This is one of my all time favorite chicken dishes to make. It’s great for a weeknight meal, if you have company over, I even made this dish at the first catering event I ever did and it was a hit! It’s impressive yet so easy I wonder why all Italian restaurants don’t serve this on their menu. My favorite part about this dish is the warm chicken with the cool salad placed over it. I love the contrast of not only textures but temperatures as well that really light up the pallet.
The this is a very classic Italian dish of breaded chicken with a simple salad served on top, I, however, throw in a few little twists of my own to make it really stand out. Typically the chicken is pounded thin which I still do recommend. You can do this one of two ways, I usually just go with which ever cut of chicken is on sale. For instance if the chicken breasts are on sale I will get those and just butter fly them (cut them length wise as if you’re opening it up like a book) and either pound them out thin making a huge piece of chicken or cut that in half and have two pieces of chicken from one breast. Or the easier route, just buying chicken cutlets sometimes they are thin enough where you don’t have to do any additional work to this cut.
Now onto the breading, we don’t do things the plain way around here, every step has some added flavor. Starting with the flour dredge, I season the flour with spices to add an extra flair. The bread crumb mixture I like to use is panko bread crumbs and Italian seasoned bread crumbs. I like the extra crunch the panko bread crumbs gives but I also like the full coverage of the finer bread crumbs. Of course if you don’t have both on hand one or the other will be just fine. To really turn it up I add cheese to the bread crumb mixture it because who doesn’t love cheese! I actually found a great blend of cheese at the store (parmesan, fontina, asiago) but I notice parmesan alone works just as well in this recipe. By mixing the grated cheese with the bread crumbs these chicken cutlets are bumped up in flavor!
For the salad that goes on top you can be as creative as you’d like with this but a simple salad is really all you need for this to be effective. I of course love to add texture to my salad so I’ll include things like red onion, shaved radishes, cherry tomatoes, blue cheese or parmesan cheese, you can really make it your own. I love to use a mixture of arugula and spring mix because the peppery bite from the arugula with the fresh taste of spring mix compliments each other well. I do however recommend you keep the dressing simple, a nice drizzle of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper does the trick for me but I’ve also made it with a balsamic dressing which was bangin. I serve this dish with lemon wedges to somewhat cut the fat of the cheese crusted chicken and lighten the taste buds. I’m already craving another serving so lets get cooking.
Ingredients:
For Chicken-
1lbs. Chicken Breast (butterflied and cut in half, and pounded thin, or buy chicken cutlets which are already thin)
1 cup Flour
1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp. Italitan seasoning
Salt and Pepper To Taste
2 Eggs
3/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
3/4 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan (or cheese blend) grated
2 tbs. Butter
2 tbs. Olive Oil
1 Lemon (cut into wedges)
For Salad-
2 cups Spring Mix
2 cups Arugula
1 cup Cherry Tomatoes (cut in half)
1/2 cup Red Onion (thinly sliced)
1/4 cup Parmesan (grated)
3 Radishes (thinly sliced)
2 tbs. Red Wine Vinegar
3 tbs. Olive Oil
1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method:
- Combine flour onion powder, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning, season chicken with salt and pepper
- Set up breading station, one dish flour mixture, followed by a dish of two eggs scrambled, followed by a dish with the bread crumb mixture.
- In a large saute skillet heat 1 tbs. butter and 1 tbs. of olive oil on medium high heat, take chicken cutlet and cover in flour shaking off any access, dip in egg letting the access drain, and then coat with bread crumbs. Once the pan is hot place cutlet in skillet and repeat with other cutlets.
- Cook chicken until brown on each side and cooked through about 4 minutes per side. If the pan starts to become dry add butter and olive oil as needed.
- Meanwhile in a large bowl mix olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, salt and pepper to combine.
- Toss in lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and radishes and fold until coated with dressing and ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Once chicken is cooked through place on platter, top with Salad and parmesan cheese, garnish with lemon wedges and ENJOY!