An excellent follow-up to your first-course pasta, or even as a standalone main, chicken cutlets are a classic Italian poultry dish. These fried chicken cutlets are coated with bread crumbs, parsley, and parmigiano reggiano to become delicious, golden, and finished to crispy perfection.
Italians love their pasta – there is no debate about that! But what may come as a surprise to a few people is that Italians really love chicken cutlets, and they are a staple for many lunches and family dinners.
Not to be confused with the Italian-American classic “chicken parmigiana”, Italian chicken cutlets, or “cotoletta” are prepared using eggs, flour, parsley, Parmigiano Reggiano, a good frying oil, and salt and pepper. In fact, Italian chicken cutlets are more like a bavarian chicken schnitzel!
And that’s it, that’s all! While there is no tomato sauce or mozzarella added, the simplicity of this dish gives you a light, crunchy, and flavourful breaded chicken breast. It can be served after pasta, or as a simple main dish with some beautifully roasted potatoes, seasoned vegetables, or a refreshing salad!
If for some strange reason you have leftover chicken cutlets (once you try them, I don’t think you’ll have any remaining!), they make for a great panino for next day’s lunch! Simple, but delicious, these Italian chicken cutlets will be sure to delight.
Ingredients
- boneless skinless chicken breasts
- all-purpose flour
- eggs
- milk
- breadcrumbs
- parmigiano reggiano
- parsley
- frying oil
- salt and pepper
How to make – step by step
Cut chicken breasts in half horizontally and between saran wrap or in a ziploc bag, pound to approximately 1/4″ thickness with the smooth side of a meat tenderizer (Photos 1 and 2).
In a separate dish combine bread crumbs, parmigiano reggiano and parsley (Photo 3).
In a shallow dish or bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper together (Photo 4). Add flour to a separate dish.
Add the oil to a shallow pan and heat it up over medium heat. How much oil you use will depend on how big your pan is. Aim for the oil to be about 1/2-1″ deep.
Dredge the cutlets in flour on each side. Shake off any excess (photo 5). Transfer chicken to the eggs, turning to coat (photo 6).
Move chicken to the bread crumb mixture and coat (photo 7)
Add chicken to the pan, working in batches, and fry each cutlet 3-4 minutes per side (Photos 8-9). Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil.
If desired, top with finishing salt and fresh lemon juice (Photo 10). Serve and enjoy!
FAQs
A chicken cutlet is a thin piece of chicken breast that is flattened. It can be prepared in many ways.
How do you get the breading to stick to the chicken?
When breading chicken, it is best to dredge the chicken breast in flour first, then dip in an egg mixture, before dipping in the breadcrumbs. The flour helps to coat the chicken breast, and the egg mixture helps to keep the breadcrumbs stick to the chicken breast by acting as a binding agent.
Is it better to bake or fry chicken cutlets?
Some people feel that frying chicken cutlets taste better, while others will bake their cutlets because they feel it is a healthier way to prepare them. Either way can be good, but if a choice had to be made, frying the cutlets wins because you just can’t replicate that crispy, crunchy coating any other way. Ultimately, in the end, it’s a matter of preference!
What is the best oil for frying?
You will want an oil that is more neutral in taste, and one that has a high smoke point. Popular options include canola oil, vegetable oil, or peanut oil. You may want to try a few to see which one you like best.
What is the difference between a chicken breast and a chicken cutlet?
A chicken breast is the whole breast itself, while a chicken cutlet is a “cut” of the chicken breast. To make chicken cutlets, you’ll want to cut a chicken breast in half, in a horizontal direction to make thinner slices.
How do you make thin chicken cutlets?
To make thin cutlets, it is best to use a meat tenderizer to flatten the slice – make sure to flatten uniformly. If you don’t have a tenderizer on hand, try using a bottle of wine.
Top tips
- For milk, I used 1% cow’s milk but you can use any milk you’d like – 2%, whole, etc. Even a nut milk will work.
- The amount of oil you use will depend on the size of your pan. I used 2 cups of oil. The amount of oil should be about 1/2-1″ deep
More Italian meat recipes
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Italian Chicken Cutlets
An excellent follow-up to your first-course pasta, or even as a standalone main, chicken cutlets are a classic Italian poultry dish. These fried chicken cutlets are coated with bread crumbs, parsley, and parmigiano reggiano to become delicious, golden, and finished to crispy perfection.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
- 2 tsp parsley finely chopped
- 2 cups oil for frying peanut, canola or sunflower oil (see notes)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Cut chicken breasts in half horizontally and between saran wrap or in a ziploc bag, pound to approximately 1/4" thickness with the smooth side of a meat tenderizer.
-
In a shallow dish or bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper together. In a separate dish combine bread crumbs, parmigiano reggiano and parsley. Add flour to a separate dish.
-
Add the oil to a shallow pan and heat it up over medium heat. How much oil you use will depend on how big your pan is. Aim for the oil to be about 1/2-1" deep.
-
Dredge the cutlets in flour on each side. Shake off any excess. Transfer chicken to the eggs, turning to coat. Move chicken to the bread crumb mixture and coat.
-
Add chicken to the pan, working in batches, and fry each cutlet 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil.
-
If desired, top with finishing salt and fresh lemon juice. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- For milk I used 1% cow’s milk but you can use any milk you’d like – 2%, whole, etc. Even a nut milk will work.
- The amount of oil you use will depend on the size of your pan. I used 2 cups of oil. The amount of oil should be about 1/2-1″ deep.
- I use plain breadcrumbs because I like to season my own breadcrumbs, but you can also use Italian breadcrumbs which are already seasoned, if you’d like.
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