What You Need to Know to Prepare & Cook Beef Schnitzel

Crumbed beef schnitzels are tender, crunchy, crispy and decadent – they are perfect crowd-pleasers that are sure to have people coming back for more. Here is what you need to know to prepare and cook beef schnitzels:

Start with the Beef

The best beef cuts for making schnitzels are thin beef escalopes or thinly sliced boneless shoulder steak or topside. If you are slicing the meat yourself, you will need to use a meat tenderiser to ensure the meat is extra tender.

Make the Crumbs

To make the crumbs, use a mix of half fresh and half dried breadcrumbs (or you can use half dried breadcrumbs and half dry seasoned stuffing mix).

For extra flavour, add some grated parmesan pecorino, and some chopped herbs (parsley works well). If you want an extra light and crunchy coating, you can use Japanese-style Panko Crumbs instead.

Choose the Oil

Standard olive oil is a good choice when it comes to frying beef schnitzels, since it has a high smoke point of 210ºC. You can also use grapeseed, canola, sunflower or rice bran oil.

Prep the Schnitzels

You will need to use three (deep) plates to crumb the beef:
Plate 1: Top with plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper
Plate 2: Top with beaten egg mixed with milk or oil to help the crumbs stick
Plate 3: Top with your crumb mixture

To crumb the beef:

• Dust the beef in flour. Shake off excess, then coat in egg mixture. Dip into crumbs.
• Store the crumbed beef in a long dish (in a single layer), or between sheets of baking paper, so the crumbs don’t go soggy.
• Keep the schnitzels in the fridge for 15 minutes before you fry them, as this will ensure the coating sticks to the meat.

Fry Away!

Shallow-frying is the most popular method for cooking crumbed beef. To shallow-fry your beef schnitzel:

• Add oil to a medium-sized, heavy-based pan until it reaches halfway. Heat over moderately high heat until hot.
• Cook the beef in batches (careful not to overcrowd the pan). Cook both sides until lightly golden.
• Reheat the oil between batches. If the oil isn’t hot enough, it won’t seal the crumb coating and the crumbs will get soaked with oil.
• Drain the beef schnitzels on paper towel after cooking. Keep warm in a moderate oven while you cook remaining batches.
• If your oil starts to smoke, turn the heat down immediately!

And there you have it! Making beef schnitzels is pretty simple! Show us some pictures of how your schnitzels turn out on our Facebook page.

This post was adapted from Australian Beef.