Recipe This | Air Fryer Schnitzel (2024)

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

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.

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

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?

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

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.

Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!