Pork schnitzel is a staple of Hungarian cuisine, which is why more and more people are seeking a reliable recipe for preparing this delicious dish in an air fryer.
Making perfect pork schnitzel in an air fryer involves two key tricks, which I will share with you in this recipe.
Perfect Pork Schnitzel and Fat
In the kitchen, almost everything comes down to fat. Fat carries most of the flavors, and it enables us to use higher cooking temperatures, achieving different and desirable frying results.
Consequently, no pork schnitzel will ever be perfect unless we add some fat. If the frying medium itself is not fat—as is the case with an air fryer, where it is literally air—we need to add the fat directly to the food.
This is, in fact, the most important trick to making perfect pork schnitzel in an air fryer: before breading, apply a thin layer of fat to the meat.
The biggest advantage of this method is the freedom to use any type of fat. You don’t need to stick with the most common oils, which, from an omega 3:6 standpoint, are very unhealthy (like vegetable oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil, or sunflower oil). You can use these if you’d like.
However, healthier and more flavorful options include olive oil, goose fat, duck fat, or bacon fat.
2 Secrets to Making Perfect Pork Schnitzel in an Air Fryer
- Apply a thin layer of fat to the meat before breading. This should be around 3-4 grams per schnitzel. Feel free to use whatever premium fat you prefer.
- Season the egg and the flour. Because it’s difficult to season the fat-coated meat, add more salt and freshly ground black pepper to the egg and the flour mixtures.
Pork Schnitzel Cooking Tips in Air Fryer
Fry the schnitzels for 15 minutes at 355°F in the air fryer. If you follow this method, your air fryer pork schnitzels will turn out crunchy on the outside yet soft and succulent on the inside—just like the yummiest, most perfect deep-fried version.
It is important to turn the schnitzels during cooking, preferably twice: once after 6-7 minutes, and then again after another 6-7 minutes.
Serve your pork schnitzels warm and crunchy, straight out of the air fryer.
Pork schnitzel in Hungarian: Rántott hús
Pork schnitzel in air fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless pork chops sliced
- 5 tbsp flour
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 30 g fat see recipe for details
- salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare a traditional breading station. Put the flour on a plate, whisk the egg in another one, and put the breadcrumbs on a third one. Add salt and pepper to the flour and egg mixture. This is the first trick, we flavor the eggs and the flour and not the meat. This is because of trick no. 2.
- Prepare the meat slices. Pound them, reach around ¼ inch or 5-7 mm of thickness. Pat them dry with some paper towel.
- Coat the meat slices lightly with the fat. Then bread them the traditional way: first dredge them in flour, then in the egg mixture and finally cover with the breadcrumbs. The second trick is to apply some fat on the meat before breading as we won't use any oils during cooking and we need some fat to make perfect crispy pork schnitzels.
- Preheat your air fryer. Cook the meat at 355 F for 15 minutes. Turn them after 6-7 minutes and then again, preferably after another 6-7 minutes.
- Serve your air fried pork schnitzels warm, fresh and crunchy.
