A simple but classic meal and with any vegetable you like on the side. Consider grilled zucchini or peppers, green salad, steamed broccoli or even frozen peas (for the kiddos!). This chicken schnitzel recipe is very easy, delicious and can transform into several different recipes and pesto pasta is just always a hit in our house. Both the chicken and the pesto can be prepped ahead of time if you’d like and both can be eaten separately of course with other sides.
Chicken Schnitzel
I have been really enjoying recipes from Nicole from Simplehomeedit lately and her chicken schnitzel is one I have repeated lately. She has a great video and additional tips on how to make this so I will just share the link to her blog post here. My variation is using gluten free flour and breadcrumbs (when needed) and I usually air fry them and they turn out perfectly. Baking is definitely an option but consider browning the breadcrumbs first for that classic golden look. I avoid frying to avoid more mess. I have batched prepped these as well for the freezer when I have fresh chicken breast. That way I can just pull from the freezer and cook. These are also delicious in a chicken sandwich with simple romaine or iceburg lettuce and mayo or a little of the pesto below with tomato. Yum!
Recipe Here - Chicken Schnitzel
Pesto Pasta
Caro Chambers (from What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking - cookbook or substack) is someone I get food inspiration from as well and her write up about an easy pesto formula was great. My go tos for pesto are basil, walnuts or hemp hearts and parmesan cheese. I have liked this formula better than my original pesto pasta recipe and I use my fresh basil growing on my deck.
My usual variation:
2 cups basil (or 1.5 cups basil + 1/2 cup parsley)
1/2 cup walnuts (or pine nuts if you can find them or hemp hearts)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Blend all ingredients in a small food processor like this (adding oil slowly while blending if possible). Taste and add salt if preferred.
Mix a few tablespoons with cooked pasta (gluten free if needed). You don’t need too much pesto. Rotini is my preferred pasta for pesto in order to grab the pesto better. Serve warm or cold. Top with sliced chicken schnitzel or chicken on the side. Or you could mix in slightly cooked asparagus, peas or broccoli.
I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do!
Dr. Karen