Jägerschnitzel – German Schnitzel with Mushrooms

 

An authentic recipe for the well-known German schnitzel with mushroom sauce: Jägerschnitzel, Jaeger schnitzel or Hunter schnitzel.

 

JÄGERSCHNITZEL

 

 

Traditional German schnitzel or Jägerschnitzel made with boneless pork chops and served with a delicious mushroom sauce.

This is the most popular German schnitzel there is, I suppose. A crispy fried pork schnitzel with the best mushroom sauce ever. I am not kidding: the schnitzel is great, but that sauce is worth all the money!!!

Welcome to another Where Is My Spoon little series, this time featuring Schnitzel, a staple in German cooking, something you will find in every restaurant in Germany, well maybe not in an Asian or vegetarian restaurant, but otherwise pretty much everywhere.

And the first recipe is a German classic: Jägerschnitzel, jaeger schnitzel or Hunter Schnitzel, which is a pork schnitzel cooked in the typical way and eaten with a particularly delicious mushroom sauce. And fries, never forget the fries!

How did I get the idea of cooking so much schnitzel recipes lately?

My son said one day he would like to eat schnitzel, so I thought, why not? Let’s do schnitzel. While looking for a recipe for this sauce, I found so many related recipes that I thought I’d love to try and I knew this could turn into a series.

We overdid it with eating schnitzel during the past 6 weeks, but trust me, nobody complained. Actually I am pretty much sure they were all happy with me cooking something “normal” and meaty for a change….

So, make sure you try some of the other schnitzel recipes, either the big classic Wiener Schnitzel, the chicken schnitzel or the oven baked schnitzel.

 

 

HOW TO MAKE GERMAN JÄGERSCHNITZEL?

What meat cut for schnitzel?

The meat used to make schnitzel is actually called schnitzel in Germany. I made some research and found out that the meat necessary to make schnitzel is called boneless pork chops in America.

How to bread the schnitzel?

This is a classic recipe for making schnitzel, nothing fancy, you just have to bread the meat and fry the schnitzel in a pan.

• Dry the schnitzel.
• Pound each schnitzel between two sheets of plastic foil using a meat tenderizer or (as I did) a not very large but heavy pan. The schnitzel should be about 6 mm/ ¼ inch thick after pounding.
• Place the flour on a large plate.
• Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl.
• Place the breadcrumbs on another large plate.
• Dip the meat pieces into the flour, coat on both sides and shake off excess flour.
• Dip them in the beaten eggs, coating on both sides and then coat the schnitzel with the breadcrumbs. Press the breadcrumbs very lightly, shake off the excess and fry the schnitzel immediately.

How to fry the schnitzel?

• Heat enough clarified butter (Butterschmalz) or vegetable oil in a large pan. The schnitzel should be able to swim lightly in it.
• The oil or clarified butter should be hot but not smoking.
• Carefully place the schnitzel in the hot oil and fry it about 2-3 minutes on each side or until the coating is deep golden brown.
• Depending on the size of your pan and on the size of your German schnitzel, you might have to fry them in 2 or 3 batches.
• Remove from the pan and place on paper kitchen towels, which will help remove the excess fat.

 

 

MUSHROOM SAUCE FOR GERMAN SCHNITZEL

The sauce is called Jaeger sauce – Hunter sauce, due to the mushrooms you need to make it. I suppose the idea is that mushrooms grow in the woods where the hunter hunts… A simple explanation. 🙂

Not only the Germans have their hunter’s sauce, but also the French have their chasseur sauce made with mushrooms as well and the Italians their cacciatore, which is not made with mushrooms, it is a tomato based sauce.

HOW TO MAKE JAEGER SAUCE FOR SCHNITZEL?

1. Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper and halve or quarter them, depending on size.
2. Heat the butter in a pan and fry the mushrooms on medium-high heat for about 3 minutes or until they start releasing their juices. Remove from the pan.
3. Chop the onion.
4. Heat the oil in the same pan and cook the bacon cubes and the onions until the onions are soft and golden.
5. Place the mushrooms back in the pan, add the vegetable broth, cream, thyme, some salt and pepper.
6. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 -15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
7. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper and add chopped parsley.

HOW TO SERVE JAEGER SCHNITZEL?

The classic German schnitzel is served on a large plate with the mushroom or jaeger sauce on top of it.

You can do that, but I prefer to place the sauce next to the schnitzel, this way the breading remains crispy for longer. But that’s a personal choice, you can do whatever you like.

In a restaurant you will always get fries on the side. I like that, but I am not a fan of making fries (waaaay too much trouble), so I prefer to serve the Jägerschnitzel with oven roasted potato wedges. I like them better than fries, they are much healthier and easier to make.

A green salad or a mixed salad where you will be served different salads like white cabbage salad, carrot salad, green bean salad and maybe a few tomato slices are also very common side dishes for the German Jägerschnitzel.

And don’t forget the lemon slices and the very cold beer.

What I personally like the most about this recipe is the jaeger sauce, absolutely my thing. I could imagine eating it not only with schnitzel but as a ragout with boiled potatoes or on top of rice or pasta. You might want to double the ingredients in that case.

 

 

MORE SCHNITZEL RECIPES?

How to Make Oven Baked Schnitzel

Wiener Schnitzel

Chicken Schnitzel with Ham and Cheese

Chicken Schnitzel in Pancake Batter

Chicken Schnitzel with Potato Crust

Katsu Sando with Tonkatsu Sauce

 

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