These easy homemade Crispy Chicken Schnitzels are golden, crunchy and guaranteed to be a family favourite. Made with simple pantry staples and fried until perfectly crisp, they’re delicious served with chips, salad or your favourite dipping sauce for an easy weeknight dinner.
Homemade Chicken Schnitzels are one of those recipes that completely ruin the store-bought version for you. Once you’ve made them at home and tasted that golden, crispy coating wrapped around juicy, tender chicken, there’s really no going back. In fact, if you try to sneak a packet of ready-made schnitzels into the trolley one day, don’t be surprised if your family declares mutiny!
The good news is that homemade schnitzels are far easier to make than you might think.
I used to follow the whole flour, egg and breadcrumbs routine, which worked beautifully but felt like a lot of bowls and a lot of effort! These days, I marinate the chicken in buttermilk first. Not only does the buttermilk help tenderise the chicken, but it also acts as the perfect glue for the breadcrumbs. I simply add all the seasoning straight to the crumbs, which means you can skip a step and get straight to coating and cooking.
Now, a quick word about the crumb. Traditional schnitzels are usually made with a fine breadcrumb coating. However, I love using Panko breadcrumbs for extra crunch. They’re a little chunkier and give the schnitzels that wonderfully crispy, craggy texture. Traditional or Panko — both work beautifully, so use whatever you have on hand.
Homemade Crispy Chicken Schnitzels
Prep Time: 35 mins- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8 Schnitzels 1x
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This is one of those dinners that everyone gets excited about. The chicken is tender, the crumb is crispy and golden, and if you’re feeling fancy, you can serve it with a quick lemon butter sauce or cheese sauce.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 large chicken breasts
- 1 cup buttermilk
Crumb Coating
- 3 cups panko (or fine) breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For Frying
- Canola or sunflower oil
Lemon Butter Sauce (Optional )
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken: Slice each chicken breast horizontally across the middle to create two thinner pieces.
- Pound the chicken: Place the chicken between two sheets of baking paper and gently pound until evenly thin.
- Marinate: Place the chicken in a bowl with the buttermilk and leave to marinate for about 30 minutes.
- Prepare coating: In a medium sized bowl, add the breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper and mix to combine.
- Crumb the chicken: Remove the chicken from the buttermilk, allow any excess to drip off, then dip into the seasoned breadcrumbs. Press the crumbs firmly into the chicken.
- Fry Heat about ½ cm of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the schnitzels in batches for 2–3 minutes per side, or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Drain and serve Drain on paper towel and serve immediately.
Lemon Butter Sauce
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan, stir in the lemon juice and spoon over the schnitzels just before serving.
Notes
- Traditionally, schnitzels are made with a very fine crumb, which gives the coating a beautifully even crunch however I LOVE using the panko crumbs too. Either works well!
- These freeze well either before or after cooking.
- To reheat, place in the oven at 180° C for 8-10 minutes.
- Delicious served with chips, mashed potato, salad or vegetables.
- You can also serve them with a simple cheese sauce instead of the lemon butter sauce.
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