The dish to eat in Vienna · Austria

Wiener Schnitzel

Name: Wiener Schnitzel with Viennese potato salad
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Austria
Ingredients: 4 veal cutlets from the leg (topside), about 5 oz (140 g) each; Salt and white pepper; 1/2 cup (65 g) flour; 2 eggs beaten with 2 tbsp milk or cream; 2 cups (120 g) fine dry white breadcrumbs (Semmelbrösel), not panko; About 2 cups (480 ml) neutral oil or lard plus 4 tbsp (60 g) clarified butter; Lemon wedges and lingonberry jam (Preiselbeeren), to serve; For the potato salad: 2 lb (900 g) waxy potatoes, 1 small onion very finely chopped, 1/2 cup (120 ml) hot beef or chicken stock, 3 tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 3 tbsp neutral oil, 1 1/4 tsp salt, chopped chives

Photo: JIP, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · source

A thin veal cutlet in a puffy golden breadcrumb crust, fried in butter, with lemon, potato salad and lingonberries.

A real Wiener Schnitzel is veal, beaten thin, breaded loosely so the crust puffs up away from the meat like a soufflé, and fried until it's bigger than the plate.

Where to eat it Cook it at home

Where to eat it: the best three in Vienna

Figlmüller
Wollzeile, Innere Stadt
Order: The giant schnitzel with potato and field salad
Vienna's most famous schnitzel house since 1905; theirs is made from pork, not veal.
Open in Maps
Schnitzelwirt
Neubaugasse, Neubau
Order: Wiener Schnitzel from veal, and the potato salad
A no-frills Viennese inn loved for huge, cheap schnitzels.
Open in Maps
Gasthaus Pöschl
Weihburggasse, Innere Stadt
Order: Wiener Schnitzel vom Kalb with Erdäpfelsalat
A cozy classic Beisl (Viennese inn) near the Ring, popular with locals.
Open in Maps

All three are on Chef Amazing’s list The best Wiener Schnitzel in Vienna, which you can save and take with you.

Cook it at home: Wiener Schnitzel with Viennese potato salad

Serves 4Time 1 hr

Pound the veal thin, bread it at the last moment without pressing, and fry it in plenty of fat while you swirl the pan so the crumbs puff into waves. The potato salad is dressed warm with stock and vinegar, never mayo.

Pans and tools

Meat mallet
Plastic wrap
Wide heavy skillet
3 shallow plates for breading

You’ll need

4 veal cutlets from the leg (topside), about 5 oz (140 g) each
Salt and white pepper
1/2 cup (65 g) flour
2 eggs beaten with 2 tbsp milk or cream
2 cups (120 g) fine dry white breadcrumbs (Semmelbrösel), not panko
About 2 cups (480 ml) neutral oil or lard plus 4 tbsp (60 g) clarified butter
Lemon wedges and lingonberry jam (Preiselbeeren), to serve
For the potato salad: 2 lb (900 g) waxy potatoes, 1 small onion very finely chopped, 1/2 cup (120 ml) hot beef or chicken stock, 3 tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 3 tbsp neutral oil, 1 1/4 tsp salt, chopped chives

Steps

Potato salad: boil the potatoes in their skins until just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Peel while warm and slice thin into a bowl.
Bring the stock, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and onion to a boil and pour it over the warm potatoes. Add the oil and toss gently until the potatoes absorb the liquid and turn creamy, 10 minutes. Add chives.
Put each cutlet between plastic wrap and pound with a flat mallet to 1/8 inch (3 to 4 mm) thick. Make a few small cuts at the edges so they don't curl. Season both sides.
Set out three plates: flour, egg, breadcrumbs.
Heat the oil and butter in a wide skillet to 340F (170C); the fat should be about 3/4 inch (2 cm) deep.
Dredge one cutlet in flour, shake off, dip in egg, then lay it in the crumbs and just turn it over. Don't press the crumbs on.
Lay it straight in the hot fat. Swirl the pan constantly so the fat washes over the top; the crust will puff and ripple. Fry 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side until golden.
Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the rest, breading each just before frying.
Serve right away with lemon, lingonberry jam and the potato salad.

Chef’s tips

Bread just before frying, and don't press, or the crust won't puff.

Swirling the pan is the trick: hot fat on top makes the crust lift.

Pork makes 'Schnitzel Wiener Art'; only veal can be called Wiener Schnitzel.

Contains: Wheat (gluten), egg, milk, mustard; may contain celery (stock).

Save to my recipes