Crispy Pork Cutlet - Your new favorite dinner!
This crispy pork cutlet recipe has been a total weeknight winner in my house—I’ve made it more times than I can count! The outside turns golden and crunchy (like, perfectly crunchy), and the inside stays juicy every single time. A squeeze of lemon and a simple salad on the side, and dinner feels a whole lot fancier than it actually is. It’s easy, satisfying, and seriously hard to mess up!
Ingredients
- 4 thin pork chops, see notes
- 1 teaspoon EACH: garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg, whisked with two tablespoons of water
- ½ cup fine breadcrumbs
- 2 cup cooking oil, see notes
Instructions
- Place the pork chops on a cutting board, trim any excess fat, and flatten them by pounding with the dull side of your knife. Create a cross-hatch pattern, hitting them in one direction and then turning the chop 90 degrees and hitting it all the way across in the other direction. Flip the chop over and repeat on the other side. You can go back and forth a few times until it is ¼ to ½ inch thick. You can also use a meat mallet - but I use a knife to dirty fewer dishes.4 thin pork chops
- Season both sides of the cutlets with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.1 teaspoon EACH: garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper
- Set up three shallow bowls. Put the flour in one bowl, whisk the egg with water in another, and add breadcrumbs to the third.¼ cup all-purpose flour, 1 large egg, ½ cup fine breadcrumbs
- Dip each cutlet first in flour, then in egg, and finally coat it well with breadcrumbs. Using one hand for the dry steps (flour and breadcrumbs) and one hand for the wet steps (picking up the raw pork and egg) keeps your hands relatively mess-free. Place the breaded cutlets on a baking sheet and let them rest while you heat the oil.
- Pour 2 inches of oil into a large frying pan with high sides (see notes for alternatives) and heat it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to maintain the temperature. Add two breaded pork cutlets and cook them for 2 minutes on each side.2 cup cooking oil
- Remove the cutlets from the oil and place them on a plate lined with paper towels while you fry the remaining two.
- Squeeze a little lemon juice over the top and serve right away.
Notes
Pork loin chops: I prefer using chops that are between ½ and 1 inch thick for this recipe. The thicker the chop, the more you'll need to pound it. If only thicker pork chops are available at the grocery store, you can freeze them for 30 minutes, then cut them in half to make thinner chops.
Skillet: This is the skillet I have. It has high sides, making it ideal for frying. If you don't have something similar, use a pot and fry one cutlet at a time.
Oil: If you keep the oil at the right temperature, it uses surprisingly little to fry your food to crispy perfection. This recipe only absorbs two tablespoons of oil - I've measured! Once the 2 cups of oil have cooled, strain it back into the bottle to use the rest next time you make a crispy, fried dinner. The best oil to use is a high-heat cooking oil such as canola, peanut, sunflower, or avocado.
Serving: 1cutlet, Calories: 163kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.03g, Cholesterol: 47mg, Sodium: 699mg, Potassium: 56mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 68IU, Calcium: 33mg, Iron: 1mg