
This tasty, crispy chicken is often served as a main dish with a starchy side dish like French fries, olive oil mashed potatoes, or Middle Eastern roasted vegetable rice. For the most part, I prefer to serve it with a fresh Israeli salad to cut down on calories.
Lemon wedges and parsley are the traditional garnish for chicken schnitzel. While I do love my schnitzel with lemon, I also like to dip it in spicy mustard, hot sauce, or hummus. You can’t go wrong either way. Save extra chicken cutlets to make sandwiches, too!
Chicken Schnitzel
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (2 large breasts)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup breadcrumbs, matzo meal, or panko
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- Oil with a high smoke point for frying – avocado oil preferred, grapeseed oil also works well
- Fresh lemon wedges for garnish
Instructions
- For each breast, check to see if there is a tenderloin (an extra flap of meat that sort of hangs off).
- If there is a tenderloin, slice it off of the breast. Trim any visible tendons or extra bits of fat from the breast and the tenderloin. Set tenderloin aside.
- Lay the breast on cutting board with smooth side facing upward. Identify the thickest round edge of the breast. Place your hand flat on the top of the breast. Slice carefully horizontally into the thickest round edge, slicing about three quarters of the way into the breast (divinding top half of breast from bottom). Do not slice all the way through.
- Unfold the breast to reveal two symmetrical halves (this is a "butterfly" of the breast). Slice down the middle to divide the breast into two equal pieces. When finished with the pound of chicken, you should have 4 breasts of relatively equal size, and perhaps a couple of tenderloins as well.
- Lay down a 2- to 3-foot long strip of plastic wrap on your kitchen countertop. Place chicken breasts and tenderloins on the plastic, leaving a 2-inch space between each piece of meat. Cover the breasts with another strip of plastic, so the meat is sandwiched between two layers of plastic.
- Use the flat side of a mallet to pound the breasts thin until they are of a uniform thickness, roughly 1/8 inch thin throughout.
- Place all the pounded breasts and tenderloins on a plate. Set up three wide, shallow bowls and a large empty plate on your countertop. In your first bowl, put the flour. In your second bowl, beat the eggs together with 2 tsp of water until well mixed. In your third bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, paprika, 1/4 tsp salt and sesame seeds (optional) until well blended. Place empty plate nearby where you will put your coated schnitzels.
- Pour oil into a skillet or sauté pan until it’s deep enough for frying (about ½ inch). Heat the oil slowly over medium. While oil is heating, dip each breast one by one into your breading bowls—first dredge with flour.
- Next, dip the floured breast in the egg mixture until well coated.
- Finally, place the egg-covered breast into the bowl of breadcrumb mixture. Use a dry hand to coat the breast evenly with breadcrumbs. Repeat process for remaining breasts and tenderloins.
- You want your frying oil to be around 350 degreees F – hot, but not so hot that the oil smokes or splatters. You can test the oil temperature with a tenderloin first, if you have one. Fry the coated breasts in single-layer batches until they are golden brown on both sides. If your oil is at the right temperature, it should take about 2-3 minutes per side to cook the schnitzels.
- Don’t fry more than two breasts at a time in a regular sized skillet, or the oil temperature will drop and the schnitzels will become greasy. When the oil is at the right temperature, the schnitzels will absorb very little oil and cook up light and crisp.
- After frying, set the schnitzels on a wire rack (or on a paper towel-lined plate or baking sheet) to drain excess oil.
- Sprinkle the schnitzels with additional salt to taste, if desired. Serve hot garnished with lemon wedges or your favorite condiment. Mustard and hot sauce both pair well with schnitzel. If you have any tenderloins, take dibs on who gets to eat them – that meat is especially tender (hence the name "tenderloin"). Enjoy!
NOTES
Nutrition
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FAQs
The main difference is that schnitzel chicken is made by pounding chicken breasts until they’re very thin, whereas breaded chicken is often left thicker. In addition, schnitzel is most commonly pan-fried, whereas breaded chicken can be either pan-fried or deep-fried.
I haven’t tested this recipe in the oven, but it should work. Bread the chicken as usual. Then, arrange it in an even layer on a prepared baking sheet, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken cooks through. I recommend flipping the pieces over halfway through cooking to ensure they brown nicely on both sides!
This recipe is best served warm while the breading is still crisp. However, if needed, you can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can also transfer the chicken to the freezer for up to 2-3 months.
To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then, reheat the chicken pieces in the oven at about 350°F (177°C) for 10-15 minutes or just until warmed through. You can also reheat chicken schnitzel in the microwave, but I find it causes the breading to become a bit soggy.
If you put the chicken in a zippered freezer bag–do not close it until later–and pound it you then will then be able to close the bag and refrigerate until the next day when you are ready to cook. If you buy several chicken breasts when they are on sale then you can pound them all in bags and they will be easier to stack in the freezer and will thaw quickly. You can pound enough for a small family in a gallon sized bag or 1 or 2 in a smaller bag. Sometimes I even use pint or quart bags and then stack several in a gallon or two gallon bag so they do not get lost in the freezer. Pounded flat they stack so much better than un-pounded ones and pounded the night before makes the cooking part of this dish so quick and easy after a busy day or when you are having guests and do not want to spend too much time in the kitchen. When I am planning ahead for house guests I pound and freeze enough chicken and turkey for a meals every other day as there are so many ways to flavor and cook them so that no one complains about having different poultry dishes every 2 or 3 days.
I’ve made a version of this dish for years,usually using turkey breast cutlets, but the addition of paprika and sesame is intriguing, and the next time I make it, I’ll be adding both.
Penzey’s is a venerable quality spice company based in Wisconsin. They’ve been expanding their brick and mortar stores recently – about 60 now – 3 in California. They offer some excellent salt-free spice blends, along with specialty spices (I’m guessing they sell at least 4 kinds of cinnamon). Their catalogs are most informative (heat scale for peppers etc) and include food/recipe related stories and recipes. The website is http://www.penzeys.com Personally, I think they need to do some work on their website to make it more user friendly.
Hello, any reheating suggestions for a make-and-take meal? Would love to make this for a new mom! Thanks for any help.
HappyValleyMom, schnitzel (or anything fried for that matter) tends to lose its luster when it’s not served fresh from the frying pan. It won’t be as crisp or yummy if you reheat it. That said, if you choose to make this ahead, reheat it using an oven (not a microwave); a convection oven works best for crispness. I would reheat it at 350 degrees for a few minutes till they’re warmed through. Good luck! And congrats to the new mom! 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight, but I tweaked it a bit. I made a more Asian style dish. I cut the chicken into strips and added sesame oil to the egg mixture and cayenne pepper to the flour mixture. I served the chicken with 3 different dipping sauces (store bought) Plumb sauce, Thai peanut, and teriyaki. As a side dish I served chow mein noodles w/ veggies. It turned out AMAZING! Thanks so much for the recipe!
YUM! Asian style for the win! Fabulous idea. 🙂
I finally made this tonight for dinner. It was divine. Everyone loved it. I didn’t serve it with lemon…I forgot. I did serve it with noodles dressed with lots of pesto and a dash of lemon on them though.
This will absolutely make a return visit (many visits) to our dinner table….as everything else I have attempted from your collection.
Leigh, thank you so much for reporting back! What a great idea to serve it with pesto noodles. I’m going to try that next time I make it! 🙂
I’ve been making a variation of this recipe for years. Tried it with the panko and my wife went crazy. Definately tastier and crunchier than with herbed bread crumbs. I add some Penzy’s Fox Point seasoning mix to the flour. YUM!
Panko really does make a wonderfully crunchy coating! Tell me, what is Penzy’s Fox Point seasoning? I’ve never tried it. Is it spicy?
Hi there..I love your postings..I was wondering where you post all your recipes…and If I could get the recipe for your Israelie salad and and apple cake you always make over The holidays?
Thank you…..
Amy
Hi Amy! Just use the search box at the top of the site. Type in “Israeli salad” and “apple honey cake,” the recipes should come up. Let me know if you’re having trouble.
OK – so I have been perusing your blog and finding some family recipes (tishpishti) and I need to thank you, so here goes with one of my secret ingredients for this Milanese recipe:
Instead of using flour, I use falafel mix. It has a great flavor and provides a crispy coating when fried.
Of course, I now know how to make my own falafel “mix” from reading your blog!
Cheers!
Gary
Gary, that sounds awesome! Never tried it before, but I’m putting it on my list because it sounds so yummy! Thanks for the tip. 🙂
I’ve never heard of anyone who serves schnitzel with fries. In Israeli homes you’re most likely to see it served with side dishes like Ptitim (Israeli “couscous”), rice, or an Israeli salad like yours 🙂
Interesting! Whenever we go out with our Israeli friends in Tel Aviv they order schnitzel served with french fries. Perhaps that’s just their personal preference. I definitely prefer it with a lighter salad. 🙂
You guys are right, this is totally comfort food! So easy and yummy.
Juanita, the Israeli salad is linked in the blog, here’s a direct link– the one in the Schnitzel blog pics has a little bit of red onion added:
http://theshiksa.com/blog/2010/01/25/israeli-salad-week/
Melody, I am thrilled that you made the rugelach! I was worried that people might be intimidated by that one because of the time involved. So happy to hear you enjoyed them!
one of my favorite comfort foods. A friend from high school’s mom was Israeli and made the best I ever had. This looks almost identical.
I am definitely trying this! Do you have the recipe for the Israeli salad as well? I would love to try the combination…..
Thanks!
I’ve made this before, but I didn’t know it was called Chicken Schnitzel! I like the sesame seeds in the breading, will try that next time I make it! By the way, I made the Rugelach on Super Bowl Sunday and they were sooo delish! Thanks for that recipe!
This recipe sounds sooo good and easy enough for a novice cook like me! Also not too many ingredients which makes it a great thing to make at a moments notice!
Similar to the chicken I make using three shallow pie plates one with flour salt pepper, one is egg beaten, and one is panko bread crumbs and parmesiano regiano grated cheese mixed together and then fry in olive oil in which we all know is heart healthy. Instead of lemon on top I make a rue of butter/ flour and chicken stock let it thicken a bit then add a heaping tablespoon of dijon and honey for chicken dipper dauce. mmmm
That sounds very good I think I will try that in the next couple of days. Thanks love your recipes . Your recipes are very Seventh Day Adventist friendly.
YUM!!! This might become a new comfort food for me. Great recipe and wonderful pictures! You always make it fun to learn and cook. Thanks for another great recipe.
love it. love how you break down the recipes so everybody is able to make it step by step.Thank you for that. I’m not Jewish, but love the history on food.
You need a user friendly print page. Takes too much ink to try to print recipes and I don’t want to copy and paste each paragraph. Just a little constructive criticism :~)
Debbie, look just above the recipe where it says “Print Recipe” in red writing. Let me know if the option is not showing up for you. 🙂
im making this for dinner tonight. We cant say schnitzel aloud in our house( our dogs nickname is schnitzel) LOL. Printed fine if you click on print recipe. just the recipe not the picks. thank you so much for publishing this recipe.
I love that your dog is named schnitzel! Haha so cute!