Adam Liaw’s chicken cotoletta is delicious with just a squeeze of lemon

Name: Adam Liaw’s chicken cotoletta is delicious with just a squeeze of lemon
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 2-4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 chicken breasts; salt and black pepper, to season; 1 cup plain flour; 3 eggs, beaten; 2 cups sourdough breadcrumbs; 1 tsp chicken stock powder; ½ cup olive oil; ¼ cup clarified butter (ghee); lemon wedges, to serve

Think of this as Italy’s sophisticated answer to the wiener schnitzel: best enjoyed simply with a generous squeeze of lemon.

Adam Liaw

January 30, 2026

Golden, crunchy chicken cotoletta needs little more than lemon juice and salad greens for company.William Meppem

easyTime:30 mins - 1 hourServes:2-4

This is the chicken variation on Milan’s famous cotoletta, usually made with veal, and is Italy’s answer to the wiener schnitzel. No need to turn it into a parma; it’s delicious just with a squeeze of lemon.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
salt and black pepper, to season
1 cup plain flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups sourdough breadcrumbs
1 tsp chicken stock powder
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup clarified butter (ghee)
lemon wedges, to serve

Method

Step 1
Cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally and pound each half to about 5mm thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper.
Step 2
Place the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in separate trays or plates. Season each with salt and pepper. Mix the chicken stock powder into the flour. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, then the egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs, pressing the breadcrumbs onto the chicken.
Step 3
Heat the olive oil and clarified butter in a deep frying pan over medium heat to about 175C. Fry each cotoletta for about 3 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through. Drain on a wire rack. Season one last time with salt and pepper and serve with a wedge of lemon.

Adam’s tip: Pound the chicken fillet to about half the size you want it to end up being. Half a centimetre in thickness is more like a centimetre once the meat’s muscle fibres contract and thicken during cooking.

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