You’ll fall in love with this quick pork schnitzel recipe – only 4 ingredients and cooked in 10 minutes.
It’s the perfect easy mid-week healthy family dinner everyone will love.
Leftovers can be sliced over a salad for the next day, making easy meal prep a breeze.
If you love breaded pork recipes, you’ll also fall in love with the easy recipe for keto fried fish. the keto breading can be used on pork, chicken, and even fish fingers.
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Pork nutrition
Pork is an incredibly versatile meat for lunch, dinner, or snacks. Pork is high -protein and can be low in fat (depending on the cut you buy).
The amount of protein and fat in pork chops, pork steak, pork ribs, and ground pork will be dictated by which cut of pork you buy. The higher the fat content, the lower the protein.
| Per 100g (3.5oz) | Carbs | Protein | Fat | Calories |
| Pork chops, loin, no fat eaten | 0 | 28.8g | 10.1g | 214 |
| Pork chops, loin, fat eaten | 0 | 27.0g | 15.2g | 252 |
| Pork ribs, back | 0 | 23.1g | 18.9g | 269 |
| Ground pork 5% fat | 0 | 27.0g | 2.6g | 134 |
| Ground pork 20% fat | 0 | 22.5g | 1g | 265 |
| Bacon, centre cut (middle) | 0 | 42.4g | 31.4g | 467 |
What is pork schnitzel?
Traditional schnitzel is a thin-sliced boneless pork chops that are crumbed and fried in fat. It is very similar to escalope, a thin fried crumbed meat dish in Europe. Schnitzel generally refers to a thin breaded slice of cooked meat across the globe.
Pork schnitzel is a popular German dinner that will feed a crowd, often served with mashed potatoes, sour cream, and lemon wedges.
- Wiener schnitzel is made from veal (Austria).
- German pork schnitzel is made from pork.
- Jägerschnitzel (‘hunter’s schnitzel’) is a schnitzel served with mushroom sauce (Germany and Austria).
- Skinkeschnitzel is made of pork (Denmark).
- Escalope is made from veal or pork and filled with ham and cheese (Spain).
This German pork schnitzel recipe is another delicious way to enjoy pan-fried pork chops. Instead of using breadcrumbs and frying in vegetable oil, this recipe uses almond flour and is fried in olive or avocado oil.
The most common meat is pork, chicken, veal, beef, or turkey. The meat is often pounded with a meat mallet to tenderize before breading and frying.
This easy pork schnitzel recipe is based on the traditional recipe and uses thin pork cutlets that are fried until they are golden brown.
Ingredients
All quantities, ingredients, and instructions are in the recipe card below.
Only 4 simple ingredients are needed for German pork schnitzel (Wiener schnitzel). Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and pan fried in olive oil or coconut oil.
Pork – you can often buy a special cut of pork called schnitzel, but you can also use tenderised pork steak, pork chops, boneless pork, or loin steak.
Almond flour – for our keto breaded pork, we are using a herbed almond flour mix.
Dried sage – use dried sage or fresh sage for a lovely herbed pork schnitzel.
Eggs – the egg wash mixture helps hold the herbed almond flour to the pork schnitzels.
Season with salt and pepper. You’ll love schnitzel served with fresh lemon slices for supper tonight.
Instructions
The best meat I’ve found for this dish is boneless pork chops, but you can also use pork steak or loin steak. Whichever cut you choose, to make it a true German pork schnitzel, you’ll need to use a meat mallet or meat tenderizer to pound it to become thin.
Step 1: Make the egg wash and almond flour coating.
In a shallow dish, beat together two eggs, then set them aside.
In another shallow dish, mix the almond meal or almond flour with dried sage, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
Step 2: Crumb the pork schnitzel.
Dip each pork schnitzel into the egg wash, making sure to coat both sides. Allow the excess egg to drain.
Dip the egg-washed pork schnitzel into the herbed and seasoned almond meal coating. Turn it over a few times to ensure you have an even coating of breadcrumbs.
Step 3: Fry until golden brown.
To cook, heat olive oil or coconut oil and add the breaded cutlets to a frying pan or cast-iron skillet. Cook over medium heat on both sides until the schnitzel is golden brown (or you may prefer a deep golden brown).
Remove each pork schnitzel onto a paper lined plate, or place on a baking sheet in a warm oven to stay warm while you cook the remaining pork schnitzels. You can even place the cooked pork into a warm slow-cooker to keep your dinner warm until you are ready to serve.
Variations
There are quite a few different ways you change this easy pork schnitzel recipe to make it taste completely different. If you make any changes, please let me know in the comments.
- Use any choice of dried or fresh herb e.g. dried rosemary, dried thyme, fresh basil, crushed garlic, or garlic powder.
- Swap the meat and try chicken schnitzel, turkey schnitzel, or beef schnitzel.
- Use the almond and herb crust for fish nibbles or chikcne nuggets.
- Garnish with some lemon wedges to add a lovely acidic flavour.
- Make a grain-free gravy with chicken stock and drizzle it on top of the pork cutlets.
- Cut your own pork chops out of pork tenderloin.
- Serve with your own sour cream mixture seasoned with garlic powder and add a dallop on top.
How to make a low-carb crumb coating
Instead of reaching for seasoned flour or Panko bread crumbs, just use ground almonds or almond flour.
Using almond meal, or ground almonds is a great substitute for bread crumbs, panko crumbs, or wheat flour. It coats easily, fries well is naturally gluten-free, nutritious, absolutely delicious, and is extremely low in carbs.
If you are allergic to almonds, why not try seed flours (such as sunflower or pumpkin) that are becoming available. They are a fantastic replacement for panko breadcrumbs.
For more low-carb hacks, take a look at my Low-Carb Hacks Infographic. It makes the switch to low carb just that little easier.
Leftovers
Any leftover almond flour crusted schnitzel is great for lunch boxes or chopped on a salad.
If you want a quick and easy low-carb or keto lunch idea, serve any leftover almond and herb-crusted schnitzel sliced over a salad with homemade mayonnaise.
There’s no need to cheat on a low-carb diet when it comes to lunch, just keep on using those leftovers. Cook once, serve twice.
You can still make your favorite side dishes with this German pork schnitzel, you just have to use low-carb ingredients.
Serve your pork chops with a selection of low-carb vegetables and instead of mashed potatoes, serve with mashed cauliflower.
Instead of French fries, serve some baked zucchini chips.
You can still make German potato salad, just use turnips or cauliflower instead of potatoes.
How to garnish pork schnitzel
If you want to enjoy authentic German food, as if you are in a German restaurant, then garnish with a slice of lemon (or lemon wedges) and a squeeze of lemon juice all over your pork schnitzel is absolutely delicious. Serve immediately.
Don’t forget to top it with some sour cream! It’s a low-carb topping that tastes delicious on top of this breaded pork.
FAQs about keto pork schnitzel
You can use any type of pork chop that you want in this easy pork schnitzel recipe. If you use boneless pork chops, use a meat mallet to pound them really thin.
You can also use pork steak or loin steak.
Pork cutlets are typically already thin. You won’t need a meat tenderizer if you use thin cutlets.
If you use pork chops, then that comes from pork loin. Pork loin is a tender cut of meat that comes from the muscles that run along the pig’s spine above the belly and ribs.
Broccoli and cauliflower salad with cream cheese is the best substitution. Add a sprinkling of garlic salt over the top of the wonderful recipe. Alternatively, buy a bag of green salad and serve with lemon wedges.
You can drain each cooked pork schnitzel on a paper towel-lined plate. This will remove any excess oil.
Lemon wedges or lemon slices and fresh parsley are the easiest garnish. But if you prefer a creamy sauce, then a creamy keto mushroom sauce (mushroom gravy) is perfect!
Yes, place the crumbed pork meat onto a lined and oiled baking sheet and cook at 180C/350F for 15 minutes. Flipping mid-way to ensure the pork schnitzel is brown on both sides.
You can bread your pork chops ahead of time and keep them covered in plastic wrap in the fridge for a few hours. This helps set the breadcrumb coating in place. When you gently fry on medium-high heat, use silicone kitchen tongs rather than a spatula to flip them over.
Avoid vegetable oil such as canola oil, sunflower oil, and rice brean oil. Instead, choose natural unprocessed healthy oils such as extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, or lite flavoured olive oil.
Keep cooked pork chops covered in a warm oven for up to 2 hours.Always use a meat thermometer to ensure the internal temperature for pork is 145 F.
Quick Pork Schnitzel Recipe (Keto-Friendly)
Equipment
- Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 480 g pork schnitzel (4 slices)
- 1 cup almond meal/flour
- 1 tbsp dried sage
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 egg beaten with a fork
- oil of choice for frying
Instructions
- In one small mixing bowl (or saucer) beat the eggs with a fork. In another mixing bowl (or saucer) mix the almond flour/meal, dried sage, and season with salt/pepper.
- Dip 1 thin slice of pork (pork schnitzel) in the egg mixture on both sides. Lift to drain the excess egg from the schnitzel.
- Place the egg-covered pork schnitzel in the almond and herb mixture, turning a few times to ensure it is completely covered.
- Place each almond flour-coated pork schnitzel in the frying pan as you make them. Cook on a medium heat until both sides are golden. Test to ensure the meat is cooked through to the centre.
Notes
- The cut of pork is called schnitzel here, but in other countries, it is called tenderised pork steak, loin steak or you can use a pork chop.
- The amount of almond/herb mixture required will depend on the size of your schnitzel pieces.
- The nutrition panel is given as a guide. The actual nutrition facts will depend on the size of the pork schnitzel and the amount of fat on each piece varies tremendously.
- The size of each schnitzel will determine how much crumb mixture has been used.
- To reduce the carbs further, you can limit how much herbed almond flour crumb mixture you coat each slice of pork with.
Nutrition
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Awesome, that’s dinner sorted for tonight!
Oh! I am from a state called Indiana in the US. We have these things called “tenderloins.” We all know what it is there. You order that somewhere else, and you’re going to get a look. We take the cuts of meat your talking about, pound them thin, thin, thin, and then we bread them. And deep fry them. And I ate them about twice a week as a kid. They are served at every “Hoosier” (that’s the nickname for my state–the “Hoosier” state) carnival and at most local restaurants.
Reminiscing aside, yes! This is a great recipe. We do something like this, but I buy a pork tenderloin when it goes on sale here. Then, I slice it. Then pound the slices thin. Proceed as you describe. I use a little garlic powder in my “breading.” Good recipe to share! Good call!
Terri I love your comments, and go on, feel free to reminisce away. 😉
aprox Macros please?
I wrote a footnote on the recipe that I can’t really calculate for this as the size of pork schnitzels vary widely (and also therefore the amount of coating used), as does the amount of fat on each steak vary widely. So my calculations would be meaningless. The pork will be pretty much zero carbs, then add on how much ground almonds you have used 1 cup = 18.75g carbs/11.2g fibre. Hope that helps.
You just can’t beat using ground almonds/almond flour … as a great LCHF alternative!
All the best Jan
Ha ha Jan, you speak my language 😉
I made this last week!!! Insanely delicious!!
Awesome Bec, I love feedback like this 🙂 Try them cold too, oh my!
Just’ve finished our dinner of these amazing schnitzels with green salad. I would suggest adding a pinch of non-ground cumin to enhance the flavor of the dish even more. Thank you very much for this recipe and greeting from Ukraine! 🙂
Hi Inna from the Ukraine. I love your suggestion and I love hearing where everyone is from who visits my website. Hello from NZ 🙂
Can you grill / bake this in the oven instead of frying?
Absolutely, great idea Shaun.
Oh wow these were amazing best leftovers ever
I used chicken breasts instead of pork – it was really yummy!
Lovely. You could add parmesan to the crumb mixture for added yum!
I love this! My kids love this!
And while my husband and I can take this to work as leftovers guilt-free, I can’t send it in a lunchbox to my kid’s nut-free school. Have you tried any alternatives to almond flour? I was thinking pork rinds, but I don’t know if it would overpower the flavor?
I guess you could try ground linseed but they can be a little bitter. Pork rinds would be amazing, or you can now buy sunflower flour and pumpkin seed flours too. Both might be appropriate for a nut free school (my youngest has to have nut free lunches for school too).
We have used a garlic butter & ground pork rinds to fry our tenderized pork chops & they are wonderful!! Flavor is great!
Would it be possible to substitute the almond flour with coconut flour?
Yes you could, but you would need a much smaller amount, it may end up tasting of coconut and it wouldn’t have that crunchy texture of the almond meal but it would be a nice alternative. Let me know how you get on.
i cant find almondflour in switzerland
could i grind chopped almond? there are such great recipes id like to try.or what else could i use?
You can use almond meal which is found in most countries or you can get whole unroasted almonds and grind them in a coffee grinder or food processor with the blade attachment. The speed and power of the food processor will determine how fine or coarse the result.
I love schnitzel but the last time I tried to eat one I was so bloated I felt like a huge beach ball walking down the street. Since finding your website I am using almond meal more and more and these pork schnitzels tasted great. I’ve never really used dried sage before but it went brilliantly in this recipe! And of course, no uncomfortable bloating 🙂
I can’t wait to try this recipe, Libby! My only question would be: Many years ago when my mom made schnitzel, she would dust both sides in a flour, salt, pepper mix, then dip them into the egg, and back into the flour mix before frying. Was her initial step of flouring the schnitzel unnecessary? I’m all for simpler recipes!
Me too, I love simplicity and throwing something together for dinner that tastes just as good as the original. I find the egg is enough to make the ground almonds / flour stick as the coating. Real Food, Real Easy.
Not a fan of pork, I used this recipe with chicken breasts I had pounded flat. I dipped the breasts in egg, then your coating, then let them sit for a while (10 minutes or so) prior to frying in avocado oil. I’m not sure the waiting made a difference, but the coating was nice a crispy. Everyone in my family enjoyed it!
I made this tonight using thin pork chops (removed the bone) and friedn them in a bot if ghee (clarified butter served with mushrooms fried in butter and cream sauce with the Proscuitto Wrapped Asparagus. They were wonderful. I miss Schnitzel, it was great to have a low carb version.
What a brilliant idea. I love pork chops too. And I love your idea of mushrooms in butter and cream. What a combo.
Awesome, I am gonna try this for sure.
Libby, you are a recipe genius (again). This is the BEST recipe to eat HOT for dinner, and COLD sliced on a salad.