Thin pork or chicken cutlets pounded flat, dredged in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, then fried until shatteringly crisp and golden. The everyday Hungarian schnitzel, beloved cold the next day too.
Hungary inherited the breaded-cutlet tradition from its long entanglement with Austria during the Habsburg monarchy, when the Viennese schnitzel travelled across the empire. Hungarian cooks made it their own everyday Sunday dish, and a breaded, fried cutlet remains the default celebratory plate at countless family tables and roadside csardas.
A loud, crackly golden crust shatters to reveal tender, juicy meat inside. Plain and comforting, it begs for a squeeze of lemon and a forkful of cool, tangy potato salad.
The three-stage flour-egg-crumb coating bonds to the meat and forms an insulating shell; frying in hot fat sets that shell into a crisp barrier that steams the cutlet inside, keeping it moist.
Variations
Pork, chicken, turkey or veal cutlets; cheese-stuffed cordon bleu style; coatings flavoured with grated cheese or ground nuts
On the Palate
Where Rántott Hús Hungarian sits in the Hungarian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 18 min
Slice pork loin or chicken breast into thin cutlets and pound them between cling film until even and thin.
Watch outPound the cutlet to an even quarter-inch — thick spots stay raw while the thin edges overcook.
- 22 min
Season the cutlets on both sides with salt and pepper.
- 33 min
Set up three plates: one with flour, one with beaten eggs, one with fine breadcrumbs.
- 45 min
Coat each cutlet first in flour, then egg, then press firmly into breadcrumbs.
Watch outPress the crumbs on firmly so the coat sticks; a loose crust floats off in the oil and leaves bare patches.
- 53 min
Heat a generous layer of oil or lard in a wide pan until shimmering hot.
Watch outThe oil's ready when it shimmers and a crumb sizzles up at once — too cool and the crust soaks up grease instead of crisping.
- 66 min
Fry the cutlets a couple of minutes per side until deep golden and crisp.
Watch outPull them at deep even gold — they cook fast, and going darker means bitter crumb over dry meat.
- 72 min
Drain on paper towels to keep the crust crisp.
- 82 min
Serve with parsley potatoes, rice, or potato salad and a wedge of lemon.
