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    Home » Recipes » Course

    Pretzel Crusted Chicken with Blue Cheese Sauce

    Published: Mar 13, 2021 · Modified: Dec 9, 2022 by Katie · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a comment.

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    Pretzel Crusted Chicken Cutlets are breaded in a salty coating of pretzel bread crumbs, then fried up in a hot pan until crispy and golden brown. Before serving they get drizzled with warm blue cheese sauce. Your family will love this spin on traditional pan-fried chicken! 

    Overhead image of pretzel crusted chicken cutlets on a blue plate. One piece of chicken is sliced. Pretzels and blue cheese sauce are in the background.

    We’ve all made fried chicken for dinner at least once or twice.  This recipe steps it up a notch and breads thinly sliced chicken breast (chicken tenders work too) with a pretzel bread crumb coating.  

    The pretzels give the crumb coating a salty and buttery flavor.  I always make a blue cheese sauce to serve warm alongside the crunchy chicken pieces. 

    I love this recipe because you only need 4 main ingredients to make the pretzel-crusted chicken and you can skip the blue cheese sauce if you’re in a hurry.  Ketchup, honey mustard, BBQ, and ranch are all delicious dipping sauces as well. 

    Chicken breast doesn’t have to be a boring dinner option!  If you're looking for an exciting chicken dinner, you can make this recipe, my Air Fryer Chicken Cutlets, Honey Butter Garlic Chicken or Cast Iron Skillet Chicken!

    Jump to:
    • Why you'll love this recipe
    • Ingredients
    • Equipment needed
    • How to make Pretzel Crusted Chicken
    • Storage and reheating
    • How to serve
    • Frequently asked questions
    • More chicken recipes you'll love
    • 📖 Recipe
    • Hungry for more?

    Why you'll love this recipe

    • Flavor!  This recipe has so many layers of flavor!  You won’t find bland chicken breast on this website!
    • Easy!  Sure, you need to dirty a few dishes when you’re breading chicken.  The actual process is so simple though, and all the dishes can go straight into the dishwasher!
    • Make it gluten-free!  This recipe is so simple to make gluten-free!  Simply swap the all-purpose flour and the pretzels for gluten–free flour and gluten-free pretzels.  

    Ingredients

    Ingredients needed to make pretzel chicken.

    Chicken - When pan-frying chicken, it’s best to use thinner pieces of chicken breast.  You can purchase chicken cutlets, chicken tenders, or chicken breast specifically labeled as “thinly sliced.”  You can also use regular-sized pieces of chicken breast and either pound them thin with a meat mallet, butterfly them or cut them into thin slices yourself.  

    Pretzels - I recommend using thin pretzels.  The thinner pretzels have more salt on them and the best flavor for this recipe. 

    Blue cheese - You’ll need a high quality, crumbly blue cheese to make the blue cheese sauce.  If you need a substitute for blue cheese, try gorgonzola cheese.  

    Additional ingredients - You’ll also need several kitchen staple items to make this recipe.  Check your refrigerator and pantry for all purpose flour, olive oil, eggs, whole milk, butter, Kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder. 

    *Detailed ingredient list can be found in the recipe card below.

    Equipment needed

    Food processor or high-speed blender:  You need to be able to turn the whole pretzels into pretzel bread crumbs.  It’s easiest to do this using either a food processor (like this 9-Cup Cuisinart Food Processor) or a blender.  I use my Ninja Professional Personal Blender.  

    Additional kitchen equipment needed:  A few plates or shallow mixing bowls, measuring cups, measuring spoons and a small saucepan.  

    How to make Pretzel Crusted Chicken

    Step 1: Turn your pretzels into pretzel bread crumbs.  Pulse 4 cups of pretzels in either a high-speed blender or food processor.  Pulse until you end up with 80% fine crumbs and 20% chunky pretzel pieces.  

    Step 2: Pat both sides of your chicken cutlets dry with a paper towel.  Season both sides of the cutlets with kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder. 

    Raw chicken cutlets, seasoned, on a white plate.

    Step 3: Pour the all-purpose flour onto a large plate or into a shallow bowl.  Crack the eggs into a shallow bowl and whisk until combined.  Transfer the pretzel crumbs onto a large plate or into a shallow bowl.  

    Pretzel crumbs, flour and eggs in separate glass bowls.

    Step 4: Start breading your chicken.  Press all sides of the chicken into the flour, dunk into the eggs and then coat both sides with pretzel crumbs.  Repeat this process with all of the pieces of chicken. 

    Breaded chicken cutlets, uncooked, on a sheet pan.

    Step 5: Add the olive oil to a heavy duty cast iron skillet (or another high-heat frying pan), and heat over medium heat.  When hot, place the pretzel crusted chicken into the frying pan.  

    Do not overcrowd the pan.  You want space around each piece of chicken.  Complete this step in batches if necessary.

    Pretzel chicken cutlets searing in a cast iron skillet.

     Step 6: Cook the chicken for 5 minutes over medium heat, flip, and cook for another 5 minutes.  You may need to add small amounts of olive oil to the pan during the frying process, as the chicken can soak up the oil.

    Use a digital meat thermometer to make sure the chicken has reached an internal temperature of at least 165°F.

    Step 7: While the chicken is cooking, make the blue cheese sauce.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.  Once the butter is melted, whisk in the 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.  Whisk the flour and butter until a paste is formed.  Pour in the milk.  Increase the heat to medium and rapidly whisk the mixture.  Continue whisking until the butter, flour, and milk have thickened. 

    After the mixture has thickened, turn the heat back down to low and add all of the crumbly blue cheese.  Continue whisking in the cheese until it has melted. 

    Remove the chicken pieces from the heat, let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve and enjoy!

    Up close image of pretzel crusted chicken. sliced, on a blue plate.

    Storage and reheating

    How to store: Store leftover honey mustard chicken pieces in a glass, airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

    How to reheat: The chicken will lose it's crispiness once it has cooled down and stored in the refrigerator. I suggest reheating the chicken in an oiled skillet so that you can crisp up the coating again.

    How to serve

    Easy sides: Pretzel Crusted Chicken is delicious with simple side dishes like steamed broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, rice, potatoes, pasta, and macaroni and cheese.

    Over salad: Crispy chicken pieces that are coated in pretzel bread crumbs are also fantastic served over a cold, fresh vegetable salad with blue cheese salad dressing, honey mustard dressing or ranch dressing.

    With other sauces: These crunchy chicken pieces would be amazing served with a drizzle of hot honey or tossed in Buffalo sauce!

    As an appetizer: Instead of using chicken cutlets, use chicken tenders! Chicken tenders are an excellent party food. Chopping the chicken into bite-sized pieces before breading them, would also make these the perfect party snack.

    Try any of these flavorful side dishes!

    • Sautéed Kale and Mushrooms
    • Sautéed Zucchini and Onions with Sweet Corn
    • Roasted Green Beans and Carrots
    • Balsamic Roasted Asparagus and Brussels Sprouts

    Frequently asked questions

    Why is my pan-fried chicken tough?

    This is likely due to overcooking. The best way to prevent overcooking is to use a digital meat thermometer while your chicken is cooking.

    What is the difference between pan-fried chicken and deep-fried chicken?

    Pan frying uses minimal amounts of oil when cooking the chicken, and is done in a skillet on the stovetop. Deep frying uses large amounts of oil and fully submerges the chicken into the oil while it's cooking

    More chicken recipes you'll love

    • Easy Dijon Chicken Thighs
    • Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Breast - 2 Ways!
    • Air Fryer Chicken Cutlets
    • Air Fryer Boneless Chicken Thighs
    Print

    📖 Recipe

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    Overhead image of pretzel chicken drizzled with blue cheese sauce.

    Pretzel Crusted Chicken with Blue Cheese Sauce

    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Pretzel Crusted Chicken Cutlets are breaded in a salty coating of pretzel bread crumbs, then fried up in a hot pan until crispy and golden brown. Before serving they get drizzled with warm blue cheese sauce. Your family will love this spin on traditional pan-fried chicken! 

    • Total Time: 40 minutes
    • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x

    Ingredients

    Scale

    For the pretzel-crusted chicken:

    • 2 pounds chicken cutlets 
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
    • ½ cup all-purpose flour
    • 4 cups thin pretzel pieces 
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil 

    For the blue cheese sauce:

    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    • 1 cup whole milk
    • 5 ounces blue cheese crumbles

    Instructions

     

    1. Pat the chicken dry and season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  
    2. Make the pretzel crumbs.  Transfer the pretzels to a blender or a food processor.  Quickly pulse the pretzels until you have a mixture of about 80% fine crumbs and 20% chunky pretzel pieces.  
    3. Pour the ½ cup of flour out onto a large plate or into a shallow bowl.  Crack both eggs into a shallow bowl and whisk until combined.  Pour the pretzel crumbs out onto a large plate or into a shallow bowl. 
    4. Bread the chicken.  Press both sides of each chicken cutlet into the flour.  Submerge the chicken into the eggs to coat.  Press both sides of the chicken into the pretzel crumbs.  Repeat this process for each piece of chicken.     
    5. Pour the olive into a large, heavy-duty skillet and heat over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, place the chicken pieces into the pan.  Do not crowd the pan.  You may need to pan-fry your chicken pieces in batches. 
    6. Pan-fry over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Flip the chicken over and fry for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.  If the oil starts to get too hot, adjust your burner heat as needed.  You may need to add additional tablespoons of cooking oil to your pan so that your skillet stays well-oiled! 
    7. While the chicken is cooking, make the blue cheese sauce.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.  Once the butter is melted, whisk in the 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.  Whisk the flour and butter until a paste has formed.  The paste will be smooth and light brown.  Pour in the milk.  Increase the heat to medium and rapidly whisk the mixture.  Continue whisking until the butter, flour, and milk have thickened.  You will know when the sauce has thickened when it coats the sides of the saucepan. 
    8. After the mixture has thickened, turn the heat back down to low and add in the crumbly blue cheese.  Whisk in the cheese until it has melted.  Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside.  
    9. Let the cooked chicken rest for 10 minutes before slicing.  Serve with warm blue cheese sauce drizzled on top.  

    Notes

    • Chicken is fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of at least 165°F.  
    • Author: Katie
    • Prep Time: 15 minutes
    • Cook Time: 25 minutes
    • Category: dinner
    • Method: pan-frying
    • Cuisine: American

    Keywords: pretzel crusted chicken

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    I’m Katie, the food blogger, recipe creator and food photographer at Sugar & Snap Peas. I specialize in easy, budget friendly, family recipes. My goal is to help you take the stress out of cooking and provide you with simple, creative recipes.

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