Pork Schnitzel With a Traditional Potato & Mayonnaise Salad

Is there a dish that everyone in your country knows and loves to cook? I'm sure there are some and when speaking about my country, Slovakia, probably the biggest classic of all would be a schnitzel with potato salad.

People use all kinds of meat cuts to make schnitzels, pork and chicken are the most common used ones for sure... veal is used when making the Wiener variety.

The typical pork schnitzel would be made from pork loin (pork chops) but I often go for the more delicate version that uses pork tenderloin.

And today I'd like to show you how to make just that: Pork Schnitzel made from tenderloin, served with a side of potato mayonnaise salad.

For the visual learners among us, here is a video that I embeded from my YouTube Channel.

This recipe is very easy to follow, so the video should be enough, but feel free to scroll down for step-by-step instructions.

You will only need a bunch of very common ingredients, nothing fancy or hard to get.

For the pork schnitzels:

2 pork tenderloins about 500g (1 pound) each
3-4 eggs
approx. 300g (2 cups) all purpose flour
approx. 300g (3 cups) breadcrumbs
salt & pepper to taste

For the potato salad

1kg (2lb) potatoes (some waxy type)
8-10 pickled cucumbers
3-4 tbsp. pickle juice
1 cup canned carrots + peas
½ cup of canned sweet corn
250g (1 cup) mayonnaise
250g (1 cup) sour cream
1 large onion
(sauteed) salt & pepper to taste

Let's make the salad first as it needs some time to chill in the fridge. The salad is to be served cold, so give it the time it needs.

Boil the potatoes with their skin on, 25 minutes should be enough as they still need to hold their shape, do not overcook. Once cold enough to handle, remove the skin and dice/cube the potatoes with a knife or hand dicer.

Making the salad is as easy as mixing all the ingredients together. Finely dice the pickles, lightly sautee a diced onion, add the rest of listed ingredients and mix properly.

Do not forget to add a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes afterwards.

Clean the pork loin and remove silver skin. Cut into 1.5 cm or 1/2 inch thick slices and pound them with a meat mallet from both sides. Go light at it, no need to flatten the meat too much. Season with salt and pepper from both sides.

I start by coating all the meat pieces in flour first. This gives the flour some time to absorb the moisture and it will stick to the meat better.

Beat 3-4 eggs... you might need more or less depending on the amount of meat you are working with. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Prepare the breadcrumbs too, to save yourself some work, use the same dish or bowl that you have used for flour.

I'm using plain breadcrumbs, but panko works great too.

You know the coating process, right? First the eggs, then breadcrumbs. Repeat until all the pieces are ready and place them on a plate.

If you want to use the most authentic method, you should use clarified butter to fry the schnitzels. Pork lard is a great option too, but most people would simply use vegetable oil with a high smoking point.

Pork tenderloin cooks quickly, so you will need just about 3 minutes per side. Once the color turns golden brown, it's done.

Give the schnitzels a minute or two so the excess fat can soak into a paper towel and we are ready to serve.

No need to make it complicates, simply place a few schnitzels on a place, add a generous amount of the salad, decorate with a parsley leaf and put a slice of lemon onto the plate too. Some people love to squeeze some lemon juice onto their schnitzels to make the flavor more fresh, try it.

TIP: Schnitzels taste great even when cold and they stay good for 2 days in the fridge easily. Same for the salad, we often eat it 2 or 3 days in a row, so don't be afraid to prepare larger quantities.

And that's it! Let me know how you liked this recipe in the comment. I've got some optional tips for this pork schnitzel recipe on my blog, so check it out if you have a spare minute.

Thanks for reading or watching :)

Matej.