Chicken Milanese Recipe
Published September 16, 2019. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Chicken Milanese Recipe is a delicious simple breaded chicken cutlet that is pan-fried to perfection and served up with a light arugula salad and makes for the perfect weeknight meal for your family!
Oh, man is this recipe a keeper. It’s easy to make, it’s delicious, and in true fashion, it’s incredibly classic. Making homemade food from scratch is not hard, there are just a few more steps and a few more minutes but in the end, it is beyond worth it!
You know I’ve been on this mission lately to discover the most authentic version of these traditional recipes, and this smokes it and makes for a fantastic weeknight meal for you and your family.
Chicken Milanese
It’s a pounded-out chicken breast that is breaded and fried. Simple as that. You set up a standard breading procedure of flour, egg wash, and seasoned bread crumbs. Dredge the chicken breasts in each and then pan fry until crispy and done in olive oil.
Traditionally it would be served by itself, with pasta, or with a light green’s salad with tomatoes and herbs.
What Does Milanese Style Mean
Anything that is alla Milanese means in the style of Milan, which is a city in Northern Italy. You can alla Milanese a steak, veal, or even this Pork Milanese with Spring Kale Salad Recipe that I made back in the day, and of course, can make chicken Milanese.
It’s is simply a breaded piece of protein. Here are a few proteins you can use
- Steak – using cuts such as thinly sliced flank steak or skirt steak, sirloin, strip loin, beef tenderloin or top round would be best.
- Pork – a pounded out thinly sliced piece of pork shoulder, pork loin or pork tenderloin are the preferred cuts when making alla Milanese.
- Veal – a thinly sliced piece of veal scaloppine, which is similar to a beef top round, is used.
All of these items would be breaded and fried and served with side dishes.
Is Milanese Italian
Milanese is definitely Italian and this chicken recipe traces it’s origin back to Milan, Italy. Milanese is also a dialect of the Italian language.
How to Make Chicken Milanese
One thing that I’ve discovered about all these classic recipes is that they are incredibly simple, and this is no different. When these original recipes were created most of the earth was poor, so people made food with what was on hand and tried to figure out how to make it as delicious as possible.
I’m guessing in Milan some local Italians had some leftover crusty bread that they thought could be ground up and used as breading.
Pound the chicken breasts until they are about 1/4″ thick. Set them aside.
Set up your standard breading procedure consisting of seasoned flour, seasoned whisked eggs and seasoned bread crumbs.
Dredge the pounded out chicken into each breading procedure completely coating it. Repeat until all have been breaded.
Add oil to a large frying pan over medium heat, about 350°.
Cook it in the hot oil for about 4-5 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked throughout.
Make a side salad and serve.
Much like this Chicken Cacciatore Recipe, this recipe used what was available and how to hook it up with lots of love.
Different Ways To Cook It
There are really only a few ways to cook this.
- You can either fry it up in some oil or gently cook it in a small amount of oil and bake it in the oven.
- Baked Chicken Milanese is great and a super-easy way to use less oil and make sure the chicken is cooked through.
Now, if you’re asking me, I prefer to cook it in olive oil because golly is it so good.
This recipe is a must make. It’s light, it’s delicious and makes for a great easy to make weeknight meal!
Reheat and Storage
How to Reheat: Add it to a casserole dish and top off with foil. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 375° or until warm.
Storing and Freezing: Store it covered in plastic in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Be sure to keep the salad separate from the chicken. It freezes well, covered individually in plastic for up to 2 months. The salad will not freeze.
chef notes + tips
- You can absolutely serve this with other side dishes such as risotto or a polenta recipe
More Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Piccata
- Creamy Chicken Dumpling Soup Recipe
- Chicken Saltimbocca
- Chicken Parmigiana
- Best Fried Chicken Recipe
- Authentic Chicken Curry
Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and Pinterest and if you’ve had a chance to make this then definitely drop me a comment and a rating below!
Video
Chicken Milanese Recipe
Ingredients
For the Arugula Salad:
- 8 cups baby arugula
- 1 cup micro greens
- 1 cup sliced assorted cherry tomatoes
- ½ peeled and thinly sliced red onion
- 1 cup shaved parmesan cheese
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
For the Chicken
- 2 cups flour
- 6 eggs
- 4 cups bread crumbs
- 8 chicken cutlets pounds to ¼” thick
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- finely chopped fresh parsley for garnish
- olive oil for frying
Instructions
- Salad: In a large bowl toss together the arugula, microgreens, tomatoes, red onions, cheese, salt, and pepper and keep cool until ready to serve.
- Next, in a medium-size bowl add in the lemon and honey and slowly drizzle in the olive oil while continuing to whisk until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Chicken: In a medium-size baking pan or bowl mix together the flour, salt and pepper and set aside.
- In a separate second medium-size baking pan or bowl whisk together, the eggs and salt until combined and set aside.
- In a separate third medium-size baking pan or bowl mix together, the bread crumbs and salt until combined and set aside.
- Season the pounded out chicken cutlets on all sides with salt and pepper and one by one coat in the flour, then dredge in the egg mixture following up by coating and pressing down into the bread crumbs making sure the chicken cutlet is completely breaded. Repeat until the chicken cutlets are all breaded.
- Add about ½ cup of olive oil to a large frying pan over medium-low heat and add in the breaded chicken cutlets, 1 to 2 at a time, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through. Drain on a paper towel until ready to serve.
- Serve the cooked chicken Milanese with the salad and lemon vinaigrette.
Notes
- You can absolutely serve your chicken Milanese with other side dishes such as risotto or a creamy polenta recipe.
- You can either fry it up in some oil, or gently cook it in a small amount of oil and bake it in the oven.
- Baked chicken Milanese is great and a super easy way to use less oil and make sure the chicken is cooked through.
- How to Reheat: Add the chicken parmigiana to a casserole dish and top off with foil. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 375° or until warm.
- How to Store: Store the chicken milanese covered in plastic in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Be sure to keep the salad separate from the chicken milanese. Chicken milanese freezes well covered individually in plastic for up to 2 months. The salad will not freeze.
Nutrition
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One of my faves too!
I top mine with arugula and pear salad with a sweetened olive oil and cider vinegar dressing. Delish!
Another winning meal from Billy. The chicken and salad was delicious. I used seasoned Panko bread crumbs. Other than that I stuck to recipe. As recommended I made risotto (for the first time). I was a little intimidated but found it to be easy but time consuming. This meal received rave reviews from the fam.
This recipe is nice but I prefer a few additions which I would like to mention. I added grated parmesan cheese and lemon zest to the breadcrumbs, 1/3 parmesan in 2/3 breadcrumbs. It is also better to season your breadcrumbs by adding chili flakes, black pepper, chili flakes, Herbs de Provence, rosemary and oregano.
Great to add those things, but my intention was to keep it as close to the original as possible and those extra things weren’t just lying around.
This looks so delicious!
Thanks Becky!
We love chicken Milanese! This was absolutely perfect!
Thank you so much!
This looks amazing! What a great dish to make for any dinner.
Thanks Beth!
This is one of my all time favorite dishes! Thank you for a delicious recipe!
Welcome and thanks for checking it out!
I love how flavorful this is!!
Thank you!