This chicken Milanese is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside! Perfect for lunch or dinner – it’s breaded, lightly fried, and packed with traditional Italian flavors. This chicken Milanese recipe comes together in under 30 minutes.
What Make this Chicken Milanese Recipe So Good
- Italian breadcrumbs surrounding a thin chicken cutlet make for an incredibly crispy chicken Milanese. It’s like one big grown-up chicken tender, but better!
- It’s loaded with flavor! There are spices at every turn – in the flour coating, breadcrumbs, and in the vinaigrette that gets drizzled on top.
- Makes for a great light, yet filling lunch. It would also make an amazing dinner, paired with a side of crispy potatoes or cheesy risotto – YUM!
Key Ingredients for Chicken Milanese
Chicken Breasts – Purchase two large chicken breasts, then you’ll be slicing and pounding these into four cutlets for this recipe. I prefer slicing my own cutlets to purchasing pre-sliced and pounded cutlets from the store. This way, you can control the thickness of the cutlets yourself (thinner cutlets yield a crispier Milanese!).
Italian Breadcrumbs – Since they’re pre-seasoned, Italian breadcrumbs create a more flavorful chicken Milanese. I don’t recommend swapping these out for plain breadcrumbs. If you’re gluten-free, you can use gluten-free Italian breadcrumbs instead!
Lemon Vinaigrette – The easiest vinaigrette you’ll ever make! Just one part lemon juice to one part olive oil. This offers a deliciously vibrant and fresh flavor to your chicken Milanese.
Chef’s Tips
- When dredging your cutlets in the flour, egg, and breadcrumbs use one hand for the flour and breadcrumbs, and your other hand for the egg mixture. This will help keep things tidy while you prep your chicken.
- If you have a cast iron skillet, use it! Cast iron does an incredible job of distributing the heat and evenly cooking your cutlets.
- Use an oven rather than a microwave to heat up any leftover chicken Milanese. Set your oven to 350° Fahrenheit, place the chicken on a wire rack and reheat for 10-15 minutes.
More Delicious Chicken Recipes
- Whole30 Chicken Cacciatore
- Chicken Piccata
- Air Fryer Chicken Breast
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Chicken Pesto Sandwich
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Chicken Milanese
Equipment
- Small bowl (3 shallow bowls)
- Meat mallet (or rolling pin)
- Parchment Paper
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts about 1 ½ pounds
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup milk see Notes
- ½ cup all purpose flour see Notes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs see Notes
- ¼ cup olive oil
For Serving
- 4 cups arugula
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup shaved parmesan cheese
- 1 lemon cut into wedges
Instructions
- Lay your chicken breasts on a cutting board. While holding your palm on top of one, slice horizontally down the center of the breast to create two chicken cutlets. Repeat with the other chicken breast.
- Place each chicken cutlet between two sheets of wax paper and use either a mallet or a rolling pin to pound the chicken until very thin (the thinner, the better!).
- Whisk the eggs and milk in a shallow bowl, set aside. Add the breadcrumbs to a separate shallow bowl, set that aside as well.
- In a third shallow bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, salt and pepper.
- Dredge both sides of a chicken cutlets in the flour mixture, then dip in the egg mixture, then dip and coat in the breadcrumbs. Repeat for all cutlets and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low, wait for oil to get hot and then carefully add in cutlets (you might have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your skillet). Fry each cutlet for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown, remove from the skillet and place on a paper towel-lined plate.
- For serving, add the olive oil and lemon juice to a small bowl and whisk together creating your vinaigrette.
- Add a chicken cutlet to each plate, top with arugula, lemon vinaigrette, shaved parmesan and a lemon wedge.
Notes
- Make it Dairy-Free: Use non-dairy milk instead of regular milk and omit parmesan cheese.
- Make it Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free Italian breadcrumbs instead of regular Italian breadcrumbs and gluten-free flour instead of all-purpose flour.
Nutrition
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Hi! I’m Sam, a travel, food and fitness enthusiast from the New York metro area. I love creating new and inventive recipes, and my favorite part is sharing them with others. My love of food goes all the way back to my early childhood, I grew up cooking alongside my mom and Nonna – the two best cooks I know! When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m either planning my next vacation, spending time outdoors (preferably on a beach), or bingeing Netflix’s latest docu-series. My passion for eating and living well led me to create the blog and Instagram account, Sam Does Her Best, where I health-ify my favorite comfort foods. I’m a big believer that good-for-you food can still be exploding with flavor and (most importantly) easy to make. I’m thrilled to be here at 40 Aprons doing what I do best – creating, photographing, and sharing delicious recipes with you all!
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