This is essentially butterfly chicken breast, just tweaked a little to make a heart shape. You know, just to share the love and all. Anywho, let’s see just how easy this is to make! Follow me…
Butterfly Chicken Breast
Butterflying chicken breasts isn’t just a novelty, it’s actually a really efficient way to cook chicken. By butterflying the chicken you not only ensure the meat will cook quicker, but most importantly that it’ll cook more evenly. To butterfly a chicken breast, you’re essentially horizontally slicing it in half, but ensuring you keep it attached in the middle. I’ve found it doesn’t really matter which side you start from, so long as you slice very carefully and ensure you don’t go right through the meat. I usually just look at the breast and envision it folding out to see which way would make the best heart shape.
Heart Shaped Chicken Breast
To turn the butterflied breast into a heart you really just need to slice the very top, to form the curves of the heart. You can just trim around the edges if you need to. And that’s it! Process shots: lay chicken breast on chopping board (photo 1), horizontally slice open, making sure it stays attached (photo 2), slice down the centre to open up then slice the very top (photo 3), lay over cling film (photo 4), gently pound until even thickness (photo 5), trim if needed then season with s&p (photo 6).
Chicken Schnitzel
Now you could just fry the chicken as it is, but we’re gonna coat it in a really easy breading. Just for extra crispiness 😛
Panko Breadcrumbs
Panko breadcrumbs are great because they’re big and airy. As such, once they’re baked they come out nice and crispy. You’ll find these in the Asian section of most supermarkets. Process shots: mix seasoning into flour (photo 1), coat chicken (photo 2), coat chicken in beaten eggs (photo 3), add seasoning to Panko (photos 4&5), coat chicken (photo 6).
Shallow Frying
The quickest and easiest way to cook the schnitzel is to shallow fry. You don’t need a huge amount of oil, we’re not deep frying. Just enough to comfortably coat the bottom of the pan. I recommend using an oil with a high smoking point like vegetable oil.
Can I bake these instead?
You can, and I’ve added a section on this in the recipe card notes section 🙂
Serving Heart Shaped Chicken Schnitzel
I typically serve the schnitzel with Fries or Wedges and lemon wedges. Mustard Mash is also awesome. Check out all my Sides though for inspiration! You could also turn it into a Chicken Parmesan if you’re really feeling the love! (photo below) Love a good schnitzel? Check out my Pork Schnitzels with Bonus Sauce or Chicken Schnitzels with Mushroom Gravy! Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these heart shaped chicken schnitzels shall we?!
How to make Heart Shaped Chicken (Full Recipe & Video)
