This is how to make a Schnitzel that’s extra crunchy and beautifully golden! Schnitzel can be made with pork, veal, chicken, beef or turkey. So use whatever meat you want.
If you’re after a traditional German schnitzel, use pork. Or for Austrian, use veal!
Schnitzel
I love all things fried and my bottom hates me for it.
And of all deep fried things, Schnitzel is very high up on the list. I certainly had more than my fair share during my travels in Austria!!
Despite my love of all things deep fried, doing it at home is rare, mainly because I have a thing about “wasting” oil. Usually if I deep fry something, I end up using the same oil to make something else just so I’m not “wasting” it.
Not so good for Da Diet.
But quite simply, there are some things in this world that are worth deep frying, and a seriously crunchy, perfectly golden schnitzel is one of them.
What kind of meat is used for schnitzel?
Schnitzel is most commonly made with pork, chicken or veal. But it’s also made with beef and mutton. There are loads of different varieties, especially across Europe. But the two most well known ones are:
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German – made with pork
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Austrian (Wiener Schnitzel)- veal
My favourites are pork and veal – for flavour, texture and fond memories of my travels!
How to make Schnitzel
There’s nothing tricky about making schnitzel.
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Pound meat of choice (pork, veal, chicken, turkey, beef)
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Sprinkle with salt and pepper;
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Coat in flour, dredge in egg, coat in panko breadcrumbs (SUPER extra crunch!)
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Fry until golden
I like to use a rolling pin to pound the meat because there’s less risk of tearing the meat, but you can use a meat mallet if you have one.
The meat shown in the step photos below is pork. The photo at the top of the page is chicken.
Shallow Fry. Not Deep Fry!
Actually, you don’t need to deep DEEP fry schnitzel. I shallow fry in about 1.5cm / 3/5″ oil. That’s enough to ensure the crumb cooks evenly.
Using more oil doesn’t really make any difference.
How to re-use oil
The oil can be reused twice because the schnitzel flavour is pretty neutral in this recipe so it doesn’t infuse oil with flavour (as opposed to heavily seasoned food like Southern Fried Chicken which taints the oil with flavour).
To re-use the oil, cool in pot, line mesh colander with a single layer of paper towel, strain oil. Store until required – personally would stick to savoury rather than sweet.
Try Stay-Crispy Honey Chicken, Arancini Balls, Japanese Karaage, Mongolian Beef, Sweet and Sour Pork or Southern Fried Chicken!
How to serve Schnitzel
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Straight up with just a squeeze of lemon. It’s certainly juicy enough such that you don’t need a sauce!
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Schnitzel sauce – my favourite is mushroom gravy.
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On the side – mashed potato, fries or crispy Potato Rosti are common options.
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Fresh side – I also like to serve it with a side of something fresh, like this Everyday Cabbage Salad or Cabbage and Fennel Slaw
This whole food blogging business – editing photos, making videos, and writing about all this deliciousness that is schnitzel – really can be painful. As in – torture. It’s Monday and I swore I was going to be good this week (yeah, yeah, I know you’ve heard it before). I have Healthy Spanish Veggie Soup waiting to be reheated.
Now all I can think about is schnitzel. 😩
Freshly made, golden brown, extra crunchy, super juicy inside. This is a must!!! – Nagi x
More crunchy crumbed chicken
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Crispy Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast – LOW CARB marvel!
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Oven Fried “KFC” Chicken Tenders (11 secret herbs & spices!)
And more things worth deep frying
There’s not many! I’m very selective about what I deep fry – I have to really love it!!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Schnitzel recipe video! This is made with pork. I only cooked 1 in the skillet because I used a smallish skillet for safety reasons (I use a gas stove for videos, skillet is quite high off the work surface).
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Schnitzel!
Ingredients
Choose ONE of these:
- 600g / 1.2 lb boneless pork (4 steaks / boneless chops, about 150 g/5 oz each)
- 600g / 1.2 lb large chicken breasts (2 pieces,300g / 10 oz each)
- 600g / 1.2 lb veal or beef steaks (4 pieces, 150g / 5 oz each)
- 600g / 1.2 lb turkey breast cutlets (4 pre sliced pieces, 150g / 5 oz each)
Schnitzel:
- Salt and pepper
- 3/4 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs (Note 1)
- Oil for frying (canola, vegetable)
Instructions
- Chicken breast prep: cut in half horizontally to create two steaks.
- Place the protein of choice on a work surface and cover with a sheet of baking paper or cling wrap. Use a rolling pin to pound to even thickness about 0.8 cm / 1/3" thick (don't pound too thin, hard to handle / might tear).
- Sprinkle both sides of meat with salt and pepper.
- Place flour in one dish, panko in another (or use a large tray for both like I did, see photos), and whisk eggs in a bowl.
- Coat meat in flour, shake off excess. Dip into egg, shake off excess. Press into breadcrumbs, and turn, pressing to adhere, then transfer to plate. Repeat.
- Heat 1.5cm / 3/5" oil in a heavy based deep skillet over medium high heat.
- Dip the end of a schnitzel in to check if the oil is hot enough - it should sizzle straight away (see video).
- Carefully place 2 schnitzels in the oil and cook for 3 minutes until deep golden, turn then cook the other side for 3 minutes.
- Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain excess oil. Repeat with remaining schnitzel.
- Serve with lemon wedges - I usually serve schnitzel plain like this. Or see note for Mushroom Gravy recipe. Also see note for potato rosti, pictured in post.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published August 2017. Updated for housekeeping matters March 2019, no change to recipe.
LIFE OF DOZER
Do this with a ball, and he just sits there and watches as it bounces away.
“Schnitzel cut” meat, also called “scallopini” in Canada, is a tough piece of meat that is cut thin and pounded with a mallet to make it edible. Tried eating it just pan-fried in my student bed-sit. Inedible! Using high quality, milk-fed veal is our favourite. It’s expensive per kilo, but deliciously affordable at one Schnitzel per person.
Please stop raping the Schnitzel with gravy. In Austria you will get the death penalty if you serve Schnitzel with gravy.
Well Tobias, we aren’t in Austria. We are in our country which is called Australia. Here we have freedom to chose to eat whatever we want WITH whatever we want without any threat of being shot!!
In Austria we do not put gravy on a Schnitzel. We think this is rather weird. But AS you wrote Schnitzel and gravy is done in Germany. We eat Schnitzel with lingonberry jam and potato salad or french fries. But very good recipes. 😋
Greetings from Innsbruck/Austria
Amazing! Even the ones I accidentally burnt still tasted good lol Schnitzel has always been my fave pub meal but I live in a city now where it’s almost impossible to get a simple schnitzel and gravy at a pub so I very much appreciated this recipe. I made with the mushroom gravy which was also really good. I did half with mushrooms for my boyfriend and half without for me cos I hate mushrooms so I can’t
Fully vouch for the mushroom side of the recipe but my bf loves it.
My Danish MIL would serve with a filet of anchovy on top with a wedge of lemon. Delicious
Hey Nagi, try sprinkling vegeta on the schnitzel instead of salt (or put it in the egg mixture) for GREAT flavour!
Yes you can definitely do that if you prefer!! N x
Will definitely have better flavour with vegeta – it contains MSG so will highlight the ‘meatiness’ nicely
I like your idea of using a sheet pan instead of two bowls to dredge the meat in. Thanks for that tip.
Hey Nagi, I’m cooking this tonight but I have a large family so will have to cook in batches. Just wondering the best way to keep them warm in the oven without the crumbs going soft or falling off? Cheers!
Hi Possum (!!!) – The best thing to do is hold them in the oven. Preheat your oven to 75C, put done schnitzels on a rack over a tray so the air can circulate underneath. – Nxx
This worked perfectly! Thanks so much! 😊