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Smoking Chimney

Recipes from a working kitchen · Cape Town

Chicken Schnitzel

By Marna Ross Updated 12 August 2026 4.59 from 44 ratings German
I would like to introduce you to this lovely chicken schnitzel recipe from our house. This gets made at least once a week and am definitely one of our own personalized favourites! It is delicious with some cooked butternut or sweet potato and a side salad. The sauce we love with this lovely chicken schnitzel is the home-made cheddar cheese sauce. You will see what I mean once you have eaten this combination yourself! You won't be dissapointed!
A golden brown, extra crispy pan-fried tender chicken schnitzel cutlet served on a plate.
Prep 20 min
Cook 20 min
Total 40 min
Serves 4

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Ingredients

  • 4 large chicken breasts, de-boned
  • salt and pepper
  • ½ cup of flour
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs, 2 large eggs
  • oil for shallow frying

Method

  1. Lay down a 2-foot long strip of plastic wrap on your kitchen counter top. Place chicken breasts on the plastic, leaving a 2-inch space between each breast. Cover the breasts with another strip of plastic, so the meat is sandwiched between two layers of plastic. Use a mallet to pound the breasts until they are a little less than ¼ inch thick. Season breasts with salt and pepper

  2. Set up three larges plate on your counter top. In your first plate, beat the eggs with a hand whisk

  3. In your second bowl you can place the flour

  4. In the third plate you can place the bread crumbs and the fourth plate you can leave empty for the n coated schnitzels

  5. Pour oil into a skillet until it’s deep enough for frying (about ½ inch)

  6. Coat each breast one by one into your plates — first coat with the flour after seasoning the breasts, secondly dip them in the the eggs mixture and lastly dip them in the bread crumbs mixture, coating them very neatly with the crumbs

  7. Place them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to set

  8. This step will let them look nice and firm and the crumbs will stick to the breast while frying

  9. Heat the oil on medium heat

  10. When the oil is hot (but not smoking or splattering), fry the coated breasts in single-layer batches until they are golden brown on both sides

  11. If your oil is at the right temperature, it should take about 3-4 minutes per side. Don’t fry more than two breasts at a time in a regular sized skillet, or the oil temperature will drop and the schnitzels will become greasy

  12. The schnitzel coating will shed a bit during the frying process, which dirties the oil

  13. Frying up to four breasts in the oil (two batches of two breasts each, one immediately after the other) will work fine

  14. If you are planning on frying more than four breasts, dispose of the oil, clean the skillet, and reheat a batch of fresh oil before proceeding

  15. Or, you can let the oil cool and strain it clean between batches

  16. If you don’t, you’ll wind up with some dirty looking schnitzels!After frying, set the schnitzels on a paper towel and pat them dry to soak off excess oil

  17. Serve this delicious chicken schnitzels with my home-made cheddar cheese sauce, also from the Smoking Chimney Website and a side salad

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