Schnitzel (Kinda)

There are so many things to do with chicken cutlets! Some of them are healthier than others, some of them taste better than others, and some of them are easier to prepare than others. This one falls into the categories of easy, delicious, and kinda unhealthy.

It’s a recipe for fried chicken. It’s not deep fried, though, so it could be worse. And there’s no skin involved, it’s only the white meat part. So how bad can it be for you?

Pan frying the cutlets and then finishing the cooking in the oven gives them a crisp outer layer and a tender inner layer. And these are fun to make, because you can spice them up however you want with the dipping sauce. We hate ketchup (we’ll wait a minute for that to sink in), but you can use this classic dip if you choose to, we won’t judge, or hummus, or anything else you see fit.

Ingredients:

  • Bonesless, skinless chicken pieces
  • Flour
  • Egg
  • Seasoned breadcrumbs
  • Canola oil

Directions:

  1. Set up chicken-dipping stations. One for flour, one for egg, and one for breadcrumbs. Dip each piece of chicken (in that order), coating thoroughly, and set aside.
  2. Heat a thin layer of oil in a pan. Wait until it’s really really hot and place the chicken into the oil, cooking for about 2 minutes on each side. Only fry one or two pieces at a time so the oil doesn’t cool down too much.
  3. When you’ve finished frying the chicken, spread the pieces on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes so the chicken can cook through.
  4. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice, serve with hot sauce, or dip in hummus.

These don’t reheat too well, so I don’t recommend saving your leftovers and microwaving them the next day. They may turn into rubber. Or, if not rubber, a consistency that is so close to that of rubber that we were fooled into thinking that our kitchen was performing magic tricks.