Veal Milanese (Cotoletta alla Milanese) is a traditional recipe from Milan, Lombardy. Made with tender veal chops and a crispy breadcrumb coating fried in butter and drizzled with lemon, so delicious! Serve with an arugula salad and roast potatoes.
Veal Milanese is a simple and delicious, traditional dish from Milan, a city famous for many Italian classics such as Saffron Risotto and Ossobuco.
This famous dish is made with a bone-in veal rib that's pan-fried in butter until crispy, crunchy and golden brown on the outside but juicy and tender on the inside.
It's usually served with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (which we love) and fries or roast potatoes as a side.
Traditionally, egg and no flour is used to bread the veal but we use the method of just pressing the veal into the breadcrumbs (believe me it works) which results in a lighter coating that's not only crispy and delicious but super easy to do.
See the recipe below including notes on ingredients, step by step photos, tips, variations and a video tutorial. For the full printable recipe scroll to the bottom or click the recipe link below
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Ingredients
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Veal - the cut of veal you want to use is bone-in veal rib (veal chop) you can also use boneless if it's available to you. Alternatively, you can use veal cutlets but because cutlets are much thinner you'll have to reduce the cooking time.
- Breadcrumbs - Veal Milanese is made with fine breadcrumbs and not crispy panko-like breadcrumbs.
- Butter and olive oil - Traditionally clarified butter is used, it's important it's clarified so the butter doesn't burn. Instead, we use a mix of butter and olive oil which also stops the butter from burning and still gives the veal a delicious flavour.
Step by step photos and instructions
Bash the veal - first, you want to bash the veal with a meat mallet or rolling pin until they are about 1cm (¼ inch thick) (photo 1).
Bread the veal - Next, bread the veal chops in breadcrumbs (yes just breadcrumbs). This is a technique we use for our Breaded Chicken Cutlets and it works perfectly. Press the veal into the crumbs (do each side a couple of times) until completely coated and it's done. No egg, no flour, no mess and it's light and crispy every time (photos 2 & 3).
Fry the veal - Heat the oil and butter in a large pan. Once hot, fry the veal for 4 minutes on each side until golden, crispy and cooked through (photos 4 & 5).
Serve - serve the veal sprinkled with sea salt flakes and a squeeze of lemon juice (photo 6).
Serving suggestions
Traditionally Veal Milanese is served with fries or roast potatoes. We like to serve it with crushed potatoes squeezed with lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil and an arugula salad on the side with shavings of parmesan.
This isn't the lightest of meals so if you find potatoes too heavy as a side dish you could opt for green beans, spinach or a light salad.
Recipe tips
- What cut of veal to use - you want to use a bone-in veal rib (chop) for this recipe but you can use veal escalops (thin cutlets).
- If you don't have veal - if you can't find veal for this recipe you can use chicken (see our breaded chicken cutlets recipe) or pork.
- Remove silverskin or sinew - remove any sinew (silver skin) around the chop to stop it from curling up during cooking. If you find it is too tough to remove, you can snip it in sections.
- Breadcrumbs - make sure to use fine breadcrumbs and not Panko breadcrumbs (light and crispy ones) if using our method for breading (pankos work fine if using egg).
- Seasoning the breadcrumbs - For an authentic taste, please stay away from 'Italian breadcrumbs' this is a US product that adds a mix of dried herbs to the crumbs and sometimes garlic powder. If you want to add extra flavour to the breadcrumbs try adding some freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano which is a good way to switch things up.
Recipe FAQs
Milanese means 'from Milan' for example; Risotto alla Milanese (saffron risotto) and Ossobuco alla Milanese (stewed veal shank) are both from the city of Milan but are not similar in any way (other than the city of origin).
You can bash the veal chops in advance so they are at the right thickness but I don't recommend breading them in advance as the breadcrumbs will absorb moisture and become too soft. Luckily using our breading method it's very quick and easy to do last minute.
Once cooked the veal will keep in the fridge for about 2 days although the breadcrumb coating will become softer. You can reheat in the oven at 180C (350F) for about 10 minutes or until piping hot throughout.
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📖 Full Recipe
Veal Milanese Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 veal bone-in veal chops veal rib
- 1 cup fine breadcrumbs 130g
- 3 tablespoons butter 40g
- Lemon wedges for serving
- Sea salt flakes
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
Prepare the veal for cooking
- Remove any sinew (silver skin) from around the chop to stop it from curling when frying. If you find it difficult to remove you can make incisions around the sinew which will also help.
- Bash the veal with a meat mallet or rolling pin until they are about 1cm (¼ inch thick).
To bread and cook the veal
- Put the breadcrumbs on a large plate and press the veal chops into the crumbs on either side a couple of times until fully coated (you don’t need flour or egg).
- Note: your veal chops may be too big to fit both of them in a pan so you can cook them one at a time and put one in a pre-heated oven at 100C (210F) to keep warm whilst the other is cooking. If doing it this way use half of the butter and oil for one chop and the rest for the other.
- Heat oil and butter in a large pan. Once hot, fry the veal for 4 minutes on each side until golden, crispy and cooked through.
- Serve the veal sprinkled with sea salt flakes and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Notes
- What cut of veal to use - you want to use a bone-in veal rib (chop) for this recipe but you can use veal escalops (thin cutlets).
- If you don't have veal - if you can't find veal for this recipe you can use chicken (see our breaded chicken cutlets recipe) or pork.
- Remove silverskin or sinew - remove any sinew (silverskin) around the chop to stop it from curling up during cooking. If you find it is too tough to remove, you can snip it in sections.
- Breadcrumbs - make sure to use fine breadcrumbs and not Panko breadcrumbs (light and crispy ones) if using our method for breading (pankos work fine if using egg).
- Seasoning the breadcrumbs - For an authentic taste, please stay away from 'Italian breadcrumbs' this is a US product that adds a mix of dried herbs to the crumbs and sometimes garlic powder. If you want to add extra flavour to the breadcrumbs try adding some freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano which is a good way to switch things up.
- Leftovers - Once cooked the veal will keep in the fridge for around 2 days although the breadcrumbs will become soft so this is a dish best served immediately. To reheat, pre-heat the oven to 180 (350F) and cook for around 10 minutes until piping hot throughout.
Nutrition
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
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