Got some chicken breasts waiting to be put to use? Want to create a delicious and family friendly dish using them? You've got to give these Italian chicken cutlets a try!
Boneless chicken breasts are transformed into thin cutlets, coated in bread crumbs, Parmesan and seasonings and fried to perfection in this Italian chicken cutlet recipe.
These chicken cutlets are a classic, no-fuss recipe that everyone will end up loving and relishing. The recipe is super easy to follow, and you'll need just a few pantry staples to put it together.
I absolutely love the simplicity of Italian food. It's simply amazing at how using just a handful of ingredients, you can put together a dish that's so irresistibly flavorful.
Take my Italian roasted sweet peppers for example- they're ultra savory and wickedly delicious, yet so easy and effortless to make.
Jump to:
- What's So Great About the Recipe?
- Ingredients For the Italian Chicken Cutlets Recipe
- How to Make the Italian Chicken Cutlets
- Substitutions & Variations
- 💭Top Tip
- Equipment
- How to Store the Leftover Italian Chicken Cutlets
- Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- How to Serve the Italian Chicken Cutlets
- FAQs
- Related Recipes
- Italian Chicken Cutlets
What's So Great About the Recipe?
Whether it is a busy weeknight dinner or a get-together with friends, these Italian chicken cutlets are sure to be a total winner- that's how versatile they really are, and that's actually what won me over.
I also love how I can prep for this recipe in advance, and put it together quickly when I'm in a rush.
Thanks to its subtle flavors, I love this recipe and so does everyone in my family!
Ingredients For the Italian Chicken Cutlets Recipe
Chicken breast: I have used skinless chicken breasts to make these cutlets, but you can choose to keep the skin on if you want to.
All purpose flour: All purpose flour, combined with the breadcrumbs helps make the chicken cutlets crispy.
Eggs: I've used regular eggs to prepare the egg mixture used to coat the chicken cutlets.
Garlic powder: A dash of garlic powder can work like magic and lift the flavors of these chicken cutlets to the next level. You can also choose to use fresh minced garlic if you have that at hand.
Italian seasoning: Italian seasoning lends these tasty chicken cutlets that Italian flavor, which is subtle and savory at the same time. If you don't have Italian seasoning, you can quickly put together my garlic bread seasoning, which has the same flavor.
Breadcrumbs: I've used regular breadcrumbs to coat the chicken breasts, but you can also use Panko breadcrumbs if that's what you have at hand.
Parmesan cheese: Parmesan cheese adds that nice bit of saltiness and cheesiness to these breaded chicken cutlets.
Oil: You can use almost any oil to fry the chicken cutlets, but I like to use olive oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Since you're using hot oil to fry these cutlets, I wouldn't recommend extra virgin olive oil.
Salt and pepper: I've kept the seasoning simple for this recipe, but you can also choose to use red pepper flakes or any other seasonings if you want to.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make the Italian Chicken Cutlets
Slice chicken breasts horizontally and place them between your cutting board and a sheet of cling wrap.
Pound the chicken until it is approximately ¼'' thick using a meat mallet.
In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs with the salt, pepper and garlic powder.
In another bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with Parmesan, flour, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
Place one chicken breast into the egg mixture and coat on both sides. Now dip the chicken into the breading and make sure it is sticks to the chicken.
Heat oil in a large pan on medium heat and place the chicken cutlets in, leaving a bit of space between each of them.
Let the cutlets cook for 8-10 minutes, making sure you flip the chicken midway through the cooking time.
Remove the cutlets from the pan and allow them to rest for a while before you serve them!
Substitutions & Variations
- If you don't have Parmesan at hand, but still want the dish to have that bit of cheesiness, you can use Pecorino Romano or grated Cheddar cheese.
- To add some more fresh flavor and a pop of color to the chicken cutlets, you can throw some chopped flat leaf parsley into the bread crumb mixture.
- You can also squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto the sliced chicken to make the crispy chicken cutlets more flavorful and zingy.
- Italian breadcrumbs can also be a great alternative to regular breadcrumbs for this recipe- you can also skip adding the Italian seasoning if you're using them.
💭Top Tip
To check the doneness of the cutlets, use a meat thermometer. The key to getting the perfect juiciness on the inside is to keep the cutlets from getting overcooked.
Equipment
- Non Stick Frying Pan
- Stainless Steel Frying Pan
- Cast Iron Skillet
- Mixing Bowls
- Chopping Board
- Serving Spoons
How to Store the Leftover Italian Chicken Cutlets
Your leftover chicken cutlets can be stored for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. I like to use an airtight food safe container to store my leftovers, because it keeps the food from catching any other smells. If you want to, you can use any regular container too.
The chicken cutlets can then be reheated in the microwave or in a pan on low heat with just a teeny drizzle of cooking oil.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- Getting the perfect thin chicken cutlets is crucial to this recipe, and a great way to do that is to ensure that the chicken has roughly the same thickness all throughout, after you've pounded it. Doing this will ensure that the chicken is cooked thoroughly from all the sides.
- Remember not to overcrowd the pan while frying the cutlets. Adding too many of the cutlets at the same time will cause them to steam, and they won't have that crispy and crunchy texture that you're looking for.
- I would recommend using a skillet or a large pan to fry chicken cutlets. This ensures even distribution of heat, and gets the cutlets to be cooked to perfection.
- Remember to let the cutlets rest for a while before you serve them. I usually cool the chicken cutlets on a wire rack for a couple minutes before I serve them. This helps the cutlets retain their juiciness on the inside, and become more nice and crispy on the outside.
- You can also choose to prep the chicken recipe in advance. Simply season the raw chicken with your choice of spices and seasonings and refrigerate it for an hour or two, or even freeze it for up to a month.
- To make Italian chicken cutlets a bit more spicy, you can add some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper while you season the chicken.
How to Serve the Italian Chicken Cutlets
Whenever I'm making these cutlets as a part of a quick dinner, I always team them up with my Italian pan fried cherry tomatoes or my marinated bell peppers which I almost always have at hand.
They work perfectly as a side dish to the chicken, and add that little burst of umami flavor that complements the chicken, along with adding that nice contrast of texture too.
There are tons of other ways to serve these delicious Italian chicken cutlets. Here are a few good ideas to get you started.
With Pasta
Just like chicken Parmesan, these best chicken cutlets taste perfect when served with a pasta or any other Italian main dish of your choice.
These cutlets can be served on some buttered or lightly seasoned spaghetti or any other pasta of your choice, and can be enjoyed as a complete meal.
With a Salad
To make this dish a healthy one, you can team the delicious chicken up with a fresh salad. I think a nice and fresh Mediterranean salad with tomatoes and cucumber could be a great choice.
Into a Sandwich
These cutlets can be made into a sandwich too! You can use the whole cutlets or cut them into slices and then pile them up on your favorite bread along with some sliced veggies, cheese and other toppings of your choice.
I also think this thinly sliced chicken can be used as a filling for your homemade wraps too!
With a Condiment
To lend some extra flavor to the chicken cutlets, you can also team them up with a condiment. I like to use some pesto butter to sort of moisten the cutlets and give them that extra bit of freshness.
And if you're looking for a bit of sauciness, you can top the cutlets with some healthy avocado ranch or any hot sauce or homemade sauce of your choice.
FAQs
You can, but I would highly recommend using boneless skinless chicken breasts, since they're the easiest to work with for this recipe. You can quickly get them into the perfect thin slices you need, without much effort.
You definitely can! If you don't want to use oil to fry chicken cutlets, and want to make them healthier, you can choose to bake them in the oven or even Air Fry them if you want to.
While these breaded and fried cutlets do have a crispy texture on their own, you can choose to make them even more crispy by using rice flour instead of the all purpose flour that the recipe calls for.
Related Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Italian Chicken Cutlets
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
- ½ cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 cup oil for frying peanut, canola or sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice chicken breasts horizontally and place them between your cutting board and a sheet of cling wrap.
- Pound the chicken until it is approximately ¼'' thick using a meat mallet.
- In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs with the salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- In another bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with Parmesan, flour, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Place one chicken breast into the egg mixture and coat on both sides. Now dip the chicken into the breading and make sure it is sticks to the chicken.
- Heat oil in a large pan on medium heat and place the chicken cutlets in, leaving a bit of space between each of them.
- Let the cutlets cook for 8-10 minutes, making sure you flip the chicken midway through the cooking time.
- Remove the cutlets from the pan and allow them to rest for a while before you serve them!