Comments: For someone (Read: children) with a limited palette, this is a reasonable stretch outside their comfort zone. Tell them it’s a big chicken McNugget. The first time we served this to our teenaged twins we were shocked to see them go back for seconds. They loved it. Plus, the word “Schnitzel” is just fun to say.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 cups plain dried breadcrumbs
- 6 to 8 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
- Lemon wedges
Directions
- Spread flour in shallow dish. Beat eggs and 1 tablespoon oil and second shallow dish. Place breadcrumbs in third shallow dish. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet. Line 2nd rimmed baking sheet with double layer of paper towels. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200°.
- Halve chicken breasts horizontally to form eight cutlets of even thickness. Place one cutlet between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound to 1/4 inch thickness. Repeat with remaining cutlets.
- Sprinkle each cutlet on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Working with one cutlet at a time, dredge thoroughly in flour, shaking off excess, then coat with egg mixture, allowing access to drip back into dish to ensure very thin coating. Coat evenly with breadcrumbs, pressing on crumbs to adhere. Place cutlets on prepared wire rack, taking care not to overlap. Let coating dry for five minutes.
- Add 2 cups oil to large Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat to 350°. Lay two or three cutlets (depending on size) in oil, without overlapping them, and cook, shaking pot continuously and gently, until cutlets are wrinkled and light golden brown on both sides, roughly 2 to 2 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer cutlets to paper towel-line sheet, flip to blot excess oil, and transfer sheet to oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining cutlets. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
