Pork Schnitzels with Easy Bonus Sauce

These Pork Schnitzels are crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. They’re served with a simple and delicious Lemon Thyme Sauce!

Pork Schnitzels are super easy to make, they’re incredibly versatile and also relatively quick to prep. Traditionally Schnitzel is served with lemon wedges, but here I take things a step further. Follow me…

Lemon Thyme Sauce

This sauce is insanely easy to make and pairs PERFECTLY with Schnitzel. It’s got a nice hit of lemon, but also dreamy and creamy enough to pour over copious amounts and not distract from the Schnitzel.

Can I make this ahead of time?

Yep! I always make his before the schnitzel so I can use the same pan (less washing up and all that). Just tightly cover in the fridge until needed, or at room temp if making just before the schnitzel.

Do I have to make the sauce?

Although I do highly recommend serving schnitzel with a sauce, you can skip this part if you wish 🙂

Process shots: melt butter in pan (photo 1), fry garlic, shallots and lemon zest (photo 2), add cream, chicken stock, fresh thyme and lemon juice (photo 3), simmer until thickened (photo 4).

Pork Schnitzel

A schnitzel is essentially a thin slice of meat fried in breadcrumbs until crispy. You can use any meat (chicken, veal, turkey etc), but today we’re using pork.

Best pork to use?

You’ll want to use boneless pork chops. It’s important to trim the fat, or they’ll curl up in the pan. It’s also important to make sure your pork is close to room temp. This will ensure the pork stays nice and juicy as it fries.

Pound the Meat!

A crucial step is pounding the meat until it’s nice and thin. Just lay over cling film and bash with a rolling pin, mallet or even a heavy pan! Schnitzels are typically quite thin so feel free to give it a good bashing, but not so much it breaks apart. Pounding the meat will not only decrease cooking time, but with also tenderize it.

Panko, of course.

Allowing the meat to come to room temp and pounding it nice and thin will help the pork stay nice and tender/juicy, but we also want a nice crispy coating. For this you’ll want to coat the pork in Panko breadcrumbs. Panko are big and airy so result in extra crispiness when fried.

Process shots: lay cling film over pork (photo 1), pound until thin (photo 2), season (photo 3), dredge in seasoned flour (photo 4), dredge through beaten eggs (photo 5), coat in seasoned Panko breadcrumbs (photo 6).

Fried Pork Schnitzel

Alongside using Panko, you’re going to want to shallow fry the schnitzel to get it extra crispy. This is a really simple step, but here’s a couple of tips to help you along the way:

• Batches – Ensure you fry the schnitzels in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. This would not only lower temp of the oil too much, but will also cause the edges of the schnitzels to go mushy.
• Heat – Important to make sure the oil is hot enough or you run the risk of the breading going soggy and falling off.

Once you’ve fried them just pop them on a wire rack with paper towels underneath to catch the excess oil.

Process shots: add schnitzels to oil and fry (photo 1), flip when golden and continue frying until cooked through the centre (photo 2).

Can I make these ahead of time?

I find they’re at their crispiest/juiciest when made fresh, but you can store leftovers and reheat. Tightly cover in the fridge or freezer and reheat in the oven (more on this in the recipe card notes).

What to serve with Schnitzel?

Alongside the lemon thyme sauce, here I go with green beans and mash. Any form of veg and potato goes great though (roasted baby potatoes, potato dauphinoise, potato salad and many more).

If you’re after another easy and delicious pork chop recipe check out my Honey Garlic Pork Chops!

For another delicious schnitzel recipe check out my Heart Shaped Chicken Schnitzels and Chicken Schnitzels with Mushroom Gravy!

Right, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these pork schnitzels shall we?!

How to make Pork Schnitzels (Full Recipe & Video)

Pork Schnitzels with Lemon Thyme Sauce

These Pork Schnitzels are crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. They're served with a simple and delicious Lemon Thyme Sauce!

5 from 4 votes

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Servings (click & slide): 6 Schnitzels

Course: Dinner / Main Course

Cuisine: german

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Calories per serving: 419kcal

Author: Chris Collins

Cost per serving: £2 / $2.50

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Equipment:

• Large Frying Pan & Tongs
• Wooden Spoon
• 3 Large Shallow Bowls (for dredging)
• Cling Film & Mallet/Rolling Pin (for pounding pork)
• Cooling Wrack & Paper Towels

Ingredients (check list):

Schnitzels

• ▢ 6x 7oz/200g Boneless Pork Chops, brought to room temp (see notes)
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups / 90g Panko Breadcrumbs (see notes)
• ▢ 1/3 cup / 50g Plain/All Purpose Flour
• ▢ 2 Eggs, beaten
• ▢ 1 tsp EACH Paprika, Garlic Powder
• ▢ 1 cup / 250ml Vegetable Oil, or as needed
• ▢ Salt & Pepper, as needed

Lemon Thyme Sauce

• ▢ 3/4 cup / 180ml Heavy/Double Cream, at room temp
• ▢ 3/4 cup / 180ml Chicken Stock
• ▢ 2 tbsp Butter
• ▢ 2 tsp Fresh Thyme Leaves
• ▢ 1 Echalion/Banana Shallot, finely diced (or two small regular shallots)
• ▢ 2 cloves of Garlic, minced/finely diced
• ▢ 1 Lemon, zest and juice (to taste)
• ▢ Salt & Pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Lemon Thyme Sauce

• Melt 2 tbsp butter in a pan over medium heat and add in shallots & garlic. Fry until they soften and begin to brown, then add in the zest of 1 lemon. Fry for another 30 seconds or so then pour in stock and cream.
• Add in fresh thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper (to taste). Begin gently squeezing in your lemon juice, working to taste as you go. I find the perfect balance to be the zest + 1 tbsp lemon juice (approx 1/2 lemon). Give it a good stir then reduce to a gentle simmer until thickened. Pour in jug to one side and clean out pan.

Pork Schnitzel

• Ensure you've taken your pork out the fridge around 20mins before needed. Trim off all the fat from the chops (important or they'll curl up in the pan). One by one lay cling film over the pork and bash until nice and thin, but not so thin they start breaking apart. Season both sides with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
• Set up 3 bowls: 1st with flour, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp paprika and a heft pinch of salt and pepper. 2nd with beaten eggs. 3rd with Panko breadcrumbs, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp paprika and a hefty pinch of salt and pepper.
• One by one dredge the pork through the flour, into the eggs then finish in the breadcrumbs. Really ensure you thoroughly coat the pork at each stages, namely the breadcrumbs.
• Heat up enough oil to comfortably fill the bottom of your pan. If you drop a few breadcrumbs in the oil they should rapidly sizzle. 2-3 chops at a time, gently lower into the oil and fry for 2-3mins each side or until golden brown with the centre piping hot. They should be nice and thin so they won't take long to cook through, but to be sure they should be white all the way through with the juices running clear. Top up oil and bring up to temp in between batches if needed. Lay on wire rack with paper towels underneath once done.
• Serve Shnitzels with lemon thyme sauce drizzled over (give it a blitz in the microwave to warm up if needed). Enjoy!

Quick 1 min demo!

Notes:

a) Pork Chops - I quite like the smaller sized chops here because you can pound them nice and thin without the meat separating. You can use 4 larger pork chops if you wish, same rules apply though - trim the fat and work with the meat at room temp (important or the pork with seize up and go chewy as it cooks). You may also need to fry them for longer depending on how thin you pound them.

b) Panko - Panko breadcrumbs are great because they're larger and airy, meaning they come out extra crunchy when they're cooked. You'll find them in the Asian section of most stores.

c) Serving/Do I have to make the sauce? - You don't have to make the sauce, it's just an added bonus! Schnitzel is typically served with lemon wedges. Here I plonk it on some mash and serve with green beans.

d) Make Ahead - You can make these ahead of time but they don't come out quite as crispy/juicy. If you have leftovers though you can tightly store in the fridge for a couple of days or pop in the freezer. To reheat just thaw in the fridge if frozen then pop in the oven at 356F/180C until the pork is piping hot again.

e) Calories - based on using all the flour/eggs/panko (slight overestimate) and assuming 2 tsp oil per schnitzel soaked up. Also overestimate as it assumes pork fat is intact. Calories per schnitzel WITHOUT sauce.

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Nutrition:

Nutrition Facts

Pork Schnitzels with Lemon Thyme Sauce

Amount Per Serving

Calories 419 Calories from Fat 151

% Daily Value*

Fat 16.75g26%

Saturated Fat 4.024g20%

Trans Fat 0.096g

Polyunsaturated Fat 6.296g

Monounsaturated Fat 5.308g

Cholesterol 132mg44%

Sodium 208mg9%

Potassium 820mg23%

Carbohydrates 16.26g5%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 0.99g1%

Protein 47.59g95%

Vitamin A 189IU4%

Calcium 39mg4%

Iron 2.15mg12%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition is based on the absence of salt unless stated as a measurement in the ingredients. Cost is worked out based on ingredients bought from UK supermarkets, then divided by the number of servings. In both instances these values are just for guidance. Please check out my FAQ Page for more info.

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