Authentic Pork Schnitzel
This pork schnitzel recipe is super easy to make and is how schnitzel is traditionally served in Germany. And it's THE BEST German Schnitzel I've ever had!I grew up in Germany and ate SO MANY Schnitzels there. Now that I live in the United States, the Schnitzels I can find at German restaurants in America typically fall short. Even German restaurants in Germany often disappoint because maybe the breading is not perfectly crisp and bubbly or the meat is not pounded thin enough.By the way, in Vienna, Schnitzel is traditionally made from veal and called a Wiener Schnitzel. You could easily switch out the pork in this recipe for veal or even chicken.Pour some Jägerschnitzel sauce over the top for my favorite Schnitzel experience EVER.This crispy favorite recipe made it into my international-bestselling German cookbook.
Servings: 2 people
Calories: 208kcal
Equipment
- Meat Mallet For pounding your schnitzel to the perfect thinness. Make sure you're using the flat side of the mallet.
- Large Frying Pan For frying your schnitzel
- Tongs For breading without a mess
- Iinstant-read thermometer For testing the frying temperature. Or use a toothpick (if bubbles form around it, the oil-butter mixture is ready to go).
- Freezer Bag For pounding the meat
Ingredients
Schnitzel
- 2 boneless pork chops
- 60 grams all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs whisked and seasoned with salt and pepper
- 60 grams breadcrumbs I use unseasoned breadcrumbs
- salt and pepper
- 30 milliliters frying oil I use avocado oil
- 30 grams butter I use half butter and half oil when frying the Schnitzel to get that butter flavor without burning the Schnitzel
- 1 lemon fresh lemon wedges or slices for garnish
- 1 handful parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Trim any fatty pieces off your pork chops. Depending on thickness of your pork chop, you may butterfly or cut in half lengthwise to start with. Your final pieces of pork should be about ½ inch to ¼ inch thick (1 cm to ½ cm).2 boneless pork chops
- Place the pork, one piece at a time, in a gallon size freezer bag. Using a meat mallet, pound it with the flat side until very thin (between ¼ inch to ⅛ of an inch or ½ cm to ¼ cm). I like mine extra thin.I like using the gallon freezer bag because it's thicker and less likely to tear, plus it seems to go quicker if you're pounding a lot of pork for entertaining. If you don't have a plastic bag, you can use a bottom and top piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap.Season pork on both sides with salt and pepper.salt and pepper
- Cover a large frying pan in a ½ inch layer of frying oil and butter (I use half and half) and heat to medium high heat. If using a thermometer, you want your temperature to reach 330℉ or 165℃).30 milliliters frying oil, 30 grams butter
- In the meantime, cover your thinned out pork in flour and shake off any excess flour. I like using a pair of kitchen tongs for this process, making it a lot less messy.60 grams all-purpose flour
- Then cover in egg and let drip off any excess egg.2 eggs
- Lastly, cover in breadcrumbs.60 grams breadcrumbs
- Add meat to your frying pan and cook on both sides until a deep golden color.Dry off on paper towels and immediately serve garnished with fresh lemon wedges and fresh parsley. You can also keep your Schnitzel warm in the oven at 150℉ (65℃) until ready to serve.1 lemon, 1 handful parsley
- Serve with fries, Bratkartoffeln (German pan-fried potatoes) or Spätzle (German egg noodles) and a green salad or cucumber salad. Guten Appetit!
Notes
Make Wiener Schnitzel instead. You could use veal for a traditional Wiener schnitzel, but I prefer making mine with pork (making this a Schnitzel Wiener Art). Especially after getting a crooked look from a Whole Food employee the last time I requested veal meat and they told me they don't sell it because it's baby cow. Way to make me feel yucky about it.
Here some more Schnitzel recipes you should try!
- Add this creamy mushroom sauce over the top to make a Jägerschnitzel. It's so good and my favorite way to eat schnitzel!
- Zigeunerschnitzel means gypsy schnitzel in German and is an unbreaded Schnitzel in a bell pepper sauce. It's so good!
- Last but not least, Chicken Schnitzel Hawaii is my supper cheesy invention with ham and cheese, and believe me, it's amazing!
- You can prep the pork by breading it ahead of time and then refrigerating them until ready to fry.
- Keep fried schnitzel warm in the oven at 150 degrees Fahrenheit (or 65 degrees Celsius). Also put your dinner plates in the oven as the thin schnitzels will cool down quickly.
Nutrition
Calories: 208kcal | Protein: 29g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 64mg | Potassium: 500mg | Vitamin A: 5IU | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg