Chicken schnitzel is one of our favorite easy family dinners– click here for my regular schnitzel recipe and here for a gluten free version. Schnitzel is always a crowd pleaser, and it’s especially popular with kids. Recently, I decided to come up with a twist on the schnitzel theme. My stepdaughter likes her schnitzel cut into bite-sized pieces, which makes it more like a finger food. I decided to take these smaller chicken pieces and marinate them in Italian dressing and spices. The result? Italian Schnitzel Bites! These seasoned chicken bites are full of herby Italian flavor, a tasty twist on traditional chicken schnitzel.
Schnitzel is Austrian in origin; it was traditionally made with veal (known as wiener schnitzel) or pork. The dish later found its way to Israel with European Jewish immigrants. Like many Jewish foods, immigrants adapted this regional dish to suit their unique dietary kosher laws. In the case of schnitzel, pork (which is treif) and veal (which was expensive and difficult to obtain) was replaced by chicken and turkey. The resulting poultry schnitzels are very popular in Israel and throughout the Jewish community.
Schnitzel is usually coated with egg to help the breading stick, but recently I developed a new batter-and-bread method for my Crispy Panko Fish Tacos. I used the same technique for these schnitzel bites, including using seasoned panko breadcrumbs, which gave them a super crisp coating. Getting rid of the egg lightened the coating considerably; the pieces turned out crispier and less greasy. Warm marinara sauce ended up being the perfect compliment to these flavorful little bites. I like making homemade marinara, especially during tomato season, but I haven’t had a chance to post my family recipe yet. Feel free to use a jarred variety from the grocery store, or use your own favorite recipe.
Now, we all know that this isn’t a low calorie dish– anytime we fry food, we consider it a “treat” rather than the norm. While you can make a meal out of these schnitzel bites, I’d suggest serving them with steamed veggies or a side salad to lighten things up a bit. You can also serve them as a finger food or appetizer. Whenever I post a fried dish, I inevitably get the question, “Can I bake this instead of frying it?” I haven’t tested this recipe in the oven yet, so I can’t tell you if baking it will work or not. Generally speaking, I don’t like fried dishes when they are baked– they tend to lose their crispy charm. If I have a chance to test it over the next few weeks, I’ll update this blog and let you know the results. Or, if any of you are up to testing it out, let us know in the comments how it worked out for you!
This dish is super easy to make, as long as you’re comfortable with frying. The marinating does require some forethought, but it’s simple to throw together. You can start the marinade in the morning before you go to work, or even better the night before. By the time you’re ready to cook dinner, the chicken will be full of juicy Italian flavor. The battering and frying only takes a few minutes. And if you use a jar of marinara sauce rather than homemade, it’s even easier!
More Schnitzel Recipes
Panko Corn and Pepper Schnitzel
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Italian Schnitzel Bites
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup Italian dressing (light or lowfat is okay)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups seltzer water
- 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs (or substitute regular breadcrumbs)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Vegetable oil with a high smoke point for frying (I prefer grapeseed)
- 2 cups marinara sauce for dipping - warmed before serving
NOTES
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces (tenders), about 1 inch wide and 2-3 inches long. Put the chicken pieces into a glass or ceramic bowl, or in a plastic zipper bag. Pour the dressing, garlic and chili flakes over the chicken. Stir till all ingredients are mixed and the chicken is well coated with dressing.Cover the chicken and place it in the refrigerator. Let it marinate for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours. The longer it marinates the better it will taste.
- Prepare your batter by whisking together the flour, cornstarch, and seltzer water.
- In a separate bowl, use a fork to mix together the panko breadcrumbs, salt, basil and oregano.
- Coat the chicken pieces. Pick up a piece of chicken from the marinade and let the excess marinade drip off. Dip the chicken piece into the seltzer batter first. Let the excess batter drip off...
- then dip it into the panko to coat.
- Place the coated chicken piece on a plate. Repeat for remaining chicken pieces.
- Heat your cooking oil in a skillet over medium high. Fry the breaded chicken pieces in batches of 6. If the oil is at the correct temperature, it should bubble and sizzle evenly—no splatters or popping.
- Flip the chicken pieces when they turn dark golden brown. It will take 2-3 minutes per side for the chicken to become golden and crisp. Try to only turn them once, rather than repeatedly turning the pieces-- this will help to keep the crispy coating intact and keep them from becoming overly greasy.
- Place fried chicken pieces on a wire rack to drain, if you have one. This will keep the chicken as crisp as possible. Use paper towels to catch the oil drips underneath the rack. If you don’t have a wire rack, you can drain the chicken pieces on a double layer of paper towels.
- Serve schnitzel bites hot with warm marinara sauce for dipping.
Nutrition
What a satisfying weeknight meal!
I do agree about the italian dressing being a good tenderizer as well as a a selection of seasoning in one fell swoop.
I have a question about breading a cutlet or anything really. I have a problem with the breading sticking to the piece of meat. It doesn’t happen all the time but when it does it’s so annoying. What am I doing wrong?
btw your site is amazing with such fresh ideas…….thanks.
Hi doodles, this breading technique should work great for you– the mixture of batter and breading helps the coating to stick better. At other times, when you’re using an egg to help the coating stick, try this process–coat the meat in flour first, then dip in beaten egg to coat, then dip in crumbs to coat. The three-step breading process helps the coating to stick better. Also, make sure your oil is at the proper temperature for frying. Oil that is not hot enough will take longer to fry, which can lead to soggy breading that has a tendency to fall off. For an illustration of the three-step breading technique with egg, see this post: https://toriavey.com/chicken-schnitzel/
my daughter used the idea of italian dressing for a long time on chicken cutlets. It comes out great.
This sounds (and looks) so declicious. Loving the mini bite sized pieces! Will definitely give this a go. Thank you.
Please post your marinara recipe!
Can this be baked rather than fried? If so, how?
Trudy, please read the blog above the recipe – I already addressed this question. 🙂
Schnitzel is easy and delicious.
My son is leaving home next week and is learning some quickie dinner ideas. I was going to show him this process anyway, but will definitely use Italian dressing in place of the egg to keep it light.
Thanks for the idea!
wonderful looking recipe and great pictures too…will be serving this to my family soon…thank you
Beverley xoxo
Great idea- I love schnitzel! I just bought a lot of organic chicken on sale and now I know how to use some of it!