Paprika Schnitzel Recipe
Schnitzel to me, is one of the ultimate comfort foods. This Paprika Schnitzel recipe is a variant to the Italian-style Cotoletta I grew up with. The bread crumb mixture simply includes sweet paprika, along with salt and pepper. The combination creates a light aroma of paprika along with a hint of colour, and when cooked, it lingers.
I learnt to make this Paprika Schnitzel recipe from a family friend when visiting her in Israel many years ago. She was the same person who also taught me to make this delicious Chicken Apple Curry.
I grew up eating my Mother’s delicious Chicken Schnitzel (liberally referred to as Cotoletta as well as Schnitzel) but this version with the simple addition of the paprika adds colour and a subtle flavour. This is the kind of recipe you make on a weekend before a dinner or a picnic, and enjoy the next day if you’re lucky to have any left over.
Enjoy Paprika Schnitzel with a squeeze of lemon juice or wedged into a hot bread roll with your favourite condiment and some salad for freshness. In terms of Schnitzel sides, a warm potato salad, roasted spuds, grilled asparagus or just a simple Israeli salad go really well.
I hope you like this recipe as much as we do in my family.
Jen x
Paprika Schnitzel
Serves four people
Chicken fillets or pre-prepared schnitzel fillets, 600g
Sweet Paprika, ground, 2 heaped tsp
Bread crumbs, 180g
2 eggs, beaten
Sea salt
Cracked pepper
PREPARATION
Start by setting up your chicken schnitzel station
Grab a bowl and crack then beat the eggs into it, set aside
Next get a large plate and pour the breadcrumbs, paprika, a good pinch of salt and about 10 -12 cracks of pepper. Mix everything together with a fork
Finally, set another plate aside to lay your schnitzels onto once they’ve been breaded
BUTTERFLYING THE CHICKEN FILLETS
Now onto the chicken! Start butterflying the chicken fillets on a large chopping board taking care to remove the tenderloins, as we’ll be cooking with those as well. As you butterfly the chicken, pile each piece on a side of the cutting board. This is a great video tutorial on how to butterfly chicken.
Note: If you’ve bought pre-cut schnitzel fillets then skip this part and go straight to the CRUMBING section.
After the fillets have been butterflied, pound the chicken (including the tenderloins) with a mallet. Ideally they should all be around 5mm in thickness
CRUMBING THE CHICKEN FILLETS
Take one piece of chicken at a time, and dip into the beaten egg mixture. Make sure the fillet is coated well, and be sure to coat both sides. Pull the fillet out, allowing the excess egg mix to drip off into the bowl, and place the fillet onto the bread crumb plate. Bread both sides of the fillet and don’t be afraid to get in there to fill any crevices or little folds with the bread crumbs. I ‘bread’ by scooping small palmfuls of the crumbs onto the fillets and then gently patting the crumbs onto and all around the fillet.
Continue this method until all the chicken fillets have been breaded, piling them one over the other on the ‘post-crumbed’ plate.
Note: Once you start to ‘egg’ the smaller pieces, you can fit in a few in the egg bowl at a time which gives some extra egg coating time.
FRYING THE CHICKENÂ FILLETS
This is the final part of the chicken schnitzel journey. You will soon be able to enjoy the fruits of your labour!
Heat a large frying pan (preferably non-stick) on medium heat. Also grab a frying pan guard if you have one – I use this one from Ikea which we’ve had for years.
Fill the frying pan with oil (yes you read correctly!). Basically pour the oil (I use olive oil), until the entire frying pan base is covered. Once the oil has heated up, add two or so fillets at a time – or as many that fit comfortably with enough room in the pan. Use the frying pan guard when the oil starts to fly.
While the first batch are frying, prepare a plate or deep tray and line with absorbent paper towel or even a tea towel.
Fry each fillet for about three to four minutes on each side, or until each side is a lovely golden brown. Once cooked on both sides, hover each fillet over the pan to drain a bit of the oil, before placing into your pre-prepared plate or tray. Once the first layer of the plate or tray is full, add another layer of absorbent towel or tea towel and continue to place your cooked schnitzels onto it.
Continue until all the fillets have been cooked and then serve!
