Crisp, golden, delicious Air Fryer Chicken Milanese with Baby Arugula and lemon wedges is one of my favorite dinner recipes!

Air Fryer Chicken Milanese
Chicken cutlets have always been a way of life growing up. I learned how to make them right about the same time I learned how to boil pasta. As an adult, I swapped my frying pan for lighter methods such as baking. Now that I have an air-fryer, this is hands down my favorite way to make them for crisp golden chicken without all the oil! Here’s a few more Air Fryer Recipes you may also enjoy and more air fryer recipes from my latest cookbook, Skinnytaste Air Fryer Dinners!.
Whether the breaded chicken cutlets get smothered with sauce and cheese for Chicken Parmesan, cut up for salads or sandwiches, or eaten cold, straight out of the fridge this simple Milanese topped served with arugula and lots of fresh lemon juice is the way I eat them most. In fact, if I go out to eat and don’t like anything on the menu, I usually get the restaurant to make me this.
Chicken cutlets are basically thin sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts which usually come pre-sliced thin. Cutting them yourself is simple to do, once you slice them simply pound them with a mallet to an even 1/4-inch thickness. If you prefer to use pre-cut chicken, you make still have to pound them depending on the thickness.
Air Fryer Chicken Cutlets Variations
- Add some shaved Parmesan cheese on top.
- If you don’t like the peppery taste of arugula, you can use mixed baby greens.
- Add tomatoes and balsamic like I did on this recipe.
I’m so excited to announce the Skinnytaste by Vremi Air Fryer is finally on sale on Amazon (US only). This is the air fryer I used to create all my air fryer recipes!
More Air Fryer Chicken Recipes
- Whole Chicken in the Air Fryer
- AF Asian Chicken Thighs
- Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
- Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan
- Chicken Chimichangas in the Air Fryer
Air Fryer Chicken Milanese with Arugula
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 16 oz total
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs, wheat or gluten-free
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg, beaten
- olive oil spray
- 6 cups baby arugula
- 3 lemons, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Cut chicken into 4 cutlets, then place cutlets between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick.
- Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
- In a shallow plate, beat the egg and 1 teaspoon of water together.
- Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl.
- Dip the chicken into the egg, then the breadcrumb mixture. Place on a work surface and spray both sides with olive oil.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400F.
- In batches transfer to the air fryer basket and cook 7 minutes, turning halfway until golden and cooked through.
- Serve chicken with 1 1/2 cups arugula and top with a generous amount of lemon juice.
Oven Directions:
- Bake in a preheated oven 425F 425F for 12 to 14 minutes, flipping halfway until golden.
Absolutely delicous and easy!
This Chicken Milanese is delicious, and oh so easy! It’s a dish good enough to serve to company. We try to limit sodium, so I skipped salting the chicken before breading. Between the parmesan and lemon, we didn’t miss it. I wasn’t sure if it might dry out with reheating, but it crisped back up and was still juicy in the air fryer. Thanks Gina, this will be going into my regular rotation.
This is my perfect meal! I could eat this over and over again! Perfection!
I had completely forgotten about this recipe! I just added this to my meal planner for next week! When I entered it into “create recipe”, it came out to 2sp on blue and not 4? That’s even better for me!
I love your recipes a d use them all the time.
I made this for a small dinner party (4 of us). It was absolutely delicious and easy, and every plate was clean. I pounded four chicken breasts, did a combo of Panko and regular bread crumbs. Cooked using the oven method but with convection setting, flipped over after 7 minutes, then cooked another 6. Husband enjoys a little sauce, so I whisked up a lemon-butter sauce to drizzle. Another bullseye from Gina!
This was delicious! I did dress up the arugula a bit because I’m not huge on the taste. I tossed it in a bowl with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, a good amount of lemon juice, and grated parmesan. It was great with the chicken. Even better with a little hot sauce added to the chicken.
I know this is an older recipe but can you explain the point breakdown for blue plan? As I see it, the breadcrumbs and cheese are the only ingredients that have points, adding up to approximately 2pts per piece of chicken (total of 4). Am I forgetting something?
I made this, and my whole family loved it! My daughter doesn’t usually like chicken, but she devoured this, and asked for seconds!
AMAZING….I’ve made these twice in one week!!!!!!!!!
Made this tonight and love it! To those saying the chicken needed to be cooked longer, I think it might depend on the air fryer brand and whether or not you pre heat. I have an air fryer that advertises as “not needing to pre heat”, and normally don’t, but did for this recipe and think it made a difference in temperature consistency. I air fried 7 minutes on one side, flipped, then finished it off for 4 more minutes. Hit it with some lemon and PARSLEY and it is absolutely divine. Tastes like the real thing without the traditional fryer method (I can attest to this because I made this the old fashioned way, fried in oil, just a month ago). Love this! Thank you Gina!
Super easy and the family loved it! Used thinly sliced chicken cutlets; did need to cook the chicken a little longer.