What is the difference between chicken piccata and chicken Milanese?

Q: Whats the difference between chicken Milanese and chicken cutlets?

Or in Jersey Shore parlance, chicken cutlets.” To be fair these are not synonymous but rather related” dishes. All three consist of breaded and fried chicken but the Milanese usually has parmesan in the mix while schnitzels are traditionally made with veal.

This is Chicken Piccata.

It’s funny how recipes for Chicken (or veal) Piccata, Milanese, and Scallopini kind of meld together into one dish, when really, they are two different recipes and a cooking term.

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What's the difference between chicken Milanese and chicken Paillard?
What is the difference between chicken piccata and chicken piccata?
What's the difference between chicken Milanese and chicken cutlets?
What does piccata style mean?

The thing they have in common is that all three use “scallopini-ed” meat.

The term “scallopini” refers to as a thin, boneless slice of meat. Simple enough. That being said, the term “scallopini” is often used to describe a dish that is really “piccata” or “milanese”. Confusing? Perhaps.

Traditionaly, in classic cooking, scallopini, milanese, or piccata dishes are made with veal. In recent years, chicken has become the go-to protein for these dishes. Chicken is easier to source, easier to work with, and, frankly, more flavorful than veal. I have made both Veal and Chicken versions and I tend to agree. Veal tends to be bland and not as juicy as boneless chicken breasts.

In my opinion, here’s the deal. Piccata is a thin, often pounded, piece of boneless chicken (or veal), seasoned with salt and pepper, lightly dusted in flower, then sautéed in butter and olive oil, then finished with lemon juice, chicken stock, capers, and parsley. Milanese is a thin, often pounded, piece of boneless chicken (or veal), seasoned with salt and pepper, then breaded…yes, breaded…fried then finished with sautéed mushrooms, wine, parmesan cheese, and parsley.

Look…if you add capers…it’s piccata…if you bread the chicken…it’s Milanese (or Milanesa). If you want to call both of them “scallopini”…knock yourself out! It’s all good. I suggest avoiding any discussion of these terms with a classically trained chef!

So, then what the heck is Chicken Paillard? Paillard is a French cooking term for a boneless piece of meat, pounded thin or butterflied, then sautéed quickly in vegetable oil…no flour, no breading. I like to follow Chef Thomas Keller’s serving suggestion by serving Chicken Paillard with a Sauce Vierge, made with tomatoes, shallots, vinegar, and olive oil. Very simple, very elegant, very easy, and very light.

Welcome to Red Sauce America, our coast-to-coast celebration of old-school Italian-American restaurants.

The chicken cutlet is the stem cell of the red sauce kitchen: The stuff of life itself, a base protein that can, depending on how you cook it and sauce it, morph into a seemingly boundless array of codified, canonical Italian-American dishes. Marsala. Milanese. Francese. But what does it all mean? What distinguishes chicken Parmigiana from piccata? With the help of the fine folks at Detroit’s iconic Amore da Roma, we break it down.

Photo by Christina Holmes

Milanese
The ur-cutlet, simplicity at its finest: a crisp slab of breaded and pan-fried chicken breast, no sauce in sight, maybe a wedge of lemon or tuft of dressed arugula riding sidesaddle. (For your own good, don’t call it schnitzel.)

Photo by Christina Holmes

Parmigiana
Milanese—but make it fashion. Crunchy cutlets gilded with a thin layer of marinara and a flurry of grated Parmesan (and, in the case of most Italian-American joints, a heavy sprinkle of mozzarella), then broiled to bubbly perfection. It doesn’t get much more iconic than this, folks. Get BA's Best Chicken Parmesan recipe here→

Photo by Christina Holmes

Piccata
Less crunchy, more saucy. No breadcrumbs this time: slices of chicken get dredged in seasoned flour, sautéed in butter, and smothered in an addictively tangy butter-lemon-caper pan sauce. Get our Chicken Piccata recipe here→

Photo by Christina Holmes

Francese
Also known as “Chicken French,” this sauce is similar to piccata (sans capers), but is distinct for its decidedly un-crisp texture—he cutlets are dipped in wet batter rather that dredged in bread crumbs, resulting in an eggy, almost puffy exterior. (The resulting soggy deliciousness is exactly the reason why chef Tyler Kord is wholly obsessed with it.)

Photo by Christina Holmes

Marsala
Lightly floured, sautéed, and served in a rich, silky pan sauce composed of butter, onions, caramelized mushrooms, and plenty of marsala, the sherry-esque fortified wine from coastal Sicily.

Photo by Christina Holmes

Saltimbocca
The name literally translates to “jumps in the mouth”…for whatever reason. Cutlets are pounded out, then layered with sage leaves and prosciutto slices and (sometimes, but not always) rolled into tidy little packages before being dredged in flour and sautéed. (Here’s a recipe we love from the team behind Cervo’s and Hart’s.)

Amiel Stanek is the editor of Basically.

What's the difference between chicken Milanese and chicken Paillard?

“Paillard” is the term used for the beef, veal or chicken that has been pounded thin before sauteing or cooking alla Milanese style. Because it is summer, and also because we do not have a ready source for quality veal, I am sticking to chicken paillard recipes today.

What is the difference between chicken piccata and chicken piccata?

For piccata, the chicken is first dipped in egg and then in flour. Both are then simmered in a lemony butter sauce, but the piccata sauce includes capers.”

What's the difference between chicken Milanese and chicken cutlets?

Or in Jersey Shore parlance, “chicken cutlets.” To be fair these are not synonymous but rather “related” dishes. All three consist of breaded and fried chicken but the Milanese usually has parmesan in the mix while schnitzels are traditionally made with veal.

What does piccata style mean?

Piccata is an Italian word, sometimes spelled picatta or pichotta outside of Italy. The culinary use of the Italian term means "to be pounded flat". When used in reference to a way of preparing food, particularly meat or fish, it means "sliced, sautéed, and served in a sauce containing lemon, butter and spices".