Cotoletta is the Italian word for cutlet, and it’s essentially a slice of meat, with or without bone, dredged in egg, coated in breadcrumbs, and fried with oil or butter. This is one of those go-to recipes for getting dinner on the table fast, and I’ve had my fair share over the years, each one just as delicious as the last.
It’s often made with veal or even beef, but I growing up it was always made with chicken breast. And let me tell you, my dad (being born and raised in Milan) makes the best, juiciest, crispiest cotolette alla milanese!
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Coat the chicken in flour for crispy cutlets
This is something me and my dad recently discovered helps make chicken cutlets crispier. If you coat the chicken in flour before dredging in the egg, it allows the breadcrumbs to stick better to the chicken, creating a super crispy cotoletta di pollo.
Cook on low for super juicy cotolette
The secret to a juicy breaded chicken cutlet is cooking it on low heat. This allows the chicken to cook and the batter to crisp up simultaneously, so you have juicy chicken on the inside and a perfectly browned crust on the outside just like with my chicharrónes de pollo.
Add butter to the frying oil for more flavor
Another secret tip for these cutlets is cooking them in oil AND butter. Usually people pick one or the other, but this recipe works best if you use both. The butter adds a nice richness of flavor that you would be missing out on if you skipped it.
Cotoletta di Pollo alla Milanese (Italian Chicken Cutlet)
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken breast
- 1 cup flour
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups bread crumbs or panko breadcrumbs
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups frying oil
- 1 tbsp butter
Instructions
- With a sharp knife, slice chicken breast into thin cutlets. Using a meat tenderizer, tenderize each cutlet until they are ¼ of an inch thin. Making them too thin may result in a dry cutlet, and leaving them too thick may result in uneven cooking.
- Create your assembly line by adding flour to a bowl and mix in salt and pepper, then set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and mix in salt and pepper then set aside. In a separate bowl, add the breadcrumbs and mix in salt and pepper then set aside.
- Start by coating the chicken in the flour mixture until it's evenly coated, then dredge into the egg mixture (allowing any excess egg to drip off), then coat the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture, turning the cutlet over to make sure all sides are coated. Repeat for each cutlet then set aside.
- In a large pan over low to medium heat, add the frying oil and butter.
- Once the oil is hot, place the cutlets in the pan and cook on both sides until golden brown. Remove from pan and place onto a paper towel lined plate to absorb any excess oil. Enjoy!
