Air-fryer chicken schnitzel with cucumber salad
45 min · 44 g protein · 354 cals / serving
Thin, golden, shatter-crisp chicken cutlets that come out of the air fryer with a few teaspoons of oil between them instead of a pan of it, served the Viennese way with lemon and a cold, tangy cucumber and dill salad that cuts straight through the crunch.
Ingredients
Schnitzel
- 2 large chicken breasts, halved horizontally into 4 thin cutlets
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 cup breadcrumbs, panko (or 1/2 cup fine dry crumbs)
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 1/2 tsp olive oil, in a spray bottle or for brushing
- 1 lemon, in wedges
Cucumber salad
- 1 large cucumber, sliced paper thin
- 1/4 red onion, sliced paper thin
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- a small bunch fresh dill, chopped
Steps
- Toss the cucumber and red onion with a quarter of the salt in a colander and leave to drain while you make the schnitzel. Lay the chicken cutlets between sheets of plastic wrap and pound them to an even 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin or the base of a pan. Season both sides with the rest of the salt and the pepper.
- Set up three shallow plates: the flour; the egg, egg whites and mustard beaten together; and the breadcrumbs mixed with the paprika and garlic powder. Dredge each cutlet in flour and shake off the excess, dip it in the egg, then press it into the crumbs on both sides.
- Heat the air fryer to 400°F. Spray or brush both sides of the cutlets with the oil, making sure there are no dry patches of crumb. Cook in a single layer, in batches if needed, 8–10 minutes, turning halfway, until deep golden and the chicken reads 165°F in the thickest part.
- Squeeze the cucumbers gently to get rid of the liquid, then stir in the vinegar, yogurt and dill, and taste for salt and pepper. Serve the schnitzel straight away with lemon wedges and the cold salad.
Good to know
How do I keep the coating from going pale and dusty?
Every crumb needs a little oil. Dry patches stay white in an air fryer, so spray or brush until the whole surface looks lightly damp, and do not stack the cutlets. Panko browns fastest and stays crunchiest.
Why pound the chicken so thin?
A thin, even cutlet cooks through in the time the crumb takes to turn golden. A thick breast either burns outside or stays underdone in the middle.
No air fryer?
Bake on a rack set over a sheet pan at 425°F for 15–18 minutes, turning once, until golden and 165°F inside.
What else goes with it?
In Austria a schnitzel comes with cucumber salad, potatoes or both. For a bigger plate, boil small new potatoes in salted water until tender and toss them with chopped parsley while they are hot.
Per
- Calories
- 116
- Protein
- (51%)
- 14 g
- Fat
- (24%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (25%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 243 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1418 kcal goes into the pot and 1501 g of ingredients comes out as about 1220 g of food: 116 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.