Recipes

Chicken schnitzel, burnt salsa, fennel slaw

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on June 6 2025 at 16:46

I confess I love a schnitzel especially if it’s dressed up with a salsa and slaw as it is in Thomas Straker’s gorgeous-looking new book Food you want to eat.

Straker became famous for his ‘All Things Butter’ videos on YouTube and TikTok so thankfully the book includes those recipes as well but, as this recipe shows, he has other delicious dishes in his locker.

Thomas says: There is something quite special about a smashed chicken breast covered in breadcrumbs and fried in oil. This dish is crunchy, juicy and slathered in a sharp, spicy tomato salsa with a refreshing fennel slaw. It was the first recipe video I made during lockdown and it was something I always knew people would connect with.”

Serves 4

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
100g plain flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
200g panko crumbs, or a mix of fresh breadcrumbs and panko
vegetable oil
sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

For the salsa
300g cherry tomatoes
1 onion, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed with the side of a blade
1 long red chilli
leaves from 30g bunch of coriander, finely chopped
80ml olive oil
60ml white wine vinegar

For the slaw
2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons bought or homemade mayonnaise
juice of 2 lemons

Start by preparing the chicken schnitzel. Use a sharp knife to cut each breast horizontally nearly in half, leaving a piece attached so it remains in a single piece, then open it out to butterfly the breasts. Place the first between sheets of clingfilm or baking paper. Gently bash them out one by one with a rolling pin to an even thickness of ½–1cm.

Put the flour, eggs and crumbs into 3 separate shallow bowls and season the flour well. Get 2 baking trays lined with baking paper ready for the breaded schnitzels to rest on later.

First, dip an escalope into the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess, before passing it through the eggs. Finally, press into the crumbs, applying a little pressure to ensure the whole escalope is coated. Try to keep 1 hand dry at all times by alternating between the wet and dry bowls. Put on to a lined baking tray until ready to cook, then repeat to coat all the schnitzels. If preparing them in advance, be sure to keep the escalopes separate; you can stack them on a plate if each is separated by a sheet of baking paper.

Next, make the salsa. Place a cast-iron or heavy-based pan over a high heat. Once hot, add the whole cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic and chilli and cook for 3–4 minutes until everything is well- charred all over. Remove from the pan and allow to cool, then finely chop. Put in a bowl with the coriander, olive oil, vinegar and salt to taste. Set aside at room temperature.

To make the slaw, mix the fennel, mayonnaise, lemon juice and a generous pinch of salt in a bowl. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt as needed.

Heat 2cm of vegetable oil in a large frying pan until hot (you want it to reach 180°C). Gently lower in 1 schnitzel and cook for about 2 minutes until golden, turning to ensure it cooks evenly. Remove to a wire rack or baking tray lined with kitchen paper and season with sea salt flakes. Repeat until all the schnitzels are cooked.

Serve the chicken schnitzels topped with the tomato salsa and fennel slaw, with lemon wedges for squeezing.

What to drink: Normally I’m a fan of grüner veltliner with schnitzel which appropriately enough also comes from Austria but with this charred salsa I’m thinking a light red would work as well if not better. The vinegar in the salsa and the lemon juice are going to have the effect of making any wine taste softer and sweeter than usual so I’d go for a young Italian red like a Refosco or a natural red like a Poulsard or Trousseau. A zesty sauvignon blanc would work too. FB.

Extract taken from Food You Want to Eat by Thomas Straker (Bloomsbury Publishing, £25, Hardback). Photography © Issy Crocker.

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