Chicken Schnitzel with Baby Spinach Salad
Schnitzel! Mmmm… Veal, Pork, Turkey or Chicken, it does not matter. They are all good. My husbands favorite though is the Wiener Schnitzel (veal). Every time we travel to Germany that is pretty much all he eats. But for today we are making the chicken schnitzel which is my go to when my butcher at the grocery store is not selling any veal at the time.
Usually I make creamy mashed potatoes with the chicken schnitzel, but I had some leftover baby spinach and decided on an easy, simple side salad. The schnitzel is a bit hearty already with its butter fried crust, so a little side salad is a perfect balance. Also, the ingredients listed are the same if you decide on a veal, pork or turkey.
But please note, that I mixed some butter AND goose fat for the frying. I make a traditional Christmas goose every year and my German grandmother once said to me to save the drippings to use for upcoming meals. I know, not everyone has leftover goose fat, but if you do I recommend using some for frying just to keep the schnitzel moist and give it a unique flavor.
Goose fat makes everything taste better!
I am also using Asian panko breadcrumbs instead of regular breadcrumbs for the crust. In my experience, panko sticks better after you dredged it through the flour and egg, which also makes the schnitzel crunchy. But please feel free to use regular bread crumbs if you like. Let’s get started!
Total time: 50 minutes; Serves 4
Ingredients:
Schnitzel
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 2-3 cups of panko (substitute with bread crumbs)
- 1 tbsp. goose fat
- 3 tbsp. unsalted butter (or 4 tbsp. butter if goose fat is not used)
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 tbsp. parsley, chopped
- 2 pinches of smoked paprika
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs (substitute with regular bread crumbs)
- 1 cup flour
- salt & pepper
Salad & Dressing
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 4 radishes, sliced thinly
- 1/4 white onion, sliced thinly
- 1 tbsp. feta cheese, crumpled
- 1 tbsp. garlic olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- pepper
Let’s get started with the chicken breast. In order to get two schnitzel out of one breast, we will slice the breast in half. Make sure you lay the breast flat on the cutting board and with a sharp knife slice the breast horizontally. Place one sliced chicken breast into a freezer storage bag, grab a meat mallet and start pounding the breast. We do not want to pound the chicken breast to a mushy mess, so let’s focus on about 1/4″ thickness. Remove the breast from the bag and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining half’s of chicken breast. Salt and pepper all breasts and place in refrigerator.
Moving on to prep the breading and eggs. Add the flour on a plate, another plate for the panko and a whisk the eggs in a deep soup bowl (see picture). For flavor to the eggs, I added chopped parsley, a couple of pinches of smoked paprika, pinch of salt and pepper. Go ahead and add them all to the eggs and whisk a little more.
Next up is heating the pan. (I am using a deep, large Anolon skillet to prevent the chicken schnitzel from sticking to the pan). Add the butter and goose fat (or only butter) and heat over medium to high heat. Add two chicken schnitzel to the pan and cook for about 4 minutes until you see a nice, golden brown. Turn and cook the other side for the same amount of time. When I am cooking chicken schnitzel, I usually cut a little opening in the middle of the schnitzel before removing it from the pan to make sure the chicken is cooked through. You don’t wanna serve uncooked chicken! Remove the schnitzel to a plate and cover with foil. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
While you are cooking the schnitzel you can quickly assemble the salad. Add the baby spinach, radishes and onion in mixing bowl. Mix with your hands. Add the garlic olive oil and balsamic vinegar, mix lightly. Place a chicken schnitzel on a plate with a handful of baby spinach salad and sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese and a crack of black pepper. And there you have it! Enjoy!
The best 👍
Thank you!