This classic Italian breaded veal chop dish is actually quite simple, but incredibly delicious when made well. We love the classic version of Veal Milanese (Cotoletta alla Milanese) and have made this dish multiple times and have eaten it in Milan many times as well. So we are finally sharing our version of Bone-In Veal Milanese with a few twists on the classic that make it even more delicious than the original version! This is a great dish for special occasions or date night, and it is incredibly quick and easy to make!
Looking for more classic Italian recipes? Try out our Creamy Cacio e Pepe Pasta, Saltimbocca alla Romana, or Spaghetti Carbonara with Asparagus.
Jump to:
- What is Veal Milanese (Cotoletta alla Milanese)?
- Veal vs Beef?
- Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Substitutions
- How to Make Bone-In Veal Milanese
- Equipment
- Step-by-Step Instructions
- Storage
- Top tip
- Troubleshooting
- What to Make with Bone-In Veal Milanese
- Milanese-Style Creamy Saffron Leek Risotto
- What Wines Pair with Veal Milanese
- Mangiamo Cookbook
- FAQ
- Related
- Pairing
- 📖 Recipe
- Food safety
What is Veal Milanese (Cotoletta alla Milanese)?
Veal Milanese, or Cotoletta alla Milanese, is a classic Italian dish that was created in Milan, Italy. Although this dish was likely inspired by other similar breaded meat dishes, such as schnitzle. There are so many similar types of dishes all across Europe that there was probably quite a lot of sharing of ideas hundreds of years ago when this became a very popular (and famous) Milanese dish.
Like many classic Italian dishes, Veal Milanese is quite simple to make! But don't mistake the simplicity of this Milan classic for something boring or bland - Veal Milanese is anything but boring! In essence, a bone-in veal chop is pounded, seasoned, breaded, and cooked in butter. When cooked correctly, the outside crust becomes golden brown, and the veal is cooked perfectly with an out of this world flavor! The tender meat with fresh herbs and buttery crust is an unbeatable combo.
Veal vs Beef?
Veal is a cut of meat from young cattle (veal calves under a year old), usually a male from dairy farms since the males cannot produce milk and don't have a purpose for the dairy. Beef is, of course, from adult cattle specifically raised for beef. Although veal meat and beef are both from cattle, these two meats are very different in flavor due to the age of the cattle, breed, and how they are raised. Veal is much lighter in color, similar to pork, and the meat is generally more tender and has a sweeter and milder flavor than beef. Veal is often compared to pork or chicken, but has an incredible flavor that is hard to match!
This type of dish can be made using beef, chicken, pork or veal, but this particular traditional Milanese dish in Italy - Cotoletta alla Milanese- is always made with veal.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- It’s very quick and easy to make! You need to pay attention when making this dish, but it is quite simple.
- Despite how easy it is to make, it is a very impressive dish when made well.
- Perfect for date night or special occasion!
- The flavor is incredible, with the taste of veal shining through with a buttery, delicious crust.
- Tender juicy veal with a crispy crust!
Ingredients
Here is what you need to make Veal Milanese:
- Veal Chops: Bone-in veal chops are the classic protein in this dish. Good quality veal chops can be a bit of a challenge to find sometimes though, but if your local butcher or go-to grocer doesn't carry them, you can order them online HERE.
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- Fresh Rosemary Sprigs: Finely chopped fresh rosemary pairs perfectly with veal and we absolutely love this flavor combo.
- Fresh Sage Leaves: Finely chopped fresh sage leaves adds a deep flavor element along with the rosemary.
- Egg: Eggs allow the breadcrumbs to adhere to the veal.
- Breadcrumbs: We prefer the texture of panko breadcrumbs in this recipe, but plain breadcrumbs are traditional. We definitely recommend using Panko for that extra crunchy crust.
- Clarified Butter: The high smoke point and buttery taste makes clarified butter the perfect choice here. Ghee is also a great option.
- Lemon: Lemon wedges for a small squirt of lemon for serving.
- Fresh Parsley: Also for garnish if desired.
See recipe card below for quantities.
Substitutions
Here are a few common substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:
- Fresh Herbs: You can omit the rosemary and sage, or use just one if desired. You could also use thyme here with good results.
- Breadcrumbs: Although we use panko breadcrumbs, use your favorite. We prefer the crunch of panko but you could also use homemade or store bought breadcrumbs for the crust. Additionally, you can use Gluten Free breadcrumbs if you need this to be a gluten free option.
- Clarified butter: You can use unsalted butter in place of clarified butter if needed, although you will get more browning or blackening of the milk solids in the pan. To help reduce this issue, use some olive oil with the butter.
- Veal Chops: If you can't find veal or if it is not in your budget to make the traditional veal Milanese recipe, bone in pork chops are a great alternative in this recipe. You may need to tenderize the pork or pound it out a bit more to get the pork chops as tender, but they are still really nice in this recipe. Additionally, you can use veal cutlets or veal scallopini, thin boneless pork chops, or even chicken cutlets if you want a different boneless protein.
How to Make Bone-In Veal Milanese
The cooking process for making Veal Milanese is actually incredibly easy! Just pound the veal chops to the thickness you prefer (we like ours a bit thicker than the norm) but pounding them to the thickness of the bone is common. Season them, coat in egg, then breadcrumbs and gently fry them in clarified butter. Serve the tender veal chops with a lemon wedge for a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some chopped parsley and you’re there!
Equipment
Here is what you need to make this dish
- Meat mallet to gently pound the veal
- Large nonstick skillet or frying pan to fry the veal
- Baking pans, shallow bowls or dishes or sheet trays to hold the eggs and breadcrumbs so it is easy to coat the veal without making a huge mess.
- Instant read meat thermometer - you want to cook to an internal temperature of 142°F
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here's how to make this recipe for Bone-In Veal Milanese:
Step 1: Pound and Season the Veal Chops
- Gently pound the veal chops with a meat mallet. We prefer the thickness to be about ⅔ to ¾ of an inch thick or slightly thicker than the bone. Put the veal on a rack and season both sides with salt and pepper, rosemary, and sage. Set aside in the refrigerator while you prepare the coating.
Step 2: Bread the Chops
- Put the breadcrumbs in a small baking pan, shallow bowl or sheet tray. Break the eggs into a bowl and add a tablespoon of water. Then beat the eggs with a fork until combined. Transfer the beaten eggs in another baking dish or sheet tray. Remove the veal from the fridge and dip the chops in the egg mixture so that all sides of the meat are coated. Allow any excess egg drip off, then place in the breadcrumbs. Press the breadcrumbs into the veal with your hands and sprinkle more over the top and press them in again so the meat is completely coated (except for the exposed bone). Repeat with the remaining chops.
Step 3: Cook the Veal
- Heat the clarified butter over medium heat in a large skillet or frying pan. Transfer veal chops - as many as you can manage and will fit in the pan - and gently cook. This should take approximately 4-5 minutes per side. You may have to manipulate the heat, turning it up and down as you go, so the crust is a nice golden brown and at the same time the veal is cooked to medium rare (remove at 142°F). Use an instant read thermometer to check the temp of your veal as it cooks. If the heat is too high, your crust will brown quicker than your meat will cook. When done, serve your Bone-In Veal Milanese with a lemon wedge and sprinkle with a small amount of chopped parsley if desired.
Variations
Here are a way to change up this recipe:
- Use bone-in pork chops instead. Veal is not the easiest protein to find these days, so you could use a very good quality bone-in pork chop and follow the recipe exactly.
- Add some parmesan to the breadcrumbs. Adding some fresh grated parmesan cheese to the breadcrumbs will add a nice parmesan crust for added flavor.
- Serve with a sauce. Although we don't think this needs a sauce, serving it with a lemon beurre blanc is a great option to give it some extra flavor.
Storage
How to store leftover Veal Milanese:
- We rarely have any leftovers when we make this dish! If you actually have a leftover veal chop, then someone forgot to come to dinner! In any case, store leftover Veal Milanese in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
How to reheat leftover veal milanese?
- This is tricky because you will inevitably cook the veal to a more done temperature than when you served it in the first place. But you can reheat it on a sheet pan in the oven at 325°F until warmed through or reheat it on low in a pan with more butter until warmed through. The latter is difficult as you could bring the coating to a very dark brown before the veal is warmed through - but it's an option.
Can you freeze Veal Milanese?
- This just won’t work well, so the answer is no, we do not recommend freezing leftover Veal Milanese.
Top tip
The classic dish, Veal Milanese (Cotoletta alla Milanese), does not use flour to bind the egg to the veal, so we don’t either. It works well as long as you are careful not to throw around the veal while cooking! Be gentle so as not to break the coating while you cook the meat to perfection.
Troubleshooting
Cooking at too high of a temperature is one of the biggest issues you can encounter when making Bone-In Veal Milanese. If your heat is too high, the crust will be perfectly cooked but the veal will be raw. Or the veal is perfect and your breading has multiple very dark brown to black portions from overcooking. You may have to manipulate the temperature of the stove to make sure the veal cooks properly, turning it up and down so that you get a perfect crust and medium rare meat.
What to Make with Bone-In Veal Milanese
The classic pairing for the traditional recipe is to serve Veal Milanese with an arugula salad with fresh cherry tomatoes with a squirt of lemon and some good olive oil. This is a way to add sweetness, bitterness and acidity alongside the rich veal chop. Almost every version of Cotoletta alla Milanese we have ever had in Milan was served with an arugula and tomato salad like we have pictured in this post.
If you want something a bit more substantial, this is also great with a risotto, especially a classic Milanese risotto.
Perfect pairing!
Milanese-Style Creamy Saffron Leek Risotto
Make this ultimate creamy risotto recipe infused with saffron for that bright golden color!
Or you could have a potato dish or polenta dish and green vegetables to round it out. Broccolini, peas, sautéed spinach, and green beans are all great candidates.
What Wines Pair with Veal Milanese
There are several good wines that go with veal, but we have a favorite white and red for this dish. For white wine we like either an Italian chardonnay or a dry riesling. They both go well here. For reds we prefer an Italian Primitivo (Italian Zinfandel), but if it is easier to get a real good California Zinfandel (especially from the Dry Creek Valley) then that is a great option as well.
Mangiamo Cookbook
Get your copy of our cookbook, Mangiamo, with 60 Italian recipes with drool-worthy images inspired by our Italian roots and travels!
FAQ
Milanese simply means that the dish originates from Milan, Italy or that the dish is cooked in a similar fashion, or Milanese style, to a traditional dish from Milan.
These two dishes have similarities, but the Austrian wiener schnitzel is traditionally made with a thin pounded veal cutlet, which is boneless and comes from a different part of the animal. Veal Milanese is typically made with a bone-in veal chop.
Technically, an escalope can be any cut of meat that is pounded out, breaded and fried. Veal Milanese is specifically a veal chop that is pounded, breaded and pan-fried in butter.
Some say chicken and turkey are similar enough to be used as substitutes, but we think that is only true as far as those proteins can be adapted to many veal recipes, such as veal piccata or veal saltimbocca. Substituted, yes, but these proteins do not taste like veal. A very high quality pork can have certain characteristics and similarities to veal, but it must be young and of high quality. Generally we recommend using pork as the closest substitute for veal if necessary.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with this dish:
📖 Recipe
Bone-In Veal Milanese Recipe (Cotoletta alla Milanese)
Equipment
- 1 Large nonstick skillet or frying pan
- 3 Baking pans, shallow bowls or dishes or sheet trays
Ingredients
- 2 bone-in veal chops
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoon finely chopped sage
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup clarified butter
- Lemon wedges for serving
- Parsley finely chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Gently pound the veal chops with a meat mallet. We prefer the thickness to be about ⅔ to ¾ of an inch thick or slightly thicker than the bone. Put the veal on a baking rack over a sheet pan and season both sides with salt and pepper, rosemary, and sage. Set aside in the refrigerator while you prepare the coating.
- Put the breadcrumbs in a small baking pan or sheet tray. Break the eggs into a bowl and add a tablespoon of water. Then beat the eggs with a fork until combined, like scrambled eggs. Transfer the beaten eggs in another sheet tray. Remove the veal from the fridge and dip the chops in the egg mixture carefully, then place in the breadcrumbs. Press the breadcrumbs into the veal and add more so the chop is completely coated where there is meat (not the bone). Repeat with the remaining chops.
- Heat the clarified butter over medium heat in a large skillet or frying pan. Transfer veal chops - as many as you can manage and will fit in the pan - and gently cook. This should take approximately 4-5 minutes per side. You may have to manipulate the heat, turning it up and down as you go, so the crust is a nice golden brown and at the same time the veal is cooked to medium rare (remove at 142°F). Use an instant read thermometer to check the temp of your veal as it cooks. If the heat is too high, your crust will brown quicker than your meat will cook.
- When done, serve with a lemon wedge and sprinkle with a small amount of chopped parsley if desired.
Nutrition
Food safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Guenter Draudt says
One of the best meals I’ve ever made.Kudos from wife says it all😋Can’t wait to make it again….no leftovers …had mushrooms and small potatoes as side dishes
Angela and Mark says
We are so happy to hear that you and your wife loved this as much as we do!!!