How to Bread Chicken Cutlets
on Jan 21, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Dredging and breading chicken cutlets allows them to sauté or fry up crispy and beautifully golden brown. A perfect simple dinner or springboard for other recipes.
There is nothing like crispy breaded chicken cutlets, golden brown, crackling and crunchy on the inside, juicy and tender on the inside. It is a simple three-step process: dredge (or coat) the chicken in seasoned flour, dip it in an egg mixture (or in some cases, a buttermilk or milk mixture, or a combo of milk and egg), then coat the chicken with some sort of breading. The sum of the coating parts is called a bound breading. Fry the breaded cutlets up for 3 minutes per side, and you have perfectly cooked juicy chicken cutlets with a fabulously crunchy exterior.
Making a crispy crust-encased chicken cutlet is very easy, and then you can serve them as is (stupendous), or go ahead and continue on to make Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Katsu, Chicken Milanese, and so on. Almost every cuisine has some version of pan-fried chicken breasts or cutlets. You can also serve these with lemon wedges and parsley for the simplest meal.
Or serve with a sauce, which you can drizzle over or use for dipping: try Marinara Sauce, Cilantro Sauce, or Honey Mustard Dressing. Or make a pan sauce or some white gravy.
Table of Contents
What Is Dredging?
Dredging is the technique of coating a food, in this case chicken, with a dry ingredient before cooking to form a crust. Here, the chicken is dredged in seasoned flour, then dipped in egg, then dredged in breadcrumbs.
Ingredients
- Chicken cutlets – Sliced or pounded about 1/4- to 1/3-inch thick.
- All-purpose flour
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper – For seasoning the flour.
- Eggs – See Variations for some alternatives to plain beaten eggs as the dipping liquid.
- Panko breadcrumbs – Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb, traditionally used as a coating for various fried foods. Panko is lighter and fluffier than traditional breadcrumbs, partly because the bread is grated into larger, flakier crumbs and partly because it is usually made without the crusts. Besides being used as a coating, it can also be used in recipes as a binder, such as in meatloaf or crab cakes.
- Olive oil or vegetable oil – You can sauté the cutlets in any kind of oil, but I prefer olive oil for its fuller flavor.
How to Make Breaded Chicken Cutlets
- Pound the chicken flat: Pounding the chicken cutlets to an even thinness helps tenderize the meat, ensuring it will cook evenly. Using thinner cutlets also means the outside will get golden brown in the same amount of time it takes the inside to cook through. The goal is a large, thin, evenly flat piece of chicken.
Kitchen Smarts
You can also use sliced chicken breasts. Either purchase thinly sliced chicken cutlets or slice boneless, skinless chicken breasts yourself horizontally, resulting in 2 or 3 thinner cutlets.
- Prepare the dredging bowls: Place the seasoned flour, egg mixture, and breadcrumbs or crunchy coating in 3 separate large shallow bowls.
- Coat chicken in flour: Dredge the chicken in the flour. Shake to remove excess flour.
- Coat chicken with eggs: Dip the floured cutlet in the egg mixture to coat, and let any excess egg mixture drip back into the bowl.
- Coat with breadcrumbs: Press the cutlet into the breadcrumbs or coating, making sure both sides are evenly coated. You can sprinkle the coating over any “holes” in the breading. Set the cutlets on a parchment-lined baking sheet while you continue breading the rest of the chicken.
- Fry the chicken cutlets: Dry the cutlets. Heat oil in a large skillet, about 1/4- to 1/2-inch deep. It should come up halfway up the sides of the cutlets when frying. Fry the cutlets for about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through.
Kitchen Smarts
Hold the cutlets on a wire rack while you fry up the next batch; this will prevent them from getting soggy.
Tips for Cooking Breaded Chicken Cutlets
- Pat the chicken cutlets dry with clean paper towels before beginning the breading process.
- Remove the tenderloin from the chicken breasts before pounding or slicing them.
- The first coating of flour creates a dry exterior for the chicken so that the egg mixture, or whatever liquidy dip you are using, adheres better. Shake off excess flour.
- The egg coating allows the breading to stick to the chicken. Make sure to allow any excess egg mixture to drip off back into the bowl so that the chicken doesn’t become sticky or clumpy when you coat it in the breadcrumbs.
- Pressing the chicken into the breadcrumb coating will make the coating adhere better and not fall off during the pan-frying process.
- It helps to use one hand for dredging the chicken in the flour, and then the other hand for dipping in the egg, then returning to the dry hand to finish dredging the remaining cutlets in the coating.
- Use the right amount of oil in the pan — between 1/4- and 1/2-inch deep — replenish as needed if cooking several batches of chicken.
- Use a large skillet, and only fry as many cutlets as will fit without crowding in each batch. Crowding the chicken will prevent it from getting nice and crispy.
- Test the heat of the oil by sprinkling in a few breadcrumbs. They should sizzle and turn golden brown in a couple of minutes. If they brown too quickly, reduce the heat. If they don’t sizzle when you add them to the pan, turn up the heat.
- Don’t overcook the chicken; the cutlets are thin and can become dry if cooked too long. The inside, when cut into with a thin-bladed knife in the center, should be white, possibly with the barest trace of pink.
- If you want to brine the chicken cutlets before coating them, you will ensure the juiciest, more tender chicken. Just follow the directions for brining pork chops.
Variations
- The directions in the recipe are for pan-searing the cutlets, but you can also cook these in an air fryer ( about 7 minutes total) or bake them in the oven (about 8 minutes in a preheated 375-degree oven; cook them on a wire rack inserted into a rimmed sheet pan).
- You can add a couple of tablespoons of milk to the beaten eggs, which will thin them out a bit. You can also use buttermilk instead of the eggs.
- Use homemade breadcrumbs made with slightly stale bread.
- Use fine breadcrumbs, crushed cornflakes, or crushed saltines or other crackers instead of the Panko.
- For Italian-style meals, try Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs or Panko.
- To make gluten-free breaded chicken, use gluten-free flour and breadcrumbs.
- Add other seasonings to the flour, such as paprika (smoked paprika or sweet), dried herbs (like Italian herbs, oregano, or thyme), or dried mustard.
- This dredging and breading technique works with all kinds of chicken parts, from boneless thighs to bone in pieces. The cooking time will vary slightly.
What to Serve With Breaded Chicken Cutlets
More Chicken Cooking Tips
- How to Flour Chicken Cutlets
- How to Poach Chicken
- How to Make a Perfect Roast Chicken
- How to Cube Chicken Breast
- How to Shred Chicken
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
How to Bread Chicken Cutlets
Dredging and breading chicken cutlets allows them to sauté or fry up crispy and beautifully golden brown. A perfect simple dinner or springboard for other recipes.
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken cutlets (sliced or pounded about 1/4- to 1/3-inch thick)
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
- ¾ cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup olive oil or vegetable oil (approximately; divided)
- Lemon wedges (to serve)
- Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (to serve)
Instructions
- Line a counter or plate with paper towels, and have a wire cooling rack at the ready.
- In a wide, shallow bowl, stir up the flour, salt, and pepper. Place the beaten eggs in another shallow bowl. Place the Panko in a third shallow bowl.
- Dredge each cutlet first in the flour mixture, then dip it into the beaten eggs, then press it into the Panko.
- Heat enough of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat to come up about 1/4-inch in the pan. When the oil is hot, add the chicken cutlets in batches without crowding them. Sauté for about 3 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and the chicken is cooked through. Remove, place briefly on the paper towels, then transfer to the wire rack.
- Continue to cook the chicken the same way, adding more oil as necessary and making sure it is hot before adding more of the breaded cutlets.
- Serve with the sauce of your choice or lemon wedges and a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley.
Notes
- The directions in the recipe are for pan-searing the cutlets, but you can also cook these in an air fryer ( about 7 minutes total) or bake them in the oven (about 8 minutes in a preheated 375-degree oven; cook them on a wire rack inserted into a rimmed sheet pan).
- You can add a couple of tablespoons of milk to the beaten eggs, which will thin them out a bit. You can also use buttermilk instead of the eggs.
- Use homemade breadcrumbs made with slightly stale bread.
- Use fine breadcrumbs, crushed cornflakes, or crushed saltines or other crackers instead of the Panko.
- For Italian-style meals, try Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs or Panko.
- To make gluten-free breaded chicken, use gluten-free flour and breadcrumbs.
- Add other seasonings to the flour, such as paprika (smoked paprika or sweet), dried herbs (like Italian herbs, oregano, or thyme), or dried mustard.
- This dredging and breading technique works with all kinds of chicken parts, from boneless thighs to bone in pieces. The cooking time will vary slightly.
Nutrition
Calories: 194kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 103mg, Sodium: 551mg, Potassium: 334mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 103IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 29mg, Iron: 2mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
