Crispy Lemon Chicken Cutlets
Crispy Lemon Chicken Cutlets are pounded thin, sautéed until crispy and coated in a lemon butter garlic sauce for a crowd pleasing meal.
Servings: 6
Calories: 491kcal
Ingredients
Lemon Sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 4 tablespoon salted butter
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup chicken broth
Chicken Cutlets
- 3 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 3 chicken breasts (about 1 lb)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more as needed
- parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
Lemon Sauce
- Bring a saucepan to medium-low heat. Add the olive oil and allow to warm through for 30 seconds. Add the minced garlic and stir for 1-3 minutes. Do not brown.
- Increase the temperature slightly and add the white wine. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes or until it no longer smells of wine.
- Add the salted butter, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir.
- Once the butter has melted, add the chicken broth. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally or until it has reduced by half. Set aside.
Crispy Chicken Cutlets
- In a shallow dish, add the panko, parmesan cheese, and salt and combine.
- In a separate shallow dish, whisk the eggs.
- Cut each chicken breast in half horizontally so that you have two thin wide cutlets. Cut these in half so that you have four smaller cutlets per chicken breast.
- Place each chicken cutlet on a cutting board (work in batches). Cover with a sheet of parchment paper. Use a meat hammer to tenderize the chicken and pound it super thin, about 1.5 times the original size.
- Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat - a setting of 4 out of 10 on an electric stove, or the equivalent on a gas stove. Any hotter and the olive oil will start to smoke and the breading on the chicken will burn easily.
- Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, then the panko mixture. Use your fingers to firmly press the panko into each side of the chicken (really press it on).
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan or enough to lightly coat the bottom. Add the chicken. Let the chicken get crispy in the pan, about 2-4 minutes. Do not touch the chicken while you wait for it to get crispy. Flip the chicken over and cook for another 1-3 minutes until the bottom is crispy and golden brown. Add olive oil as needed to ensure that the bottom of the pan is always lightly covered in oil.
- Set the cooked crispy chicken on a cookie drying sheet (put paper towels under the wire rack). This allows air to circulate under the breaded chicken cutlet to keep the bottom crispy rather than cause it to soften if it were on a plate.
- Cook the chicken in batches so as to not overcrowd the pan. This is very important. If the pan is crowded, the chicken will not get crispy. If you want to speed up the process, get two different pans going at the same time.Spoon the lemon sauce over the chicken on individual plates. Do not spoon the sauce over the chicken earlier or it will cause it to get soggy.
Notes
Cut the Chicken in half and pound them thin. The higher the panko to chicken ratio (i.e. thinner chicken cutlets), the crispier they’ll be.
Panko and Parmesan: Add lots of parmesan to the panko for breading the chicken.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Adds so much flavor to the breading when the chicken is pan-fried in extra virgin olive oil (I love Spanish olive oil).
Egg Mixture: If you have milk, you can add 1-2 tablespoons to the egg mixture, which thins it out and makes it slightly easier to dip the chicken.
You Do Not Need Flour: You do not need to coat the chicken in flour before the egg and breadcrumbs. I've done it both ways, many times. It does not make it crispier, nor make it taste better, and it actually makes it a little more challenging to dip in the egg mixture.
Leftovers: This is a great dish to double and have for leftovers. Just reheat the chicken in the pan again until crispy.
Nutrition
Calories: 491kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 198mg | Sodium: 1053mg | Potassium: 552mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 533IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 280mg | Iron: 3mg
