The Jägerschnitzel is a traditional German delicacy. Sautéed onions mixed in with mushrooms to create an incredibly delicious sauce to serve over tenderly cooked pork chops! Perfect for an absolutely mouthwatering weeknight dinner. Easy, simple and oh, so satisfying!
Jägerschnitzel
Traditionally known as ‘hunter’s cutlets’ in German, the Jägerschnitzel was initially made of venison or wild boar backstrap, but in today’s recipe we are using tenderly pounded pork chops. This simple and delicious recipe is part of traditional German cuisine. Made with tender pork chops with an incredibly delicious mushroom sauce, this is an easy weeknight dinner recipe that the whole family can enjoy.
- Traditional Recipe
- Mouthwatering Flavors
- Simple Ingredients
- Delicious Weeknight Dinner
With just a few simple steps, you can make this recipe with the ingredients you have most likely hanging out in your home pantry. While this schnitzel can be breaded, I preferred this recipe without any breadcrumbs, as some places in Germany actually prefer the recipe with just the tender pork chops drenched in mushroom sauce. Also, all the restaurants I’ve had this at, the pork chops were not breaded, but it’s totally up to you.
Ingredient Notes
For Mushroom Sauce
- Butter – Make sure you use unsalted butter to control the salt intake for our dish.
- Onion – We’ll need a couple onions for this sauce, chopped.
- Garlic – Peeled garlic cloves minced, for lots of additional flavor.
- Mushrooms – I prefer any white mushrooms or cremini, sliced or chopped.
- Broth – Low sodium beef broth. You could use a vegetable broth as well.
For Schnitzel
- Pork Chops – Thinly pound pork chops or pork loin cut into 1/2 pieces.
- Seasoning – I used a blend of salt, ground pepper and sweet paprika.
- Oil – Any kind of high temp vegetable oil will work well, such as Safflower, Sunflower or Olive oil.
How To Make Jägerschnitzel
- Cook the onion and garlic: Melt the 4 tbsp of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, until they sweat, soften and become translucent but not brown. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds until aromatic.
- Cook the mushrooms: Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook for about 10 minutes. Initially the mushrooms will absorb all the butter but don’t add anymore, eventually they will release all that butter back.
- Finish the sauce: Add the beef broth to the skillet and bring to a boil over high. Continue cooking until the liquid reduces by half and thickens, should take about 20 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper as needed.
- Tenderize the pork: Using the flat end of a meat tenderizer, pound the pork working from the center out until the cutlets are ¼” thick. Generously season the pork chops with salt, pepper and sweet paprika on both sides.
- Cook the schnitzel: Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place 2 or 3 chops in the skillet, or as many as you can comfortably fit in your skillet, at a time and sear for 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Serve: Serve schnitzels with plenty of mushroom sauce along side a serving of spaetzle.
FAQ’s
The Jagerschnitzel is a traditional German dish, originally made of venison or wild boar backstrap, thinly pounded before cooking. There are parts of Germany that prefer this type of schnitzel to be breaded and some that prefer it unbreaded served with a mushroom gravy. It is usually served with Spaetzle on the side.
Definitely! As the traditional recipe uses both options to prep the pork, you can easily make a breaded pork chop to go with this recipe. For more instructions you can try out my Pork Schnitzel recipe.
This is the best part about this recipe: you can serve it just as it is! It’s so delicious and satisfying to eat. But, if you’d like more flavor on the side, here are a few recipes you can add to the mix: Spaetzle, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Potatoes with Garlic Sauce, Hasselback Potatoes.
Expert Tips
- When working with your pork chops, make sure you use the flat end of the meat tenderizer and pound the meat gently to even it all out. It will help cook the meat evenly and all the way through, but also gain that tender and soft little morsel.
- The sauce will eventually reduce, just be patient, mine took about 20 minutes to reduce. Make sure the skillet is uncovered while simmering the sauce.
- When using mushrooms, you can use white mushrooms, just like I did in the recipe, but this would also be great with cremini mushrooms or even shiitake.
Leftovers
If you have any leftover jagerschnitzel, you can let them cool at room temperature and then store them into an airtight container. They will last well in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. When warming up, you can add them in your microwave for 2 minutes and serve as is or with a delicious side dish.
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Jägerschnitzel
Equipment
Ingredients
For Mushroom Sauce
- 4 tbsp butter unsalted
- 2 medium onions chopped
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 lb white mushrooms or cremini, sliced or chopped
- 4 cups beef broth low sodium
- salt and pepper to taste
For Schnitzel
- 6 pork chops or pork loin cut in ½ pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Cook the onion and garlic: Melt the 4 tbsp of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, until they sweat, soften and become translucent but not brown. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds until aromatic.
- Cook the mushrooms: Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook for about 10 minutes. Initially the mushrooms will absorb all the butter but don't add anymore, eventually they will release all that butter back.
- Finish the sauce: Add the beef broth to the skillet and bring to a boil over high. Continue cooking until the liquid reduces by half and thickens, should take 10 to 15 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper as needed.
- Tenderize the pork: Using the flat end of a meat tenderizer, pound the pork working from the center out until the cutlets are ¼" thick. Generously season the pork chops with salt, pepper and sweet paprika on both sides.
- Cook the schnitzel: Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place 2 or 3 chops in the skillet, or as many as you can comfortably fit in your skillet, at a time and sear for 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Serve: Serve schnitzels with plenty of mushroom sauce along side a serving of spaetzle.
Video
Recipe Notes
- All the Jägerschnitzels I’ve had in restaurants, the pork chops were never breaded, however, if you’d like to bread them, please do so. For detailed instructions on how to bread schnitzels check out my recipe here.
- When working with your pork chops, make sure you use the flat end of the meat tenderizer and pound the meat gently to even it all out. It will help cook the meat evenly and all the way through, but also gain that tender and soft little morsel.
- The sauce will eventually reduce, just be patient, mine took about 20 minutes to reduce. Make sure the skillet is uncovered while simmering the sauce.
- When using mushrooms, you can use white mushrooms, just like I did in the recipe, but this would also be great with cremini mushrooms or even shiitake.
- If you have any leftover jagerschnitzel, you can let them cool at room temperature and then store them into an airtight container. They will last well in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. When warming up, you can add them in your microwave for 2 minutes and serve as is or with a delicious side dish.
Hello Joanna,
This recipe looks great! This may be a strange question, but where are those square-sided dark-colored plates in the presentation photo from? I’m in the market for new dinnerware and those look much less bulky than what I’ve found so far!
I got the set on amazon, here’s the link (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/37fhC41
You had me at mushrooms in brown gravy. Seriously this was so good. I had to substitute chicken because my husband doesn’t care for pork chops. I didn’t change anything else and it came out so good. We were practically licking our plates.
We are so glad you all enjoyed this recipe so much!
I just finished breakfast, but this photo and recipe made me hungry all over again. Beautiful! And I’ll be making this really soon!
That’s great, let me know how you like it! 🙂
This looks delicious! I can’t find any paprika labeled sweet however Google says it’s usually just labeled paprika. Is there a certain brand sweet paprika that you use?
That’s right, it’s just regular paprika, not smoked or spicy. There are so many different paprika types. We’re in Canada so I usually get my spices from The Silk Road Spice Merchant.