Air Fryer Schnitzel

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Air Fryer Schnitzel. How to air fry schnitzel from fresh or from frozen. An easy to follow breaded recipe that is easy to put together and tastes delicious. You can use our recipe to make either chicken, beef, veal, or pork schnitzel.

Our air fryer chicken schnitzel was originally shared on Recipe This in January 2017. This is the updated version with more photos and the addition of a frozen schnitzel.

air fryer schnitzel air fryer recipe
air fryer schnitzel

Air Fryer Schnitzel

Yesterday on Recipe This, we updated our air fryer chicken cordon bleu and today is the turn of creating a chicken version of air fryer schnitzel.

Another delicious idea for breaded chicken in the air fryer and once you try air fryer schnitzel there is no going back.

I first tried chicken schnitzel on vacation with German friends and when we went to Germany on vacation in the summer of 2018, my first thought was how many schnitzels I could eat in one quick trip to Germany.

Well I kind of lost count. They are just so addictive, and you will find them on every campsite or café menu.

I also ate way too many pastries at the breakfast buffet, thankfully I burned a load of calories walking through the Black Forest with the rest of the Milner clan.

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What Is Schnitzel?

Schnitzel is similar to chicken fried steak and comes from Germany. Even though chicken schnitzel is common, you can also get other meat versions.

I have tried chicken schnitzel, pork schnitzel, beef schnitzel and the best I ever tried was veal schnitzel.  

To make a homemade chicken schnitzel you would use butterflied chicken breasts and bread them. Of course, in a traditional recipe they are pan fried.

But today, we are transforming them to the air fryer to make a crispy schnitzel with less oil.

Can You Air Fry Schnitzel?

Yes you can and it is less greasy compared to a classic schnitzel. Schnitzel is often pan fried in oil and you can often taste the grease if you don’t like your food greasy.

Instead if you air fry schnitzel it will still have the wonderful crispy texture, but without feeling oil heavy.

Making Chicken Schnitzel In Air Fryer

chicken schnitzel in air fryer

The ingredients for air fryer chicken schnitzel, are simple everyday ingredients that you can source, without having to go grocery shopping.

  • Chicken Breasts – We are doing a chicken breast version of schnitzel. You can swap this for veal, pork, or beef if you prefer. But any standard chicken fillets can be used, or already butterflied chicken. Depending on how thick you want your chicken schnitzel to be.
  • Egg Bowl – Create a bowl with beaten eggs ready for your breading. You can include wet ingredients to your egg bowl to make it more flavoursome. I like to add garlic puree to this bowl.
  • Flour Bowl – The next bowl in your production line is your flour bowl. I use plain flour and you can flavour it with salt and favourite dried seasonings. My favourite is to add tarragon and salt and pepper.
  • Breadcrumbs Bowl – I have a bag in my freezer where I collect leftover bread for using as breadcrumbs in air fryer recipes. I load breadcrumbs in the bowl, and I have my production line complete.

Any air fryer will do a good job at air fryer schnitzel, though we are using our Philips Air Fryer XL.

How To Air Fry Schnitzel?

how to air fry chicken schnitzel

The quick version of cooking chicken schnitzel in air fryer goes as follows:

  1. Create a production line with bowls of egg, flour and breadcrumbs.
  2. Load chicken into flour, then egg and then breadcrumbs until well coated in each.
  3. Air fry + eat!

There is a little more to it than that, but those are the simple basics!

Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Schnitzel

Would you like to cook frozen chicken schnitzel instead? You can then bypass your production line and just load frozen chicken schnitzels directly into the air fryer basket.

Frozen chicken schnitzels are ideal for air fryer cooking and come out perfectly crispy. But they will never taste as good as freshly cooked.

How To Cook Frozen Schnitzel?

To cook frozen schnitzel in the air fryer goes like this:

  1. Place frozen schnitzel in the air fryer and spray with extra virgin olive oil.
  2. Cook on medium, flip and cook again on the other side.
  3. Cook + Eat!

You can also use different brands of frozen schnitzel but do note you might need to adjust cook time if size and shape differs.

Chicken Schnitzel Air Fryer Time

The cook time can vary for air fryer schnitzel. It depends on the thickness of the meat and of course if you are cooking from fresh or frozen.

When we cooked fresh chicken schnitzel, we found the cook time to be 12 minutes, compared to 16 minutes for frozen.

Listen To Air Fryer Chicken Schnitzel

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Chicken Schnitzel Leftovers

air fryer schnitzel leftovers

What we found was that with shop bought butterflied chicken you end up with lots of odds and ends. Pieces that are way too small to make a chicken schnitzel with.

What we did with these is make them into little schnitzel chunks and they were equally delicious.

air fryer schnitzel
air fryer schnitzel
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5 from 2 votes

Air Fryer Schnitzel

Air Fryer Schnitzel. How to air fry schnitzel from fresh or from frozen. An easy to follow breaded recipe that is easy to put together and tastes delicious. You can use our recipe to make either chicken, beef, veal, or pork schnitzel.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Total Time17 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Air Fryer
Servings: 4
Calories: 938kcal

Ingredients

Kitchen Gadgets:

Air Fryer Schnitzel Ingredients:

Instructions

  • Create your production line with a bowl for eggs, a bowl for flour and a bowl for breadcrumbs. Add garlic puree to your egg bowl, mixed herbs to your breadcrumbs and tarragon to your flour. Season all three bowls with salt and pepper and stir.
    How To Air Fry Schnitzel?
  • Add your chicken to your flour bowl, then your egg bowl and finally your breadcrumbs. Making sure each bowl has well coated your chicken.
    How To Air Fry Schnitzel?
  • Load your chicken into the air fryer basket and cook for 8 minutes at 180c/360f. Turn with kitchen tongs and cook for a further 4 minutes at 200c/400f.
    How To Air Fry Schnitzel?
  • Load onto plates and serve with your preferred sides.
    How To Air Fry Schnitzel?

Video

Notes

Frozen. If cooking air fryer frozen schnitzel, then you can bypass above. Instead load up to 4 frozen schnitzels into the air fryer basket and cook for 8 minutes at 180c/360f. Turn with tongs and cook for a final 8 minutes at 160c/320f.
Measurements. Its not essential to measure out the ingredients in this recipe. Simply fill a bowl with flour and fill a bowl with breadcrumbs. You can always add in more if you run out.
Overcrowding. Air fryer sizes differ, and I recommend for a medium air fryer to only cook two at once.
Quality Chicken. If you are looking for a quality chicken breasts to cook in the air fryer, I recommend Butcher Box. Their chicken breasts come to you frozen and you can remove the packaging and load the chicken straight into the air fryer.
Thanks for reading our air fryer schnitzel recipe on Recipe This. We have many more air fryer recipes for you to check out next. Though, our personal recommendation would be to pair our air fryer chicken schnitzel with our air fryer frozen French fries.

Nutrition

Calories: 938kcal | Carbohydrates: 147g | Protein: 53g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 196mg | Sodium: 1517mg | Potassium: 866mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 479IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 245mg | Iron: 11mg
Nutrition InfoPlease Note: Nutrition values are our best estimate based on the software we use at Recipe This and are meant as a guide. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Recipe This

Hi! I am Sam and along with my chef hubby Dom we love sharing with you easy everyday recipes using kitchen gadgets. We are also the authors of The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook, an amazing air fryer cookbook filled with 140+ everyday air fryer recipes. Beyond the air fryer we also love the instant pot, slow cooker, soup maker, ninja foodi, pie marker and several other kitchen gadgets. CLICKING HERE →

6 thoughts on “Air Fryer Schnitzel”

  1. 5 stars
    I have never cooked this recipe ever, it was truly delicious thank you. It turned out just as the pictures, my better half raved about it, our lives have changed forever.

    Reply
  2. 5 stars
    Another super delicious and super easy recipe. All your recipes so far have been a hit and this is one of my favourites. Thanks so much Samantha.

    Reply
  3. 5 stars
    This schnitzel tasted delicious! Without a doubt the best I’ve ever made. The crumbs made all the difference. My husbands comment “this is great who needs a pub one when you can make this”! 5 stars of yum!

    Reply

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