Easy German Schnitzel Recipe {From a German!} - Plated Cravings (2024)

FAQs

What is the best oil for pan frying schnitzel? ›

I use quality extra virgin olive oil, which has a high enough smoke point to fry the schnitzel. You can use another healthy frying oil of your choice.

The dish's name actually comes from the German word schnitt, which translates to "cut." The most popular type of meat for schnitzel is veal (wiener-schnitzel) or pork (schweine-schnitzel), but you also see varieties made with chicken (hänchen-schnitzel), or turkey (puten-schnitzel).

The best way to cook chicken schnitzel is to fry it. I like to use a combination of oil and butter for the best flavor/crispiness combination. When cooking chicken schnitzel, you need to heat the oil and butter in a frying pan until it is bubbling hot, then add the schnitzel. It should sizzle as it hits the pan.

Fortunately for schnitzel, pan-frying is a faster, cleaner way to fry and requires less oil than traditional deep-frying. Use a deep, straight-sided skillet or cast iron pan to fry, which will keep splatter to a minimum.

Place the chicken on a wire rack (this produces the best results, helping the schnitzel stay crispy all over, but if you don't have one, you can use a regular baking tray). Spray with olive oil and cook for 12-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve with wedges and kale slaw or your favourite salad.

If your food starts to stick, your pan probably wasn't hot enough or you didn't add enough fat. So first, try to turn up your heat a bit and add a splash of fat to see if it releases off naturally before you force it.

Lightly coat each piece with all purpose flour. Dip each piece in the egg wash and then coat each piece with the herbed bread crumbs. Heat a pan to medium heat and sauté the chicken in olive oil for 2 – 3 minutes per side.

The schnitzel tradition was brought from Europe to Israel by Ashkenazi Jews. During the early years of the state of Israel, veal was not obtainable, and chicken or turkey proved to be inexpensive and tasty substitutes. Packaged schnitzels are widely available in the frozen food section of most supermarkets.

schnitzel, a thin meat cutlet, pounded until tender and then breaded and fried, that is a culinary staple in German-speaking countries and communities. The Americanized version of the dish is chicken-fried steak.

Clark reckons the secret to great schnitzel is to "trap air in the crust when you cook the meat by moving and shaking the pan".

Why put schnitzel in fridge before frying? ›

Place into the fridge, uncovered, for one hour before cooking. This step dries the breading and ensures it will stick perfectly to the meat during the frying process. As long as you fry in hot oil, it will come out perfectly crispy with all of its breading intact!

However, you'll still need to grease the pan with a little olive oil — it'll add flavor and keep the chicken from sticking. Chicken breasts are cut in half lengthwise and flattened with a meat mallet until they're about ¼-inch thick.

Just as important as the first patting down of the chicken's surface, the final pat down of your meat after covering it with breading helps every piece of crunchy coating adhere. After coating chicken in an egg and breading layer, gently pat all sides.

Popping the crumbed food in the fridge for 15 minutes before frying will also help the crumbs to stick to the meat. Make sure that your oil is hot enough before you add the crumbed meat to the pan.

Basically, all schnitzels are breaded and fried thin pieces of meat, but only wiener schnitzel is made with veal. Cooking term: Schnitzel is a cooking term used to describe any meat pounded thin, then breaded and fried. Key ingredient: Schnitzel is made with pork, chicken, beef, or veal.

The absolutely best way to perfect schnitzel is to shallow-fry them in neutral-tasting cooking oil (Vegetable, Canola, Peanut, Sunflower). So you don't need to use a lot of oil, but you want to use enough oil so that the schnitzel will “float” in the oil as it cooks and not touch the bottom of the pan.

Use a high-heat point oil.

I typically prefer to use olive oil over canola oil because it's healthier (see this article), but I hardly ever use it and it's fine in moderation! Plus it's worth it for me for this one because it really helps give this schnitzel that perfect crispy crunchy outer coating!

Heat Vegetable oil, for shallow-frying in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, in batches, for 4 to 5 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. Serve.

Lard is ideal, as is clarified butter, duck or goose fat. Wiener schnitzel is such a simple recipe that you really ought to use a flavorful fat or you will wonder what all the fuss is about. That said, if you are violently opposed to using animal fats, go ahead and use sunflower or safflower oil.