Breaded Chicken Cutlets – No Flour No Egg

Quick breaded chicken cutlets fried in a lemon butter sauce. These crispy cutlets are made without any egg or flour making them so quick and easy to whip up and leaves less washing up, hooray!

Because we all love recipes made easier…..

Breaded chicken cutlets are so easy to make and are sure to please the whole family at dinner time. Making chicken cutlets with breadcrumbs, flour and egg is a classic method it's what we use for our Italian Chicken Cutlets with Pesto and Spinach Recipe (so good).

But this method is much quicker and easier plus the chicken cutlets turn out so light, crispy and good!

Our mother in law told us about this way of breading chicken (it's an old Italian method) and let us tell you it's so simple, you'll wonder why you didn't try it before.

Ingredients – what you need

There are only two ingredients to make these breaded chicken cutlets yesss only two and what are they?

• Breadcrumbs
• Chicken

Whaaat there's no secret ingredient? No, there's nothing fancy going on here, we're leaving out some ingredients we don't need.

So how do the breadcrumbs stick to the chicken?

We asked this too when we first heard about it but they actually stick well without any flour or egg. After you have bashed out your chicken to form thin cutlets press each side 2-3 times in the breadcrumbs until the cutlet is coated.

It will be a much lighter coating than if you used flour and egg which results in a lovely crispy outside, juicy chicken inside and no floppy, soggy crumbs falling off either.

How to make Breaded Chicken Cutlets – step by step

First, you need to bash your chicken breasts out thin or buy pre-cut chicken cutlets from the supermarket for ease if they're available.

To bash the chicken, place one breast in between two pieces of cling film and beat it with a meat mallet or rolling pin until thin (around 1/4 inch thick) (photo 1).

Add the breadcrumbs to a large plate and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Press each side of the chicken into the breadcrumbs firmly 2-3 times, repeat with all the cutlets (photos 2 & 3).

Heat a good glug of olive oil in a large frying pan and when hot add the chicken cutlets. Once crispy and golden on one side turn them over and squeeze over lemon juice then add a knob of butter (photos 3-6).

Continue to fry the cutlets until crispy and golden on both sides, remove and sit on kitchen paper or a draining rack for a couple of seconds.

Serve hot with salad or your favourite sides. Find some recommendations below.

Top tips and recipe FAQs

• Drain the chicken on kitchen paper – after frying drain the cutlets on paper towels so they soak up any excess oil.
• What to do with leftovers – leftovers can be eaten cold or reheated in a hot oven or in a skillet until hot. Use them up in salads or sandwiches, they're good on a focaccia with grilled veggies and pesto!

What's the best oil to use?

We use olive oil for frying and it's what we recommend using. Sunflower oil is another good option.

Can we prepare these in advance?

Yes, you can bread the chicken in advance and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to fry them.

How long do leftovers last?

Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days although they will lose their crispy texture the longer they are left.

Can we freeze these chicken cutlets?

Yes, the cutlets and be frozen and reheated from frozen. Lay them on a baking tray, pre-heat the oven to 200C (400F) and bake for 15-20 minutes until piping hot all the way through.

What to serve Breaded Chicken Cutlets with

These cutlets are good served with Italian roasted potatoesFagioli all'uccelletto (beans in tomato sauce) or Peas and Pancetta. See more good side options below…

• Salmoriglio (Southern Italian Herb Sauce)
• Zucchini ribbon salad
• Roasted asparagus with gorgonzola
• Fennel courgette salad with smoked scamorza and chilli
• Summer easy bean salad
• White bean mash with rosemary and lemon

How easy is this recipe? We mean we're totally converted to breading our chicken like this all the time. Who needs extra washing up anyway? We know we certainly don't and we honestly love using this method. The chicken is lighter, crispier and as good as ever!

Ingredients

Makes 4 people

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 1 cup (140g) fine breadcrumbs (,such as panko)
• olive oil (for frying)
• 1 knob butter
• 1 squeeze of lemon juice
• salt and pepper (to season)

Method

1. First, you need to bash your chicken breasts out thin or use pre-cut chicken cutlets from the supermarket for ease if they're available.

2. To bash the chicken, place one breast in between two pieces of cling film and beat it with a meat mallet or rolling pin until thin (around 1/4inch thick)

3. Add the breadcrumbs to a large plate and season with a good pinch f salt and pepper. Press each side of the chicken into the breadcrumbs firmly 2-3 times, repeat with all the cutlets.

4. Heat a good glug of olive oil in a large frying pan and when hot add the chicken cutlets. Once crispy and golden on one side turn them over and squeeze over lemon juice then add a knob of butter.

5. Continue to fry the cutlets until crispy and golden on both sides, remove and sit on kitchen paper or a draining rack for a couple seconds. Sprinkle with an extra pinch of salt.

6. Serve hot with salad or your favourite sides.

Kitchen notes

• Drain the chicken on kitchen paper after frying drain the cutlets on paper towels so they soak up any excess oil.
• What to do with leftovers leftovers can be eaten cold or reheated in a hot oven or in a skillet until hot. Use them up in salads or sandwiches, they're good on a focaccia with grilled veggies and pesto!
• Storage leftovers will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days or can be frozen.
• Freezing the cutlets can be reheated from frozen. Lay them on a baking tray, pre-heat the oven to 200C (400F) and bake for 15-20 minutes until piping hot all the way through.