The Greatest Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich Known To Man

I’m not one to brag. Not usually. Certainly not all the time. Sometimes, though, I exceed even my own high expectations and, as an internationally-recognized sandwich expert, I have to acknowledge my own greatness and, yes, congratulate myself.

Attaboy, Jim. You made one hell of a chicken schnitzel sandwich.

I’ll tell you about it shortly.

What is schnitzel though? When I saw on the Wikipedia List of Sandwiches that the country of origin for the Chicken schnitzel sandwich was Australia, I had to do a double take. See, Schnitzel is an Austrian thing, not Australian. When I think of schnitzel, I usually think of Wiener Schnitzel, which despite the name is not any kind of hot dog; rather, “schnitzel” means a breaded fried cutlet and “Wiener” means in the style of Vienna. The country names Austria and Australia are similar, and it’s common enough for people who aren’t reading carefully to get them confused.

Yet on the Wikipedia page on schnitzel, you’ll see that there are many variants throughout the world–the milanesa of Latin America, Japanese tonkatsu, all manner of schnitzel in Europe and abroad. One of the first listed is the Australian take, which is apparently a super common thing to find on pub menus there.

Beef (which may be veal) and chicken schnitzel are both very popular dishes in Australia, particularly in pubs where they are among the most widely available meals. Chicken schnitzel (less so beef) is also sold at many take-away establishments.

Schnitzel in Australia is often served in the form of the parmigiana, which is a schnitzel topped with Italian tomato sauce, cheese, and occasionally ham.

At pubs, schnitzel is typically accompanied by chips (French fries), salad, and sometimes bacon. Plain and parmigiana schnitzels are sometimes respectively known by colloquial names “Schnitty”, “Schnitter”, and “Parma” or “Parmie”.

So when I set out to make myself a schnitty sanger, I took a cue from that page. I made myself one with bacon, lettuce, and mayo. Then I made myself a chicken parm version, with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese browned under the broiler. Of course, I served both with fries

But to be honest, the Wikipedia article says nothing about sandwiches. And Crit, in her article on Chicken Schnitzel, didn’t seem familiar with the sandwich phenomenon in Australia either. As I searched the web for Australian chicken schnitzel sandwiches, I didn’t find much commonality. There’s the McDonald’s rendition, which comes in a Citrus Mayo version or BBQ & Swiss; I see a Caesar salad-inspired take; I see versions with tomato salsa or mayo & arugula; I even see a very Australian version with beetroot.

It’s almost like chicken schnitzel is such a common thing in Australia that people think nothing of popping one in a roll or some sliced bread with whatever they feel like throwing on it that day. Maybe, like a ham sandwich in the US, there’s no real standard Australian chicken schnitzel sandwich. Maybe I should just come up with the best chicken schnitzel sandwich I can think of at this moment and call it a day.

My first thought was: chutney. I do like my chutneys, and I had just picked up a couple of good ones at my local Indian market–green chili and tomato.

Just slapping some chicken and chutney between bread didn’t quite do the trick for me though. It was good, but it was missing something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on–at least, not until my job had a catered lunch on a Friday, and I just could not stop eating naan dipped in chicken tikka masala sauce.

Just like that, my recipe for the best possible, Sandwich Tribunal-endorsed chicken schnitzel sandwich came together. I absconded with the leftover sauce (I am not much of an absconder so I got permission first) and brought it home to make the Sandwich Of Serious Excellence you are about to experience vicariously.

First, though, we have a couple of condiments to put together.

Print Pin

Indian-style pickled onions

A zesty sandwich condiment

Course Condiment

Cuisine American, Indian

Keyword pickled onions

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 red onion
• 2 lemons juiced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• a little rice vinegar to top off

Instructions

• Slice the onions into thin even rings, preferably using a mandolin or similar
• Add salt, lemon juice, chili powder, and cilantro to the onions and mix together well in a bowl.
• Transfer to a jar, add a little vinegar so not too many of the onions are above the liquid level, and screw the lid on solidly. Refrigerate for 2 hours, shaking the mixture occasionally.

Print Pin

Kachumber

Indian-style tomato/cucumber salad

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber seeded and diced
• 2 to matoes diced
• 1/2 red onion finely diced
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 8 mint leaves finely chopped
• 1 tsp toasted cumin seeds
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate for an hour or two.

Print Pin

Chicken Tikka Masala Schnitzel Sandwich

Truly one of the greatest sandwich creations in the history of mankind

Course Sandwich

Cuisine American, Australian, Indian

Keyword schnitzel sandwich, tikka masala

Ingredients

• 1 chicken tenderloin
• 2 slices bread
• flour
• egg
• milk
• bread crumbs panko, natch!
• oil for frying
• Indian style pickled onions see above
• Indian style tomato/cucumber salad see above
• green chili chutney
• tomato chutney
• tikka masala sauce find a recipe, do I have to do everything?. You’ll want the sauce heated up.

Instructions

• Set up your breading station. You want a plate full of flour (you can season it if you want to, but we are putting a lot of flavor into this in the form of condiments, so all I did was add a touch of salt), a bowl of egg wash (a mixture of beaten egg and milk, about 1 tbsp milk per egg), and a plate full of bread crumbs
• Pound your chicken tenderloin(s) flat using a kitchen mallet. You can get fancy and put them between layers of plastic wrap, or inside a plastic bag–some people like doing it that way. Or you can just set them on a cutting board and gently pound from the center out until you have them at a relatively uniform thickness.
  
• Heat a half inch of oil (I used canola) in a cast iron skillet at a medium heat.
• While the oil is heating, bread the chicken. Each tenderloin gets coated in flour first, and the excess flour shaken off. Then dip it in the egg wash until it is completely coated in egg. Then push the tenderloin down, both sides, into the bread crumbs until it is completely coated in bread crumbs.
• Fry the tenderloins in the oil, 3-4 minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked through and the bread crumbs are nicely browned. Keep them warm while you assemble the sandwich.
• Toast and butter 2 slices of bread.
  
• Spread the green chili chutney on the bottom slice of toast, and the tomato chutney on the top slice. Tomato chutney is basically salsa with a little Indian flair, like ginger and fennel. It’s pretty wet but the butter should keep it from soaking into the bread too badly.
  
• Add your pickled onions to the chili side and your cucumber/tomato salad to the tomato side. Or vice versa. Do it however you want. It looked pretty this way though.
  
• Add a nice hot chicken schnitzel on top of the onions
  
• You heated up the tikka masala sauce, right? If not, nuke that fragrant orange mess right now and then spoon a good amount over the top of the chicken.
  
• Carefully put those two halves together and experience enlightenment

Notes

Yield: 1 sandwich. That’s all you need. But, y’know, maybe double up and make a few if you have family or friends around

This sandwich is one of the best things I’ve ever made for this site. The breaded chicken is crisp and mild; the tikka masala is rich, spicy and fragrant. The chili chutney has some heat but also more coriander-and-ginger brightness, while the tomato chutney gives a layer of additional savoriness. The pickled onions are sharply citrusy with a bit of crunch, and the cucumber/tomato salad is bright and herbacious. The sandwich is a bit messy, but that’s what my beard is for.

Yes, dear, I meant that’s what a napkin is for.

I think I nailed this, but if anybody out there has a better chicken schnitzel sandwich, I’m game to hear about it! Please leave a comment and tell me about your favorite!

Jim Behymer

I like sandwiches.

I like a lot of other things too but sandwiches are pretty great