German Schnitzel Recipe ~ Oma's Jägerschnitzel

➤ by Oma Gerhild Fulson

Oma's easy German Schnitzel recipe is a perfect addition to your German food recipe collection. In fact, it's the easiest way to make the perfect Schnitzel!

Schnitzel are really just thin cutlets and can be made from veal, pork, chicken, turkey ... just about any kind of meat. They are pounded thin with a meat hammer to tenderize, then breaded, and fried.

It doesn't get much easier than that, especially if you can buy your schnitzel already tenderized. How to make schnitzel really isn't rocket science! 

One of the most popular traditional recipes is for Jägerschnitzel (Hunter's Schnitzel). This is served with a most wonderful mushroom sauce. 

For this type of schnitzel, it's normally a breaded one that is made. However, sometimes its served with un-breaded meat, making it a quicker and easier version than the breaded one.

You choose your fav. Mine? The breaded one that I've given below. It's German food at its best.

Can you make Schnitzel in an Air Fryer?

Yes, you can. My granddaughter, Lydia, made these in an Instant Pot Vortex Plus Air Fryer using her easy recipe. 

Served together with her favorite red cabbage as a side dish, this would also make a great sandwich on a German bun. So traditionally German.

What do you serve with Schnitzel?

There are SO many ways to serve Schnitzel!

• Served plain with red cabbage and warm potato salad on the side. Wunderbar!
• Serve with Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) or pomme frites! Wunderbar!
• Serve in a Brötchen (bun). Wunderbar!

Schnitzel, served any which way is just plain WUNDERBAR!

What are some common Schnitzel varieties?

Here are the top 10 Schnitzel varieties in Germany:

1. Jägerschnitzel (hunter’s) is topped with mushroom sauce
2. Käseschnitzel has cheese melted on top
3. Münchner Schnitzel is covered with horseradish and/or mustard before coating in flour, egg and bread crumbs
4. Naturschnitzel is un-breaded, served plain or with a simple pan sauce
5. Paprikaschnitzel has a tomato sauce with paprika and red peppers
6. Rahmschnitzel is topped with a cream sauce, often containing some mushrooms
7. Schnitzel Holstein is served with onions, capers, and a fried egg on top
8. Vegetarisches Schnitzel is a meatless and made from soy or tofu
9. Wiener Schnitzel or Kalbsschnitzel is the traditional breaded veal schnitzel
10. Zigeunerschnitzel (gypsy) has a sauce containing tomato, bell peppers, and onion slices

What is the difference between Schnitzel and Wiener Schnitzel?

The original Wiener Schnitzel is thought to come from Vienna, Austria in the 1600's. This has to be made from veal and is controlled by law.

In Germany, if it's not made with veal, it must be labelled as coming from pork or chicken, etc. That means, you'll have Schweineschnitzel (pork cutlets) or Putenschnitzel (turkey cutlets) on the menu in restaurants. 

Me? I love the pork schnitzel!

Looking for more history about this wonderful dish? Check out this article.

How to make your own Schnitzel from pork chops

Don't have any schnitzel at your butcher's? Is there an alternative?

Absolutely! I take some nice thick boneless pork chops and butterfly them. Then I gently pound them to an even thinness. Especially when these are on sale, Hubby and I will make an assembly line:

1. Cut. 
2. Pound. 
3. Package. 
4. Freeze. 

Perfect when I need a quick meal. Since they're so thin, they thaw real quick.

Wunderbar!

Turn Pork Chops into Schnitzel ...

I prefer to use thick boneless pork chops and turn them into schnitzel. First, I trim off the fat that's usually around the outer edge. Make sure you take off any 'silver skin' that may also be along the edge. 

If this fat isn't removed, it will cause the schnitzel to curl when it is frying.

"Butterfly" the pork chop: Use a very sharp knife and cut the pork chop in half, almost all the way through. If you cut starting on the rounded side edge, you'll have the longer straight edge as the 'butterfly back'. 

When you are almost all the way through, open the pork chop (like a book). You should be able to lie it flat. The middle part should be as thick as the rest of the pork chop. 

If the middle is much thicker, cut it just a bit more. Flatten the meat. 

Cover the meat with some plastic wrap, and using the smooth side of the meat hammer, pound the pork chop sort of gently. You do not want the meat to tear.

You want the schnitzel to be no more than ¼-inch thick.

Set up three shallow bowls. The first has flour, the second an egg/water mix, and the third has bread crumbs.

Dredge the seasoned schnitzel into flour, then the egg, and lastly in the bread crumbs. Repeat this whole process with all the schnitzel.

Fry the schnitzel either in clarified butter or a butter/oil mixture. Each side only takes a few minutes. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate and then keep warm in the oven until the rest have been fried.

Be careful not to crowd them in the pan. You may only be able to fry one at a time, depending on how big your schnitzels are. Mine below is quite big!

Even though schnitzels aren't deep fried, they pretty well swim in the fat. The trick to getting a puffy batter is to splash some of the hot fat onto the sides and top of the schnitzel as it is frying. Don't submerge though. Just a few splashes.

Planning on making Jägerschnitzel?

You'll need to head over to my recipe for Jäger Sauce: the most amazing and awesomely creamy mushroom sauce ever! Actually, it would be best if you make the sauce first and then fry up the schnitzel. Here's how...

Ready to make schnitzel?

03.09.2021 revision update

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