Crusted Seeded chicken schnitzel is the stuff that dreams are made of and on a constant rotation in our house! If you are not familiar with schnitzel, it is less fancy than it sounds and is basically a cut of meat pounded thin, breaded and then pan fried. This seeded chicken has so much flavor thanks to all the amazing ingredients. Unlike regular breaded chicken that is made with bread crumbs only, this chicken has bread crumbs, spices, seeds to give it the ultimate crunch.
Ingredients you will need are:
- Chicken
- Panko bread crumbs
- eggs and flour (for coating the chicken)
- black and white sesame seeds
- sunflower seeds
- turmeric
- salt and pepper
- cayenne pepper
- oil for cooking
Some of these ingredients might not be what you have in your pantry but it is worth it to purchase them and make this. I did just that and used all of the ingredients when I made a large batch to have for meals later on.
Aside from this chicken being amazing in flavor, the real winner for me is that it is so easy to re-heat in the oven; It tastes like it was made fresh that day. I also tried it out in a big batch to freeze some for quick meal nights and you know what, it tastes just as amazing and crisp as if it were made that day. This is a recipe keeper for me.
As the name suggests, this is a recipe by chef Ottolenghi and it comes from the cookbook, Ottolenghi Simple! I’m sure you guessed by the name why I bought it. I have made almost all the recipes in this book already and they are all brilliant and delicious. Ottolenghi takes familiar flavors and not so familiar ones and transforms them into dishes that you may already know but changes the flavor profile. This seeded chicken is a great example of that. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
I love to serve this with a simple sauce made of mayonnaise, soy sauce, chili paste and sesame oil. I still need to write up a recipe for this but it is used all the time at our house. You don’t really need a sauce for this schnitzel because it is so full of flavor but hey, I like sauce! I also like to serve this with white rice and a nice charred vegetable like this charred broccoli.
I really hope you give this one a try and make it part of your meal rotation too!
Ottolenghi’s Seeded Chicken Schnitzel
Ingredients
Seeded Coating
- 6 tbsp salted sunflower seeds
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 3 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp black sesame seeds
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 cups plain panko bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp pepper
Other ingredients Needed
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts butterflied and pounded thin to about 1/4 inch thick
- 2 eggs beaten in a medium shallow bowl
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/8 cup vegetable oil You can start with less and add more as needed
Instructions
- In a large shallow baking dish, mix all of the ingredients for the seeded crust (above).
- In another large shallow baking dish add your flour
- In a third large shallow baking dish add your beaten eggs
- Now line up all of your baking dishes in a row next to each other starting with the flour then the egg then the seeded crust mix so you have a nice assembly lije ready for the chicken.
- Once you have done this, take the chicken breasts that you have pounded thin with a rolling pin or similar and dip it into the flour making sure to coat both sides well.
- Now remove the chicken from the flour and give it a light shake to remove any excess flour and then place it in the egg mixture.
- Coat the chicken front and back in the egg and then place it into the seeded crust mixture.
- Make sure to press the chicken down well in the seeded crust mixture so there is some of the mixture on all of it.
- Once the chicken is completely coated with the seed mixture, place it on a plate and continue to coat the remaining chicken following the steps above.
Cooking the chicken
- Pre-heat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add you oil to the pan and let it get nice and hot.
- Once the oil is heated, begin adding your chicken.
- Cook for about 4 minutes or until you see a nice golden color.
- Turn the chicken over and cook the other side for another 4-5 minutes until golden in color.
- Remove from the pan and serve immediately.
If you are making a large batch for meal prep or freezing
- After you are done cooking your chicken, place on to cooling racks to allow the chicken to cool and dry evenly on both sides.
Freezing
- Once cool, if freezing, place on a large sheet pan making sure they do not overlap and place in the freezer until completely frozen. Once frozen, remove from the sheet pan and place the frozen chicken in a freezer proof bag until ready to use. To thaw:Remove the chicken from the freezer and place in the refrigerator over night to thaw. You can also thaw the same day by placing it in the refrigerator at least 4 hours in advance of cooking it.
- To re-heat:Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place your chicken on top of the aluminum foil and fold the aluminum foil over the top of the chicken to prevent the crust from browning too much.Bake for 15-20 minutes or until you see the juices bubbling from the crust.
For meal prep
- Follow the instructions above for cooling down the chicken. Once cool you can individually wrap the chicken in containers.To re-heat:Place chicken in aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.Chicken can also be eaten cold cut into strips (it is great over a salad!)
This is delicious! I am going to check out the cookbook too. Thanks for the recommendation