These gluten-free breaded pork chops or pork cutlets are special because I show you how to make a seasoned batter that coats the meat and tenderizes it in the process. Goes great with a side of rice or sour cream mashed potatoes!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
– This recipe yields tender pork chops.
– Completely gluten and dairy free.
– You can choose your own seasoning for the batter and make the pork taste the way you like!
– You can freeze these pork chops before frying and make them a part of your weekly meal prep.
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Ingredients
Flour – you can use any gluten free blend, don’t worry about a binding agent, you don’t need any gum in the flour for this recipe. You can also use this homemade gluten free flour blend, which for this recipe would be 48 grams of fine rice flour, 16 grams of potato starch, and 8 grams of tapioca starch/flour. I also provide these measurements in the recipe card!
Bread crumbs – I used a food processor to make gluten free bread crumbs out of gluten free bread. Gluten free bread crumbs are so expensive that I decided to bake a loaf of gluten free bread out of corn flour, rice flour, and cornstarch to process it into crumbs. The bread itself doesn’t taste great as it uses very cheap flours and no binding agent but it works great for breadcrumbs for this recipe!
Pork – I used about 1.2 kg or 2.6 lbs of pork leg for this recipe. Make sure you buy a boneless cut!
Milk – use plant-based milk for dairy-free pork chops.
Seasoning – feel free to use any seasoning you like (like taco seasoning) but make sure it has a lot of salt. Otherwise, just follow my instructions for a seasoning I made for this recipe!
Tools You Might Need
– A meat mallet;
– A cast iron pan (optional);
– A large mixing bowl;
– A cooling rack (optional)
Step by Step Recipe
Step 1 – Cut and pound the meat
Slice the pork leg thinly. The slices will not be perfectly even and thin so you will need to pound them with a meat mallet. Make sure to cut out the white tissue from the mea slices (they are way to chewy if you leave them in).
TIP: if you don’t have a meat mallet you can use a rolling pin to roll the meat out or just find something heavy that is suitable for pounding pork chops. You can be creative 🙂
Step 2 – Prepare the batter
Whisk the eggs well, then add olive oil a drop at a time while vigorously whisking. Your goal is to allow the oil particles to break up and emulsify into the eggs. If you pour too much oil at once it won’t emulsify and will separate from the eggs later.
Add the seasoning and the flour. Pour a couple of tbsp of milk into the batter until it becomes pourable. Then, place the pork slices one by one into the batter coating them well. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
Step 3 – Fry the meat
Preheat a large cast iron pan for 5-10 minutes on medium heat. Add frying oil to the pan (I used sunflower oil) until it comes up to about 1/8 of an inch. You can adjust the oil levels if you would like less oil in your cutlets.
Pour gluten free breadcrumbs into a wide plate and dip each piece of meat into the breadcrumbs. Make sure the cutlets are covered in crumbs completely, then place 3-4 slices in the pan.
TIP: for more flavor, you can add salt, seasoning, or parmesan to the breadcrumbs.
Fry on medium heat for 3-4 minutes, then flip, fry for another 3-4 minutes, and transfer to a cooling rack. If you don’t have a cooling rack line a plate with paper towels and place the cutlets onto that paper to let the oil be absorbed.
Repeat with the rest of the meat. Add oil as needed! Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or with your favorite side.
Expert Tips
– Make sure your knife is really sharp before slicing the meat. You will save yourself time by sharpening your knife first!
– After the first batch, cut one of the cutlets and see if it cooked through, then, adjust the time accordingly for the next batch. I generally don’t watch the time anymore as I can tell the doneness of my pork cutlets by the browning. However, I always try the first batch, and if it is well done I fry the rest in the same way.
– Make sure you are using a lot of salt. The meat is not going to be seasoned from the inside so you need to make sure there is enough salt in the batter and breadcrumbs for the best results. You can also experiment with adding spices or Parmesan cheese to the breadcrumbs.
FAQ
How Do You Know When Pork Cutlets are Done?
The general rule of thumb is the meat needs to measure 145F (63C) in order to be safe to eat. However, I never used a thermometer for this recipe. What I do is fry the pork chops in a well-preheated cast iron pan for about 3-4 minutes per side. Sometimes I judge the doneness by the color of the outside. However, I always taste one of the first batch cutlets to make sure they are cooked through. As you practice this recipe more and more you will also get a hang of the process and will be able to tell the meat is done by the way it looks!
How Do You Cook Pork Cutlets in the Oven?
You can bake the meat in the oven by preheating it to 375F (170C) and baking for 20-30 minutes. In this case, I recommend using a thermometer as it will be really hard to tell when the meat is done just by the way it looks. The temperature of a cooked pork chop is 145F or 63C.
Can I Freeze These Breaded Pork Chops?
You can freeze the meat by wrapping each slice into plastic wrap and placing them into a zip lock bag. Keeps well in the freezer for up to three months!
What Goes Well with Pork Cutlets?
I really like them with mashed potatoes or rice with onions and other fried veggies. If you are really hungry and don’t have any of those sides in your fridge, just throw a pork chop on a piece of bread and enjoy it as is!
Did you like this recipe for tender breaded gluten free pork chops? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below! If you REALLY liked this breaded pork recipe then consider supporting it by buying me a coffee! 🙂 Thank you and have a great day!
Gluten and Dairy Free Breaded Pork Cutlets
Equipment
- 1 meat mallet (or be creative and use some other heavy opject)
- 1 cast iron pan (optional, but cast iron works better)
- 1 cooling rack (you can also use paper towels to absorb the oil)
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg (2.6 lbs) of boneless pork leg
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp seasoning I created a seasoning for this recipe, link in the post! Or you can use taco seasoning.
- 72 grams gluten free flour I don't like using cups for GF flour as it is never correct but if you have to then use ½ cup.
- 2 tbsp milk use plant-based for dairy-free option
- gluten free bread crumbs use as many as you need to coat all slices, depends on their size.
- oil for frying I used sunflower oil
Instructions
- Slice the pork leg thinly. The slices will not be perfectly even, and thin so you must pound them with a meat mallet. Make sure to cut out the white tissue from the mea slices (they are way to chewy if you leave them in).
- Whisk the eggs well, then add olive oil a drop at a time while vigorously whisking. Your goal is to allow the oil particles to break up and emulsify into the eggs. If you pour too much oil at once it won’t emulsify and will separate from the eggs later.
- Add the seasoning and the flour. Pour a couple of tbsp of milk into the batter until it becomes pourable. Then, place the pork slices one by one into the batter coating them well. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
- Preheat a large cast iron pan for 5-10 minutes on medium heat. Add frying oil to the pan (I used sunflower oil) until it comes up to about 1/8 of an inch. You can adjust the oil levels if you would like less oil in your cutlets.
- Pour gluten free breadcrumbs into a wide plate and dip each piece of meat into the breadcrumbs. Make sure the cutlets are covered in crumbs completely, then place 3-4 slices in the pan.
- Fry on medium heat for 3-4 minutes, then flip, fry for another 3-4 minutes, and transfer to a cooling rack. If you don’t have a cooling rack line a plate with paper towels and place the cutlets onto that paper to let the oil be absorbed.
- Repeat with the rest of the meat. Add oil as needed! Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or with your favorite side.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I was looking for something like this in a gluten-free version!