Shnitzel is basically breaded fried chicken breast. Who doesn’t love that?! I’m sure you will agree with me when I say EVERYTHING you fry tastes amazing so right off the bat you know this is gonna be good. Shnitzel derives from Europe– when my husband and I visited Romania he ate a huge thin piece of fried chicken shnitzel. It was the size of our heads. I like making my shnitzel very thin so they are crispy when fried. They can be all different shapes and sizes but they are always thin. I usually buy a huge family pack of chicken breast cutlets, bring them home, cut them into thin shnitzel strips, and then portion them out into Ziploc bags and freeze them. This way I just have to defrost and make them quickly. Some people use a meat tenderizer tool to thin out the meat. I never really use this because I usually cut the meat thin enough into small pieces. But if you want a really big, thin piece of shnitzel (like we ate in Romania) then use a meat tenderizer.

I love using corn flake bread crumbs for my shnitzel. They come out really crispy. Sometimes I even add some sesame to the bread crumbs to bring a nutty taste. You can also use gluten-free Panko crumbs which are also really crispy! I use gluten free Panko crumbs during Passover.

Chicken Shnitzel:

Thin cut chicken breast cutlets-you can cut and shape them however you would like.

Bread crumbs (I like corn flakes or Panko bread crumbs)

1 large egg, beaten

Vegetable or canola oil

Salt and pepper

You will notice that I don’t have portions for the chicken and bread crumbs because it really depends on how much chicken you want to make. You can definitely add more as you go along.

Beat a large egg into a bowl, add pinch of salt and pepper, add the cut chicken breasts to the egg mix and coat all pieces.  Separately, take a flat plate and pour a big heap of bread crumbs on it. One by one, take each chicken strip that is coated with egg and place it into the bread crumbs. Press down the chicken into the bread crumbs on both sides until fully coated. Set aside the assembles chicken on the same plate or place them on parchment paper so the bread crumbs won’t fall off easily when you pick them up again to cook. Once you are done coating all the chicken, heat up vegetable or canola oil and some salt in a big frying pan. At all times, make sure you have enough oil in the pot to cover half of the chicken when you place it in the pan (see image).

Once oil is hot, lower heat to medium/low and place pieces of chicken on one side in the frying pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then flip each chicken for another 2-3 minutes until crispy and brown. Place paper towel on plate and place fried chicken onto the paper towel so it can soak up some of the oil. Repeat until all is cooked.

Enjoy and please share any comments or questions you may have. I would love to see how yours turns out! Make sure to tag me @lizskosherkitchen if you share it on social media so I can see your masterpiece!

**Tips:

-You can make ahead of time. Wait until the cooked shnitzel cools, place in Ziploc bag, and freeze. Simply reheat by placing on baking sheet in 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes. It might not be as crispy and juicy as the fresh fried version but it will still be great!

-I make a quick mustard and honey sauce to dip the shnitzel in. Just mix one part mustard and one part honey. It’s super yummy!