Did you know that schnitzel is just a variation on Italian milanese, Japan’s tonkatsu or America’s own chicken fried steak? Yep! It is simply a thin sliced piece of pork, pounded, breaded and pan fried and it is absolutely delicious! It is commonly served with potatoes, such as french fries, boiled potatoes or potato salad and rotkohl, which is a German sweet and sour red cabbage dish that compliments schnitzel really well.
Schnitzel takes only a few minutes to put together and cooks pretty quickly due to how thin the pork is. It is the national dish of Austria and is so popular in Europe that September 9th is National Schnitzel Day!
Let’s get this schnitzel started…
Start by pounding your pork down to about a 1/4 inch thickness with a meat tenderizer.
Gather 3 shallow bowls and add 1/2 cup of all purpose flour into one of them and season with salt and pepper. Whisk a large egg with 1 tablespoon of milk and some salt and black pepper in a second bowl. In the third bowl, add 3/4 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs.
To get that beautiful brown schnitzel coating, working with one piece at a time, dip your pork into the seasoned flour until it is lightly coated. Then dip the flour coated pork into the eggs and allow any excess to fall off back into the bowl.
The last step is to dip your flour and egg coated pork into the breadcrumbs until the entire surface is well coated.
Add 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of oil (I use olive oil, but you can use canola or vegetable oil as well) into a large skillet and place it over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, place your coated piece of pork into the pan. Make sure that there is a bit of space in between them. If they are too close together, the sides won’t get crispy, so spread them out a little. Let them cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes or until the bottom is golden and crispy and then carefully flip them over and cook the other side in the same way.
Once both sides are golden brown, transfer the schnitzel onto a paper towel lined plate for a minute or so before serving. This will help to soak up any excess fat from the coating and keep them nice and crisp.
You’re done! See how quick and easy that was? I recommend serving your schnitzel with some creamy potato salad and plenty of sweet and sour rotkohl. This meal is hearty, filling and uncomplicated, but will impress anyone coming to dinner. I recommend serving this with a few lemon wedges, because there is just something special about a golden brown crispy breading with a good squeeze of lemon over it…
Genießen everyone!
Schnitzel
Ingredients
- 4 thinly sliced pork cutlets or boneless chops
- 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon of milk
- 3/4 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs
- salt and black pepper
- 3 tablespoons of butter
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- lemon wedges
Instructions
- Pound the pork to about 1/4 inch thickness, using a meat tenderizer
- Add 1/2 cup of flour to a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper
- Whisk 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of milk in a second shallow bowl, season with salt and black pepper and whisk until smooth
- Add 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs into a third shallow bowl
- Dip each piece of pork into the flour until the surface is lightly coated
- Then dip each flour coated piece of pork into the eggs and allow any excess to return to the bowl
- Dip the flour and egg coated pork into the breadcrumbs ensuring that all sides are coated with breadcrumbs
- Add 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of oil into a large skillet
- Place the skillet over medium heat
- Once the butter and oil have melted and combined, add the coated pork leaving some space in between each piece
- Allow the first side to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom is golden and cripsy
- Carefully flip each piece over and cook until both sides and golden and crispy
- Transfer the cooked schnitzel onto a paper towel lined plate for a minute or so before plating
