Air Fryer Chicken Schnitzel Sandwiches on Pretzel Buns with Lemon Herb Mayo.

A mouthful in name as well as sandwich. And a delicious one at that. These chicken schnitzel sandwiches are soon to be your new favorite sandwich. They are my new fave.

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This might be the best sandwich I have ever made. Crunchy and juicy chicken schnitzel, tangy lemony herb mayo sauce, soft pretzel bun, crispy lettuce and onions. Served with kettle chips, dill pickles and of course some German Hefeweizen beer to make for a perfect Oktoberfest inspired meal. 

Why schnitzel is the best chicken preparation

• Its crunchy. Any kind of fried chicken is the best chicken
• Not greasy - air fried still gets it super crispy without the additional oil of traditional pan frying
• Seasonings in all three dipping stations - the flour, the egg and the breadcrumbs
• It reheats and recrisps super fast

Yes they are air fried and it works!

These chicken schnitzel sandwiches are so easy to make, and I am blown away by how crispy the chicken gets while staying moist and juicy on the inside with my air fryer. I have way too many small kitchen appliances as it is but when I decided to join in on the air fryer craze I am so glad I did. I got a Cosori, and while it is on the big side, it has a large tray for frying a decent amount of food at once. It stays on a shelf in my room adjacent to my kitchen when I am not using it, but everything we have made so far has been excellent.

Prepare the chicken for frying

1. Pound chicken breasts to about ¼" thick, sandwiched in plastic wrap. This helps keep the chicken from splattering juice all over and helps it be pounded to an even thickness
2. Get your three bowls ready with flour mixture, egg-milk mixture and breadcrumbs. 
3. Work quickly dipping one piece of chicken at a time in the flour, egg-milk then breadcrumbs, gently shaking off excess after each bowl.
4. Place prepped chicken on a parchment lined pan and chill in fridge for one hour. This is so important. This will help bind everything to the chicken so none of it falls off in the frying process
5. Air-fry to golden-brown, juicy chicken schnitzel perfection.

Prep the lemon mayo sauce:

While the chicken is chilling, prepare the sauce:

• Mayo
• Lemon - zest and juice
• Salt and pepper
• Garlic
• dijon mustard
• fresh flat leaf parsley

I made my sauce a little thinner than mayo or say an aioli sauce, but you can make it thicker if you like. I spread some sauce between the two pieces of chicken schnitzel on the sandwiches as well as one of the halves of the pretzel bun. The other half got some good, German mustard spread on it. 

Traditional chicken schnitzel:

Traditional chicken schnitzel, or any schnitzel for that matter, is served with a squeeze of lemon over the top and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. Schnitzel is often served with side dishes such as spaetzle, sauerkraut, potato salad etc. Since I made a sandwich I wanted something to not only go with the chicken, but a spread or sauce for the sandwiches as well. No one likes a dry bun. I went with this lemony mayonnaise sauce with diced, fresh parsley. 

A few notes about the chicken schnitzel sandwiches recipe first:

• They say "the secret is in the sauce" but my secret is in the flour mix. Corn starch. It helps make the chicken extra crispy when air fried
• The key to extra crispy chicken is the hour rest in the refrigerator after the breading process. Do not skip this step!
• You can marinate the chicken in the milk - egg mixture for a few hours up to overnight. This will definitely add to more flavor. Up to you depending on how much time you have. If you go this route, drain off the marinade then go through the breading process from flour to egg milk, to the breadcrumbs and chill
• Speaking of breadcrumbs, traditional schnitzel calls for regular, unseasoned breadcrumbs. I like to use a mixture of breadcrumbs, Japanese panko and seasonings. Again, my version and it is so tasty this way.
• Pretzel buns are a must. They just go so well with schnitzel and are very Oktoberfest-y. I LOVE big, soft, German pretzels. I get them either from a local grocery store ( Sprouts or Whole Foods) or from the German bakery nearby when they have them. 
• I also add in green lettuce and thinly sliced red onion. Love the flavors and textures these add to the sandwich. I serve with pickles on the side, but feel free to add thin pickle strips to the sandwich. 
• Serve with kettle chips and good German beer. I love Hefeweizen. 
• Don't have an air fryer? It's no problem. You can bake in the oven or pan fry. Details in recipe notes. 

Air Fryer Chicken Schnitzel Sandwiches on Pretzel Buns with Lemon Herb Mayo

Shanna

My new favorite sandwich. Crispy air fried chicken schnitzel sandwiches with a tangy lemon herb mayo sauce and of course pretzel buns. Do't forget the pickles, kettle chips and a cold German beer.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Additional Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings 4 -6 sandwiches

Ingredients

  

For the chicken:

• 1-1.5 lbs chicken breasts

Flour mix:

• 1 cup 4.5 ounces all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Egg mix:

• 1 cup Milk
• 2 large Eggs
• 1 tablespoon dijon Mustard

Breadcrumb mix:

• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground onion

For the mayo sauce:

• ¾ cup mayonnaise, I use Sir. Kensington’s
• 2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2-3 lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoon diced, fresh Italian parsley

For the Sandwiches:

• Pretzel buns, split
• Lettuce leaves, I used green
• Thinly sliced red onion
• German mustard or Dijon mustard

Instructions

 

1. Prepare the chicken:

• Place one chicken breast a time between plastic wrap and gently pound with a meat mallet until its an even ¼” thickness. Cut each breast into 2-3 ounce portions. 
• Get three, wide shallow bowls and combine the flour mixture in one, egg mixture in another and the breadcrumb mixture in the third. Set out a baking tray and line with parchment paper. Have a second sheet of parchment paper ready in case you need to make a second layer of prepped chicken on the tray.
• Working quickly dip the chicken one at a time in the flour, shaking off excess, dip in egg mixture to fully coat the chicken and cover all the flour,  then dip into the breadcrumbs, carefully pressing into the chicken on all sides, carefully shake off excess. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet then repeat with the rest of the chicken. Once it is done, chill in the refrigerator for an hour. If the chicken fills the pan and you need to chill more, just lay another sheet of parchment on top of the already prepare chicken and make another layer. 
• 2. Mayo Sauce
• While the chicken is chilling, make the mayo sauce. Combine everything into a bowl then mix well. Taste and add more lemon juice if desired,  or more mayo for a thicker sauce. Chill until ready to use. 
• 3. Fry the chicken
• Preheat your air fryer to 400 Deg F for 5 minutes. Preheat your oven to 200 Deg F. Place a wire rack on top of a baking sheet and set inside your oven. This is to keep the chicken warm while you air fry other batches. Spray the basket of your fryer with oil ( I like using Chosen Foods Avocado oil) then spray the tops of the chicken. Working in batches, fry a few pieces of chicken at a time at 400 Deg F for 14 minutes, flipping the chicken once at 7 minutes. Remove the chicken and place on the prepared baking sheet in the oven and repeat with remaining chicken, spraying the fryer basket before frying each new batch of chicken. 
• Once all the chicken is fried, assemble the sandwiches. You can heat up the pretzel buns in the oven if you like. 
• 4. Assemble the sandwiches
• Spread mustard on the bottom half of the bun, top with lettuce, one piece of the chicken, spoon some of the lemon mayo sauce on the top of that piece, then top with a second piece of chicken. Spread more mayo sauce on top of that. Top with a few red onion slices, spread some more mayo sauce on the top bun then put the sandwich together. Serve with kettle chips and pickles. Don’t forget the ice, cold, German beer! Prost! 

Notes

Make sure you saw the notes in the post before the recipe card for tips on making this recipe

You don’t have to have an air fryer to make these. You can pan fry. I suggest using a cast iron skillet, get it hot, add in a little oil and a little butter, one tablespoon of each is good,  then fry the chicken pieces only flipping once, after 7-8 min, with thin spatula to make sure the breading doesn’t fall off. Fry another 7-8 minutes until done.

To oven fry/bake heat oven to 400/425, bake on a rack on a baking sheet, spray both sides of chicken with oil. Bake 7-8 min a side, flipping once. Oven baking will take a little longer than air frying.