We just love quick, delicious weeknight dinners that do not compromise one bit on, well, anything. A restaurant-quality meal, with just a few ingredients, that’s ready in about 20 minutes? Uh, yes please. Chicken Milanese is a bit like Chicken Parmesan in that it’s an Italian restaurant favorite that is so easy to make at home from scratch. And — no offense to restaurants — it tastes even more delicious when we make it at home! Crispy, breaded chicken cutlets are pan-friend to succulent perfection, they’re fast to cook and kids adore them as much as grown-ups do — after all, chicken Milanese is basically a grown-up Chicken Nugget, right?
Main Ingredients
Chicken breasts: You can sometimes buy chicken cutlets pre-cut at the store — and we think that’s great! Saves you a step, and gets dinner done that much faster.
Eggs: You need the egg to help the breadcrumbs stick to chicken.
Panko: Airy and crisp, panko gives Chicken Milanese the light, crisp, crunchy crust we crave.
Italian seasoning: We adore this herby blend and use it all the time. It usually has basil, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, thyme.
How To Make Chicken Milanese, Step By Step
Slice the chicken breasts into cutlets. Carefully take your very sharp knife and slice the breasts horizontally, so they’re nice and thin. Now, you’re going to make them even thinner!
Pound the chicken. Use a meat mallet (or rolling pin) to pound each chicken cutlet to ¼-inch thickness.
Time to do the breading! Dip each chicken cutlet into beaten egg, then into seasoned panko so that each cutlet has a nice breading. The eggs allow the panko to cling to the chicken. Tongs make this job a lot less messy.
Pan-fry the cutlets until they’re crispy. The key here is to work one-by-one or two-by-two depending on the size of your pan.
Let the chicken rest for a few minutes. We like to slice it up before serving, but you don’t have to do that.
Finish the dish with flaky salt and lemon wedges on the side for squeezing all over the crispy chicken Milanese and serve!
How To Serve Chicken Milanese
Serve it with a Classic Caesar Salad: Milanese is a classic restaurant dish, and we adore it with another Italian restaurant fave, a good and garlicky Caesar. Make it a Kale Caesar, if you want to add even more of a nutritional boost.
Over pasta! A lot of folks love to eat their homemade chicken Milanese over fresh pasta. YUM! Try it with our tender homemade pappardelle.
- If you want to keep things super simple, a mound of simply dressed fresh arugula — we’re talking lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper — is a classic chicken Milanese side dish.
Tips For Perfect Milanese + How To Store Leftovers
When you pound the chicken into thin pieces, put the chicken cutlets between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap — one to cover the counter, and one between your mallet and the meat. Note: This is a really fun job for older kids, if you want to include the whole family in dinner prep!
There are 2 secrets to perfectly crispy Milanese: One is to cook the cutlets just one or two at time, so that the oil you fry them in stays nicely hot. Secondly, once they’re in the pan frying, resist the temptation to move them around much other than to flip them.
- Homemade chicken Milanese is best enjoyed fresh out of the pan and it’s a relatively light dinner so we don’t usually have a lot of leftovers. But if you do have them, leftover chicken Milanese will keep in the fridge for at least 3 days. To warm it up, pan-fry it just to crisp it up again.
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