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Chopped chicken cutlets with cheese

Hand-Chopped Chicken Cutlets with Cheese

Hand-cut, juicy, tender, and amazingly delicious! These chopped chicken cutlets with cheese skip the meat grinder — the chicken is diced into small cubes instead. The cheese folded in makes them even more tender and juicy.

katushafin

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Chicken breast

500

Hard cheese

100

Cornstarch

Kefir (or 50 ml kefir + 50 g mayonnaise)

100

Fresh herbs

Dry spices

Salt

Vegetable oil

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 58 % 19 g

Fats 27 % 9 g

Carbohydrates 15 % 5 g

178 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 40 min

Step 1:

How do you make hand-chopped chicken cutlets with cheese? Gather your ingredients. Chicken breast or thighs work best here — the meat is tender and cooks quickly. You'll need one breast or two fillets. Any cheese works. You can swap the kefir for a kefir-and-mayo mix. Use any herbs and spices you like — I'm using dill/parsley and red/black pepper.
Step 2:

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry well. Cut it into very small cubes: first slice the meat into thin planks, then into strips, then into cubes. It goes faster than it looks — the main thing is a well-sharpened knife.
Step 3:

Put the diced chicken in a bowl.
Step 4:

Wash the herbs well and pat them dry. Chop them finely with a knife.
Step 5:

Divide the cheese in half. Cut one half into cubes and grate the other on the coarse side of a box grater. This way the cheese melts well but still leaves some larger pieces. If you're using a soft cheese like brynza (a salty white cheese), just cut it — don't grate it.
Step 6:

Add the herbs and cheese to the chicken. If you like, add some chopped onion or garlic at this stage.
Step 7:

Add the cornstarch to the mixture and pour in the kefir. Season with salt and spices, going easy on the salt — adjust it based on how much cheese you used and how salty it is. Mix well. The mixture should be fairly thick and sticky thanks to the cornstarch and kefir. If it won't hold together, mix in an egg.
Step 8:

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet — it's best for this, since it heats evenly and holds heat so the cutlets cook through better. I use a nonstick one. Pour in the vegetable oil. Spoon the mixture onto the skillet with a tablespoon, shaping it into round cutlets. You can form them by hand, but I'm used to using a spoon. Note that there's no need to bread these.
Step 9:

Fry the cutlets over medium heat until golden, about 5 minutes, then flip. I covered the skillet with a lid during cooking so the meat had time to cook through.
Step 10:

Transfer the finished cutlets to a paper-towel-lined plate to blot off excess oil. Serve them hot with any side dish — a sour cream or yogurt-based sauce goes well with them. This amount makes about 10–12 cutlets, depending on their size.

Lots of people know the trick of hand-chopping meat with a knife for cutlets — they're quick and simple to make. Here, cheese is added to the meat; as it melts, it makes the cutlets juicy and adds a savory kick.
I make these chopped cutlets all the time — we call them "rastrepki." But this was my first time with cheese, and it was delicious! The cheese melted and gave the cutlets both juiciness and a sharp, savory flavor.
Rinse the chicken and be sure to pat it dry with a paper towel — extra moisture will keep it from browning, and it'll steam instead of fry.
Fry with an oil that has a high smoke point. Every oil is only good up to a certain temperature — its smoke point — beyond which it starts to burn and forms harmful compounds. Unrefined oils generally have a low smoke point because they still contain unfiltered particles that burn quickly; refined oils handle heat better. Reach for a high-smoke-point oil like refined sunflower, olive, or grapeseed.