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This Gluten-Free Chicken Schnitzel skips the breadcrumbs in favour of perfectly seasoned almond flour for a light and crisp and juicy 10 minute wonder meal.
Chicken Schnitzel is a favourite weeknight meal. We make it every single week and it's the perfect quick, easy and healthy meal.
This Gluten-Free Breaded Chicken is perfectly seasoned and crisp even though we have swapped the breadcrumbs for almond flour. The almond flour crisps up deliciously in the pan without being too crunchy or nutty. If you are concerned about the ingredients in shop bought gluten-free bread or are embarking on the Whole30 or don't feel like pulsing a batch of breadcrumbs then this recipe will suit you any which way.
You can serve it in so many different ways, as a salad with a fresh coleslaw, with new potatoes, mash, pasta or rice. It's an endlessly versatile meal which you will be returning to again and again.
Table of contents
Ingredients needed
The flour
Almond flour is my secret weapon in making the best gluten-free Chicken Schnitzel. It’s actually not that easy to get hold of though so do check if you’re ordering it online that it is actually the finely milled almond flour that you are buying.
Quite often you’ll find ground almonds are packaged up as almond flour but that’s not what you’re looking for here. The almond flour you want is white, powdery and well, flour-like.
You will be using the almond flour exactly the same way you would if you were coating with regular flour.
What else?
- Chicken breasts. There are many other occasions when I will urge you to use chicken thigh but here lean and light chicken breasts are the best choice for your gluten-free chicken escalope.
- Seasoning. Whisk paprika, onion granules, garlic powder, mustard powder and salt and pepper into the flour.
- Egg. This recipe uses 1 medium sized egg but you can use any size you have to hand.
- Fat. You want the rich flavour of butter but without the low burning point. Ghee is my favourite choice for this as you get the flavour and it can handle the high temperature. If you don't have any ghee to hand then use olive oil with a small knob of butter for the best of both worlds.
How to make it
The full recipe is included below in the recipe card.
- Take your chicken breast and bash out gently out to an even thickness with a meat mallet.
- Dip the chicken in beaten egg and then finally dredged through the seasoned almond flour.
- Pan fry the chicken for three minutes each side and before you can google the correct spelling for schnitzel, dinner is done.
Pro tips
- Before doing anything start pre-heating your pan. Heat on a medium heat for at least 10 minutes before adding your fat and your chicken. As soon as you have added the chicken then turn the heat down to low-medium.
- Your best choice for cooking this gluten-free crumbed chicken is a cast iron skillet, but you can use anything that has a good flat base which distributes heat evenly.
- Season the flour well so that the crisp coating is ultra flavourful.
- To check for doneness then pierce the chicken with a sharp knife and check the colour of the chicken in the very centre, there should be no trace of pink.
- Rest the chicken for at least 5 minutes before serving so the meat has a chance to relax.
- Whatever you do, don’t forget the squeeze of fresh lemon. It’s essential.
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How to serve it
I love to serve this gluten-free Chicken Schnitzel with a quick homemade coleslaw.
READ MORE >>> The Best Homemade Coleslaw
Or:
- New potatoes
- Mashed potato
- Jacket potato
- Tomato Spaghetti (to make Chicken Milanese)
- Rice and salad
Make ahead
If you want to save a little bit of time then you can prep this meal by bashing out the chicken up to 24 hours before so it's ready to be dredged right before cooking.
You can also season the almond flour ahead of time too. In fact you could season a whole batch of almond flour and store up to a month. Almond flour, once opened, is best to store in the fridge if you don't use it frequently.
Freezing
I don't recommend freezing this chicken once made, it tastes so much better cooked from fresh.
Other gluten free chicken recipes you'll love
- Calypso Chicken
- The Best Coronation Chicken
- Lemon Honey and Sesame Chicken
- Easy Gluten-Free Chicken Casserole
If you make this delicious Gluten-Free Chicken Schnitzel then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own baking creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
Gluten-Free Chicken Schnitzel
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 45 g almond flour - (not ground almonds)
- ½ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon onion granules
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 egg
- 1 chicken breast
Instructions
- Heat a large flat bottomed saucepan on a medium heat.
- Whisk together the almond flour with the paprika, onion granules, garlic powder, mustard powder, salt and pepper and sprinkle evenly onto a plate.
- Break the egg into a medium sized bowl and whisk lightly.
- Batter the chicken breast gently to an even 1 inch thickness, then dip first into the egg, then once fully coated dredge through the almond flour so it’s coated well on both sides.
- Melt the ghee in the pan and turn down to a medium-low heat.
- Carefully place the chicken into the pan and cook for 3 minutes each side until golden.
- Remove the chicken from the pan, cut into even strips and serve with homemade coleslaw.
Rachel Hankai says
Thank you for all your recipes and ideas, Georgina!! And the information you've shared regarding gluten-free flours is wonderful. It's so hard to figure out when one is first learning GF baking.
I wanted to make a suggestion for an alternative to almond flour (my daughter can't eat almonds or gluten) for the batter on schnitzel, chicken fingers, or even a crispy fish batter.... We are Canadians living in Tyrol, Austria and another easy way to get a crisp batter for schnitzel is to use tapioca flour for the first layer, then egg, then medium to finely ground GF corn flakes (using a nut grinder or food processor works). I also add spices (garlic/onion powder, thyme, sage, rosemary, etc) to the flour and corn flakes (optional), but this can also make a really wonderful batter that is super crispy when fried or even baked in the oven (if you want less oil in the recipe) from frozen (freezing the raw battered chicken between pieces of baking paper then into a ziplock bag).
And then of course, as they do it here in Austria, add a large spoonful of cranberry sauce on the side. I just thought I would suggest another alternative for those that may have gluten and nut issues... Hope this may help someone else in a similar situation.
Thanks again for all those fantastic recipes, Georgina!
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Rachel, I think that's a great suggestion. I love using tapioca flour for my breading (and potato starch or cornflour works beautifully too!) What a great idea to use GF cornflakes - I'll try that next time!
Alene says
I have to tell you that I tried the tapioca/cornflakes method and I loved it. I am on a fodmap diet for my stomach issues and I ate my allotment of almonds for the day. So I tried Rachel's method, and even my husband liked it. The picky one. Thank you, Rachel Hankai, and thank you, Georgina. For everything!5
Georgina Hartley says
You are so welcome!!
nicole (thespicetrain.com) says
This sounds and look SO delicious! Such a great idea to use almond flour, I always end up with a bunch of almond flour left over from baking and then never quite know what to do with it. This sounds like a wonderful way to use it. Thanks for sharing, Georgina! 🙂
Georgina says
Hi Nicole - thank you! It's one of my favourite meals at the moment and the almond flour works so well!