Oven Baked Breaded Italian Chicken Cutlets: Step by Step with Pictures

Baked breaded chicken cutlets have to be one of the most versatile foods that can be prepared in the kitchen. You can enjoy them by themselves as a meal or a snack, or use them to make Chicken Parmesan, a simple Chicken Cordon Bleu or even as a topping to a salad. Whatever you choose to use the baked breaded chicken cutlets, I can assure you that no matter how many you make, they will be eaten faster than planned.

Recently I made baked breaded chicken cutlets from 10 pounds of chicken breasts. I realized that in the first post on baked breaded chicken cutlets, I did not include many pictures to show how easy and simple is the process. To make homemade breaded chicken cutlets that are baked is not difficult, but does require some planning in regards to time and ingredients. There is nothing more annoying than to have sliced 10 pounds of chicken breasts into cutlets and not have enough wet or dry ingredients to complete the activity.

Ingredients & Equipment:

• 10 Pounds of boneless and skinless chicken breasts
• 8 Eggs
• 15 Ounce Container of Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• ½ Cup of Italian Grated Cheese
• ¼ Cup of Ground Black Pepper (Optional, but I do believe provides the extra kick that truly makes the difference)
• Olive Oil
• Parchment Paper, Baking Pans and Two Forks
• Preheated Oven at 350 Degrees Fahrenheit

Creating the Chicken Cutlet:

If you are fortunate to have a grocery store that sells chicken breasts that have been sliced into cutlets, then you are lucky. However, this can be an expensive product and to make chicken cutlets from chicken breasts is not that difficult. Depending on the thickness of the chicken breast, you will be able to slice two to three cutlets from the breast.

Prior to slicing the chicken breasts into cutlets, some trimming of the excess fat and loose pieces of breast meat may be required. Save these trimmings in the freezer to be added to your chicken stock or giblet gravy.

1. Place the chicken breast onto the cutting board and starting with the thick end of the breast, place your knife parallel to the board.
   

   Place the chicken breast on the cutting board with the knife parallel to the cutting board

2. Slice through the breast while maintaining pressure on the chicken breast with the other hand.
   

   With the knife parallel to the cutting board, slice through the chicken breast with you other hand providing pressure

3. Maintain a parallel position with the knife and continue slicing through the breast until you have created the cutlet.
   

   Dependent upon the thickness of the chicken breast, two to three chicken cutlets can be created

If the breast was thick, then perform these actions again until you have cutlets of relatively the same thickness. You are seeking to achieve cutlets of the same thickness, but will not of the same size. Prepare all of the chicken breasts in this fashion until you have a large pile of chicken cutlets.

Ten pounds of chicken breasts sliced into chicken cutlets ready to be breaded

Preparing the Wet and Dry Ingredients:

1. In a shallow dish crack eight eggs.
   

   Eight eggs cracked in a shallow dish

2. Scramble the eight eggs to make the egg wash for the chicken cutlets.
   

   Eight eggs scrambled for the egg wash

3. In a larger shallow dish combine the entire container of Italian bread crumbs, Italian grated cheese and the ground black pepper.
   

   Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs, Italian Grated Cheese and Ground Black Pepper

4. Mix these three dry ingredients completely together.

Breading the Chicken Cutlets:

Depending on the size of the dish with the egg wash (scrambled eggs), you will be able to soak two to three cutlets at a time

1. Allow the chicken cutlets to soak in the egg wash, flipped once to provide the right coating of egg wash to the chicken cutlet for breading.
   

   Chicken cutlets soaking in an egg wash

2. Once the chicken cutlet has soaked in the egg wash, remove the cutlet and allow for any excess egg wash to drain back into the dish.
3. Place the cutlet in the breading mixture and with the egg wash fork press the cutlet into the breading.
   

   Chicken cutlet with an egg wash pressed into the breading mixture

4. Once pressed, then with the breading fork, cover the top of the cutlet with breading and then press / pat down the breading onto the cutlet.
   

   Chicken cutlet covered with the breading mixture

5. Flip the cutlet with the breading fork and repeat the process of covering the chicken cutlet with the breading mixture.
   

   Chicken cutlet breaded on both sides

6. Remove the breaded chicken cutlet and place onto the baking pan that has been covered with parchment paper.
7. Repeat this process until you have filled a baking pan with evenly spaced breaded chicken cutlets.
   

   Breaded chicken cutlets on parchment paper

Baking the Breaded Chicken Cutlets:

1. Drizzle olive oil onto the top of the chicken cutlets and place in the oven for about nine minutes. While this batch of chicken cutlets is baking, you can prepare the next batch to be baked.
   

   Breaded chicken cutlets drizzled with olive oil

2. After nine minutes, remove the baking pan from the oven.
   

   Half baked chicken cutlets after nine minutes in the oven

3. Flip the chicken cutlets and drizzle olive oil on top of the breaded chicken cutlets and bake for another nine minutes.
   

   Half baked chicken cutlets with more drizzled olive oil

4. When the breaded chicken cutlets have finished baking for the second nine minutes, remove from the oven, pull the parchment paper from the baking pan and allow the chicken cutlets to cool. Repeat this process until all of the breaded chicken cutlets have been baked.
   

   Fully cooked baked breaded chicken cutlets fresh from the oven

Baked breaded Italian chicken cutlets at home is not difficult and provides a wide array of meals in which they are to be enjoyed.