‘The Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond’s Crispy Herb-Crusted Chicken Cutlets Recipe

The Pioneer Woman knows how to make chicken irresistible. Here’s how to make Ree Drummond’s crispy herb-crusted chicken cutlets.

Ree Drummond’s herb-crusted chicken cutlets

Drummond serves the chicken with black pepper linguini. After dropping the linguini into a boiling pot, she makes the breading for the chicken. Drummond uses three dishes to help her with what she calls a “breading assembly line.”

The Pioneer Woman places flour, salt, and pepper in the first dish. She adds a beaten egg and milk to the second dish. For the third dish, Drummond adds panko crumbs along with chopped oregano, thyme, and rosemary in addition to salt and pepper. She says you can also add parmesan cheese to the mixture if you’d like.

Breading the chicken

Next, Drummond begins breading the chicken. She uses thin chicken cutlets for this recipe. She explains that a chicken cutlet is a chicken breast, but it’s cut very thin through the middle. Drummond dredges the chicken in flour first, followed by the egg and milk mixture, and then the herb crumb mixture. She says it’s important to pat the chicken and make sure it gets thoroughly coated.

Cooking the chicken cutlets

For the next step, Drummond heats up butter in a skillet. She places the breaded chicken into the skillet. Drummond says the butter helps the chicken cook by adding to the flavor and color of the meat. She makes sure to move the chicken around the skillet because the cutlets are very thin. She doesn’t want them to burn. Drummond also mentions that she cooks the chicken on low heat so that she doesn’t overcook the chicken. The Accidental Country Girl says the chicken cutlets are just “quietly sizzling” at this point in the cooking process.

“This is the best way to make chicken breasts,” says Drummond. “If you have a regular-sized chicken breast, just put your palm on top of it and run a sharp knife through the middle and then you can split it into two pieces. And I just think it always results in a more tender piece of chicken. And you get a lot more surface area proportionally to the amount of meat, which mean these crispy, herby coatings take you even further.”

After a few minutes, Drummond turns over the chicken cutlets. She notes how the panko crumbs absorb all the butter flavor. Drummond warns home cooks not to cook the cutlets too long because they will get dry. As soon as she takes the chicken out of the skillet, she sprinkles them with sea salt

Mushroom and black pepper pasta

Drummond completes her herb-crusted chicken meal by making mushroom and black pepper pasta. She starts by sautéing the mushrooms in a skillet. She adds garlic and butter to the pan. She also adds salt. Drummond says it’s best to wait to salt the mushrooms because too much salt will create additional moisture. Next Drummond adds heavy cream.

“It’s hard for me to think of a beautiful, romantic dinner without mushrooms because I actually am in love with mushrooms,” jokes Drummond. You can find the complete ingredients list and directions here.

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