Main Page
Children's recipes
Juicy turkey cutlets in a frying pan

Juicy Pan-Fried Turkey Cutlets

Wholesome, light, and appetizing — perfect for a main dish or dinner! These turkey cutlets come out incredibly juicy thanks to the egg and the semolina soaked in milk. For a lighter, leaner version, you can bake them in the oven instead of frying. They're a hit with kids and grown-ups alike.

Maria

Recipe author

Watch the video

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Ground turkey

500

Milk

Eggs

Semolina

Ground black pepper

Salt

Semolina

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 50 % 17 g

Fats 21 % 7 g

Carbohydrates 29 % 10 g

179 kcal

GI: 10 / 90 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 50 min

Step 1:

How do you make juicy pan-fried turkey cutlets? Start by gathering all your ingredients. The milk should be at room temperature, so take it out of the fridge ahead of time. For extra juiciness, you can add onion if you like. Peel it, dice it small, and sauté in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil until golden. I skip the onion, and the cutlets still come out plenty juicy and tasty.
Step 2:

Stir the semolina into the milk and let it soak for 10 minutes. It will swell up and soak in all the liquid.
Step 3:

Put the ground turkey in a bowl, add the soaked semolina, and crack in the egg. Season with salt and pepper. If you like, stir in some chopped dill or parsley, along with the sautéed onion.
Step 4:

Knead the mixture thoroughly by hand until smooth. Gather it into a ball and throw it down hard against the bottom of the bowl a few times. This gives the meat a soft, airy texture.
Step 5:

Pour some semolina into a shallow dish for coating. Instead of semolina, you can also use breadcrumbs or a store-bought breading mix.
Step 6:

With wet hands, shape the mixture into medium cutlets and coat them all over in the semolina. The coating is optional, but the semolina gives the cutlets a golden, crispy crust as they fry. If you'd rather have a softer texture, skip the breading altogether.
Step 7:

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet, add the cutlets, and fry over medium heat until golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Then flip them and fry the other side until golden too.
Step 8:

Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid, and let the cutlets finish cooking for another 5 to 7 minutes.
Step 9:

Transfer the finished cutlets to a platter and serve them hot. They pair with just about any side dish, but they're especially good with creamy mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

Always wash your eggs before using them — even a shell that looks clean can carry harmful bacteria. A food-safe wash and a brush work best.
Here's an easy way to check whether the oil is hot enough: dip in a wooden spatula. If bubbles gather around it, you're ready to start frying.
Fry with an oil that has a high smoke point! Every oil is good only up to a certain temperature — its smoke point — beyond which it starts to burn and forms harmful compounds. Unrefined oils, with few exceptions, have a low smoke point; they're full of unfiltered particles that scorch quickly. Refined oils stand up to heat better and have a higher smoke point. When you're cooking in the oven, in a skillet, or on the grill, reach for a high-smoke-point oil. The most common ones are refined sunflower, olive, and grapeseed oil.