This crispy Pork Schnitzel is one of my all-time favorite German dishes. It has a super crispy crust and tender juicy insides. Drizzle a little fresh lemon juice on it right before eating, and it is pure heaven.
I love to serve this with glazed carrots and garlic mashed potatoes. This easy dish is always a welcome sight on the dinner table. It is comfort food at its best.
Why I Love This Recipe
- The simple three-step breading (flour, egg, and panko bread crumbs) makes for a super-easy yet crispy pork patty every time.
- This recipe is made with simple, wholesome ingredients, most of which you may already have on hand.
- It is simply delicious and enjoyed by many generations. Even picky eaters like this tasty dish.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.
- Pork: Use boneless pork chops about 1/2 inch thick. Cut away all visible fat and pound them with a meat mallet until about 1/4 inch thick. This recipe works on other cutlets like chicken, veal, and turkey.
- Breadcrumbs: I use panko breadcrumbs for an extra crispy coating, but you can use any plain breadcrumbs.
- Oil: Use an oil with a high smoke point, such as vegetable, canola, or peanut oil.
- Herbs: Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or dil.
How to make Pork Schnitzel
This is a summary version; for the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please refer to the recipe card below.
Start by trimming and pounding your pork chops to about 1/4 inch thick, so they cook all the way through at the same time as they are browned. Combine the flour, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika in a shallow, wide bowl. Add the panko bread crumbs to another shallow wide bowl. In a third bowl, whisk the eggs.
Dredge each pounded pork chop in the flour, then dip it in the egg, and then into the panko bread crumbs. In a large heavy skillet or cast iron skillet heat enough oil to submerge half the breaded cutlet. Place it in the skillet and cook until golden brown on the bottom, then flip and brown the other side. If cooking a lot of schnitzel, simply plate it and place it in an oven at 250 degrees, uncovered, until you finish cooking all the pork.
Preparation Tips
- While deep frying produces a deliciously crispy crust, you can also shallow fry these. For shallow frying, add enough oil to submerge about half of the cutlet.
- It takes no time to fry up a batch of this, but if you are cooking for a crowd, plate the patties that are done and hold them in a low-temp oven (250 degrees) uncovered while you cook the others. This will help keep that original out of the frying pan crispiness.
- For extra crispy pork schnitzel, bread dip in back in egg and panko breadcrumbs one more time. You will need more eggs and panko breadcrumbs to do this.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet or air fryer to get that original crispiness back.
Serving Suggestions for Pork Schnitzel
- Potatoes: German potato salad, roasted red potatoes, pan-fried potatoes, or red potato salad.
- Salad: German cucumber salad, mandarin orange salad, or tomato salad
- Cabbage: braised cabbage, fried cabbage, colcannon, or haluski.
Use boneless pork chops that are about 1/2 inch thick and pound them with a meat mallet until they are about 1/4 inch thick. You can also purchase pork cutlets that have already been pounded thin.
Reheat it on the stovetop in a skillet with a little bit of oil, in other words, refry it. Or reheat it in an air fryer at 350 degrees in a single layer for 3 minutes or until warm.
Easy Pork Schnitzel Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 boneless pork chops ½-inch thick
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 large eggs
- vegetable oil
- fresh parsley chopped (optional)
- fresh dill chopped (optional)
- lemon wedges for serving optional
Instructions
- Trim all fat from the pork chops. Using a meat mallet, pound the pork to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Combine the flour, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika in a shallow, wide bowl. Add the panko bread crumbs to another shallow wide bowl. In a third bowl, whisk the eggs.
- Dredge each pounded pork chop in the flour, then dip it in the egg, and then into the panko bread crumbs.
- In a large, heavy skillet or cast iron skillet, heat the oil to 350 degrees. Heat enough oil to submerge half the breaded cutlet. Place it in the skillet and cook until golden brown on the bottom, then flip and brown the other side.
- Garnish with fresh parsley or dill and fresh lemon wedges.
Notes
- While deep frying produces a deliciously crispy crust, you can also shallow fry these. For shallow frying, add enough oil to submerge about half of the cutlet.
- It takes no time to fry up a batch of this, but if you are cooking for a crowd, plate the patties that are done and hold them in a low-temp oven (250 degrees) uncovered while you cook the others. This will help keep that original out of the frying pan crispiness.
- For extra crispy pork schnitzel, bread dip in back in egg and panko breadcrumbs one more time. You will need more eggs and panko breadcrumbs to do this.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet or air fryer to get that original crispiness back.
Nutrition
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Clarice
This looks good and easy to make. I am pretty sure that my daughter will love this. Do you think it would be okay to air fryer this instead?
Beth Pierce
Yes you can. Bread the pork as instructed. Spritz the breaded cutlets with cooking spray. Air fry at 375 degrees for 4 minutes. Flip and air fry for 4 more minutes.