Hot Chicken Schnitzel Salad

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Okay, before we dive into this Hot Chicken Schnitzel Salad I want to say I have nothing but respect and love in my heart for both hot chicken and schnitzel. So while I understand this may come across as an unholy union to some, please remember my intention is never to offend, it’s to feed. But if you’re sitting there, like, huh? Let me introduce you to the two dishes that inspired this plate. But before I do that, let’s talk about what this plate is.

This Hot Chicken Schnitzel Salad features a crispy chicken thigh rolled in traditional hot chicken spices. The thigh is then breaded and shallow fried. Once the chicken is golden it’s perched on top of a lightly dressed green salad accented with pickled radish. The salad is served over a generous swipe of a creamy avocado dill dressing. What can I say? This plate is the stuff of dreams. 

Okay, let’s talk schnitzel. Schnitzel is a piece of meat that has been pounded flat before being breaded and fried. It comes to us from Germany and Austria and is similar to numerous other dishes from around the world. Katsu in Japan and Milanese in Italy are just a few examples. It is an icon and delicious in its own right without adornment. Hot chicken is a local specialty from Nashville, Tennessee. The chicken is marinated in buttermilk before it is tossed in a cayenne heavy spice mixture and flour. It is then fried and served with slices of white bread and slices of dill pickle. It’s a vibe and worth seeking out. 

One of the more difficult aspects of making fried chicken is frying the outside to that ideal golden hue while ensuring the meat is cooked through. This is especially challenging when working with bone-in chicken parts. Your oil has to stay at that sweet spot of a temperature that allows you to cook the chicken all the way through before burning the breading. To be honest, this delicate dance is what holds me back from making fried chicken more often. It’s kind of nervy for me. So here I side-stepped that potential pitfall by turning my hot chicken into hot chicken schnitzel. 

Schnitzel, Milanese, and Katsu are my go-to when I’m in the mood for crispy protein. I prefer them because in all instances the meat is boneless and pounded flat. This ensures even and fast cooking, so I don’t have to wonder if the meat closest to the bone is too pink or just pink enough. To take hot chicken from traditional to schnitzel all you have to do is grab some boneless chicken parts, thighs, or breasts will work here, and introduce them to a mallet.

Once they’re good and uniformly flat, dredge them in the classic hot chicken spice/cornstarch mixture. And here is where we go a little rogue. In order to make schnitzel breadcrumbs and eggs have to come into play. I don’t make the rules. So move the chicken from the spice mixture to the beaten eggs and then introduce them to some Panko Breadcrumbs. And from there, we’re going to shallow fry those suckers. Another aspect of schnitzel I adore is I don’t have to deep fry anything because I really hate dealing with leftover fry oil. 

Now, let’s talk about the chicken parts themselves. I went with chicken thighs because I am a dark-meat person. But you could use chicken breasts if you’re more of a white-meat person. But if you select chicken breasts, be sure to slice them in half to form cutlets. It will make them easier to pound flat and you won’t wind up with a piece of schnitzel the size of a dinner plate. 

But before the chicken hits the oil or really any of the breading you have to marinate it in buttermilk and hot sauce. This gives the chicken some tang and helps keep the meat nice and moist. I do like to let my chicken sit for a minimum of an hour but really the longer you can leave it the better. And don’t think you’ll be shut down the entire time the chicken is marinating. There are a few things we can tackle while we’re waiting.

The first is the pickled radish. Now this a quick pickle and it’s an even quicker pickle if you slice the radish nice and thin on a mandolin. Place the radish slices in a bowl and add some white vinegar, salt, and sugar. Give everything a quick stir and set it aside to pickle. This should take about an hour at room temperature. If you want to pickle your radish in advance, you can leave it to pickle in your refrigerator. We’re using white vinegar here so as not to contaminate the captivating bubble gum pink hue of the finished pickle. 

With the chicken marinating and the pickles pickling, we can move on to the creamy underbelly of this dish – the Avocado Dill Dressing. This comes together in a snap in a food processor and will keep in the fridge for up to three days. The idea behind the dressing is to give a passing nod to the traditional sidekick to hot chicken – the dill pickle. There is a lot of fresh dill in the dressing. Nearly a 1/2 cup’s worth. If you’re not a dill fanatic, feel free to scale it back. 

And finally, we have the green salad. I kept this portion of the recipe very simple because we already have plenty of bold flavors vying for the spotlight. This salad is more of a palate cleanser and provides textural contrast. All it is is some shredded romaine lettuce, those pickled radishes from earlier, sugar snap peas, a little olive oil, and a sprinkling of a good quality flakey salt. And don’t be too careful about draining the radish. A little of the pickling liquid mingling with the salad is a very good thing. Wait to dress the salad until the chicken is fried.

And speaking of frying chicken there is one little step after that. And I love it because it makes use of the residual oil in the pan. Place brown sugar, cayenne, garlic powder, chili powder, and smoked paprika in a bowl. Place a small fine mesh strainer on top and pour the oil from the skillet into the sugar and spice. Stir to combine. Don’t add more than 1/3 of a cup of the oil to the spice mixture. This will be our sauce for drizzling over the chicken. Another nod to the enduring legend that is classic hot chicken. 

And that’s everything you need to know about this Hot Chicken Schnitzel Salad. A fiery, cool, and crunchy symphony of contrasting textures and flavors. 

Enjoy!