Jägerschnitzel With Hunter's Mushroom Gravy

German Jägerschnitzel combines tender, crispy-fried breaded pork cutlets served with a deliciously rich bacon mushroom gravy. This is truly a hearty pork entree that the whole family will love any day of the week. It's the perfect main course for Oktoberfest celebrations, too!

Jump to:

• Jägerschnitzel Recipe
• 🤔 What Is Jagerschnitzel
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 📖 Jaeger Gravy (Hunter's Sauce) Variations
• 🔪 How To Make Jagerschitzel
• 🍽️ What To Serve With Jaegerschnitzel
• 💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Notes
• 🥡 Storing & Reheating
• ❓ Recipe FAQs
• 🐖 More Great Pork Recipes
• 📖 Recipe Card
• 💬 Reviews

Jägerschnitzel Recipe

Do you have any of those old family recipes that you just love to make when you need a taste of home? This perfectly crispy Jagerschnitzel is one of those recipes for me!

Jagerschnitzel also reminds me of Gustav's, one of my favorite restaurants in Portland, Oregon. My Pacific Northwest nostalgia kicks in and I seriously crave some schnitzel and Gustav's heavenly Swiss cheese fondue with smoked beer brats or a chewy Bavarian pretzel bites. Yum!

🤔 What Is Jagerschnitzel

Schnitzel has many names throughout many countries! Your basic schnitzel is a thin cut of meat that has been fried. It can be made using beef, chicken, mutton, pork, turkey, or veal.

When we're talking about Jagerschnitzel, it is a pork cutlet that has been breaded and fried and then served with tasty mushroom gravy. The closely related Weiner Schnitzel of Austria and Germany is a geographically protected (designation of origin) recipe that is only made with veal.

Don't forget that 'traditional' and 'authentic' recipes are just as varied as saying you have the 'authentic' apple pie recipe. There are as many versions of each as there are our wonderful Grandmas that make them!

🥘 Ingredients

Jägerschnitzel Sauce Ingredients (Bacon Mushroom Gravy)

• Bacon - 3 slices of bacon (thick-cut - chopped into small pieces).
• Butter - 2 tablespoons of butter or a butter substitute.
• Onion - ½ cup onion (diced, or use 1 tablespoon dried minced onion).
• Mushrooms - 1 pound of mushrooms or a mushroom substitute (cleaned, sliced - chanterelle, button mushrooms, or portabella).
• Tomato Paste - 1 tablespoon of tomato paste or a tomato paste substitute.
• Worcestershire Sauce - 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce or a Worcestershire sauce substitute (1-2 teaspoons, to taste).
• Paprika - 1 tablespoon of paprika or a paprika substitute.
• Salt & Pepper - ½ teaspoon each of salt & pepper (to taste).
• Beef Broth - 2 cups of beef broth, stock, or a beef broth substitute.

Schnitzel Ingredients (Breaded Fried Pork Cutlet)

• Oil For Frying - Enough so that the bottom half of your pork is covered.
• Pork Steaks - 4 pork steaks (or 2 thick-cut pork chops cut into half-thickness, butterflied fully).
• All-Purpose Flour - ½ cup of all-purpose flour or a flour substitute.
• Salt & Pepper - ½ tsp each of salt & pepper.
• Eggs - 2 large beaten eggs or an egg substitute.
• Breadcrumbs - ¾ cup of plain breadcrumbs.
• Parsley (optional) Fresh chopped parsley for garnish.

📖 Jaeger Gravy (Hunter's Sauce) Variations

• Wine - Whether or not you want to use wine is completely up to you! Purists may insist that wine has to be included. Half of them will swear by red wine and the other half by white wine. I'm not using wine in my jaegerschnitzel sauce, and it's absolutely divine!
• Cream or Sour Cream - This component will be completely up to your taste! It's not used in my recipe but can be added at the end when you remove the gravy from the heat. Just add a tablespoon of either half & half, heavy cream, or sour cream. Taste, and adjust as needed.
• Bacon - Definitely! But not for everyone. I suppose if I was out of bacon I could maybe live without it in my gravy. Maybe.
• Mushrooms - Mushrooms are definitely a part of my gravy recipe! They add an earthy tone to an otherwise rich gravy. However, some people will argue that only Pfifferlinge (golden chanterelle or girolle) mushrooms are to be used. It's past mushroom foraging season in Minnesota, so I have found that both button mushrooms and portabella mushrooms are equally wonderful in jagerschnitzel gravy!

🔪 How To Make Jagerschitzel

When making Jagerschnitzel, you'll want to start your gravy first. Finish the gravy and leave it warming while you move on to preparing a dredging station for frying the boneless pork chops or pork steaks.

Make the Gravy

Step 1: Cook the bacon. Pan-fry 3 strips of chopped bacon over medium-high heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is browned.

Step 2: Melt butter. Add 2 tablespoons (29.57 grams) of butter and melt with the bacon.2 tablespoon butter

Step 3: Saute. Add ½ cup (80 grams) of diced onion and 1 pound (453.59 grams) of sliced mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender and the onion is translucent.

Step 4: Season. Once the mushrooms are tender, add 1 tablespoon (14.79 grams) of tomato paste, 1 teaspoon (14.79 grams) of paprika, ½ teaspoon (2.46 grams) each of salt & pepper, 1 teaspoon (4.93 milliliters) of Worcestershire sauce, and 2 cups (473.17 milliliters) of beef broth.

Step 5: Simmer. Whisk to combine while bringing the gravy to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 - 10 minutes.

Step 6 (optional): Thicken. The gravy will thicken while simmering. If the gravy has not thickened by this time, use 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon of cold water to make a slurry. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the gravy to thicken. If gravy is too thick, add one tablespoon of water at a time to thin it. Stir and repeat if needed.

Tenderize Your Pork Chops (Optional)

*Tenderizing your pork cutlets (either pork steaks or pork chops) is optional. Once upon a time, the wild boar meat that the hunters brought in from hunting forays was tough and chewy. Modern-day meat practices yield tender cuts of meat, including the pork that we are using here!

Step 8 (optional): Tenderize. Place 4 pork steaks or chops between two sheets of plastic cling film wrap. Use the smooth side of a meat tenderizer and gently pound the pork cutlet gently until the desired thickness is achieved.

Fry the Pork Schnitzel

Step 9: Make a dredging station. Make the dredging station by using three shallow bowls or dishes. The first with ½ cup (62.5 grams) of all-purpose flour and ½ teaspoon (2.46 grams) each of salt & pepper for seasoning. The second is with 2 large eggs (120 grams) that have been gently beaten. The third with ¾ cup (81 grams) of plain breadcrumbs.

Step 10: Dredge. Move each piece of pork individually through the dredging station steps. Start with coating the pork in flour, shaking off excess flour before moving to the next step.

Step 11: Coat. Coat the flour-coated pork thoroughly with the beaten egg. Allow excess egg to drain off the pork before moving to the next step.

Step 12: Bread. Bread the egg-coated pork with the plain breadcrumbs. Press the breadcrumb into the pork gently, patting it onto the sides and all surfaces as needed.

Step 13: Fry. Pan-fry the breaded pork in a deep skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. Use enough oil so that the heated oil comes up a bit over halfway on the sides of the pork cuts. Cook for approximately 3 minutes per side.

Step 14: Work in batches. Transfer the fried schnitzels to a paper towel-lined plate when done and repeat for each pork chop or pork steak. Schnitzels can be kept in a warm oven while the remaining pork is fried.

Step 15: Enjoy. Warm the gravy if needed and serve over the fried schnitzels for your delicious jägerschnitzel dinner!

🍽️ What To Serve With Jaegerschnitzel

• Bratkartoffeln - Fried potatoes. One of the most popular potato sides in Germany, this side dish is made with boiled, peeled potatoes that are usually fried with onions and bacon. Try these pan-fried potatoes with onions (and add some bacon) to round out your pork meal.
• Kartoffelbrei - Mashed potatoes! German potatoes are more closely related to our red potatoes here in the States, not as starchy as russet potatoes. Try these garlic red-skin mashed potatoes as the base of your schnitzel dinner.
• Nudeln - Plain-cooked noodles! This is a super easy-to-make pasta side dish for many German entrees! Buttered egg noodles would be easy and delicious, too!
• Spätzle - Traditional German Spätzle is a thick pasta from southwestern Germany and a real treat with any German main dish.
• Grüne Bohnen - Green Beans! A delicious vegetable side dish of blanched green beans topped with butter-fried breadcrumbs! Fresh green bean casserole would also be a great choice. Enjoy!

💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Notes

• I've used pork shoulder steaks here in this recipe. They're close to ¼ inch in thickness so I have left them as-is. The beautifully marbled pork meat is absolutely tasty and wonderfully tender when done so I have not tenderized the pork cut. *I picture a certain blond, spikey-haired celebrity chef freaking out about meat being tenderized when I consider doing this.
• If your pork cuts end up being a bit over ¼ inch in thickness, they can be transferred to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cook at 350ºF (175ºC) for 5 - 10 minutes, or until they have an internal temperature of 145ºF (63ºC) as read by a digital meat thermometer.
• Thin-cut pork chops, thick-cut pork chops that have been either butterfly cut and tenderized or cut in half for thin-cut chops, or pork steaks can be used for your schnitzels. If you opt to butterfly your thick-cut pork chops, you'll need to cut close to the seam and tenderize the chops to get an even thickness.

🥡 Storing & Reheating

Let your leftovers cool then transfer them to an airtight container. I recommend storing the pork and gravy separately if possible, both can be refrigerated for 3-4 days.

Reheating

Reheat the pork cutlets on a baking sheet in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350°F (175°C/Gas Mark 4). Leftover gravy can be reheated in a saucepan on the stovetop over low heat, stirring occasionally until warmed through.

❓ Recipe FAQs

🐖 More Great Pork Recipes

• Balsamic-Glazed Pork Chops - The tangy flavor of these balsamic-glazed pork chops will have you savoring every bite.
• Brown Sugar Dijon Crusted Pork Roast - The brown sugar Dijon coating on these pork chops is the perfect blend of sweet and vinegary mixed with some savoriness.
• Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops - You'll love the super crispy Parmesan coating on these beautiful golden pork chops.
• Marinated Grilled Pork Chops - My pork chop marinade is so flavorful, and easy, too.
• Baked Pork Tenderloin - Ditch the frying oil for these easy and delicious baked pork tenderloins.
• Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs - Finger-licking-good pork ribs with no pesky bones to eat around.

📖 Recipe Card