You’ve been doing Wiener Schnitzel all wrong! Achieve perfection every time with this ultimate Austrian Wiener Schnitzel recipe.
Trust this Austrian Wiener Schnitzel recipe
Australia and Austria might be close in name, but Australians have definitely been getting Austria’s much-loved Wiener Schnitzel all wrong.
If you want to make an Austrian cringe, pair your Wiener Schnitzel with noodles or pour a warm mushroom sauce over the top.
Despite the Julie Andrew’s impassioned lyrics in the Sound of Music classic My Favourite Things, no one in Austria eats noodles with their schnitzel and the thought of a mushroom sauce over their beloved dish is cringe-worthy.
This is what should be on your wiener schnitzel plate.
The biggest wiener schnitzel crime
“The biggest crime of all is schnitzel with noodles as I am sure it was only used in the Sound of Music song to rhyme with strudel. No Austrian in their right mind would eat that!” says Astrid Gruchmann-Licht, Director of the Austrian National Tourist Office.
Real Wiener Schnitzels are very thin, breaded veal slices. They are served in Austria with a slice of lemon and potato salad or boiled potatoes with butter. A cold cucumber salad is also popular.
The Austrians take this so seriously that Wiener Schnitzel is a protected geographical dish in Austria and German and can only be made of veal. So put your chicken schnitty and parmies back on the bain marie and try tucking into a good meal Austrian style with these recipes.
You can still indulge in schnitzel dishes made from pork, chicken or turkey and douse them in sauces if you really have to, but just don’t call them Wiener Schnitzel.
Use a deep, wide pan for your wiener schnitzel.
Classic Wiener Schnitzel
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 800g round top veal cut into four cutlets and butterflied -ask your butcher for the right cut.
- Salt
- Flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Breadcrumbs
- Oil for frying
- Slice of lemon and cranberry sauce for serving
Method
- Make a small nick on the side of the cutlets (sometimes you need more than one) to stop them curling up when you fry them.
- Cover them with cling film and then pound each individually until they are about 6mm thick.
- Set your flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs with a pinch of salt out in three wide, flat bowls.
- Heat up enough oil in a large deep pan so your schnitzel can float in the oil.
- Season the meat with salt. Cover it with flour, dust off the excess, then dip it into the egg.
- Let the excess egg drip off and put into the breadcrumbs. Never use your fingers to make the coating stick.
- Work quickly to coat the schnitzel and put it in the pan. Don’t let it sit in any of the ingredients.
- Keep an eye on the heat and fry your schnitzel until it is golden brown on both sides.
Potato salad is a classic accompaniment to Wiener Schnitzel.
What to serve with your Wiener Schnitzel?
For a true feast Austrian style serve only cold potato salad or boiled potatoes with butter and cucumber salad with your Wiener Schnitzel. These dishes are the perfect light accompaniment to the breaded meat. You might even still have room for an Austrian pancake dessert!
Use the recipes below for an Austrian meal that you won’t forget.
Classic Austrian Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 kg Kipfler potatoes
- 1 medium red onion, finely diced
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- ¾ cup chicken or beef stock
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 80 ml sunflower oil (do not substitute with olive oil unless it is really mild)
- Chopped chives for dressing
Method
- Cook Kipfler potatoes in the skin, peel and slice into thick rounds while hot.
- Make the Brunoise onion dressing – Put the onion in a saucepan with the stock, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar and boil for 5 to 10 minutes. Pour hot dressing over hot or warm potatoes.
- Sprinkle with chives.
- Note: Potato salad is best made a day before. It is never served too cold but best at room temperature.
Austrian cucumber salad is another traditional accompaniment.
Cucumber salad
2 large continental/telegraph cucumbers thinly sliced
1 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup apple vinegar or white wine.
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
Method
- Sprinkle salt on the sliced cucumbers to draw the water out and wait for half an hour.
- Rinse under cold water and squeeze out the saltwater. Marinate with white wine or apple vinegar, sugar, salt (if needed).
- Add sunflower oil to the salad.
- Allow to stand covered and chilled for at least one hour and up to six hours. After a couple of hours marinating, the cucumber skin may change colour, but this does not affect the flavour.
Palataschinken are thin Austrian pancakes that should be rolled not folded.
Palatschinken – Austrian pancakes
Palatschinken are slightly thicker crepes and are usually the diameter of a standard main course plate.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 240 ml of milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons of oil for each pancake
Method
- Whisk together the flour, milk, sugar and salt until the mixture is smooth.
- Whisk in the eggs.
- Heat oil in a wide, flat pan over medium-high heat.
- Pour about four tablespoons of batter into the pan to cover the base thinly. Allow the pancake to brown slightly before turning to the other side.
- Keep making pancakes and store them on a plate covered by a clean tea towel.
To serve
Fill with hot apricot jam and roll, don’t fold.
Dust with icing sugar and serve.
Here’s another traditional Austrian recipe to try – Apple Strudel.
Where to find Vienna’s best Wiener Schnitzel
Here are five places where you can enjoy Wiener Schnitzel the way Austrians approve.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Eat drink and be Kerry was a guest of the Austrian National Tourist Office.
