Veal Cutlets substitute

Best substitute

Chicken breast, pounded thin

Use the same amount by weight as the veal cutlets you are replacing

Best for piccata

Close match

The best substitutes for veal cutlets are pounded chicken breast or turkey breast cutlets, which are the standard swap in piccata, marsala and parmigiana and behave almost identically, or thin pork loin cutlets, which are what Germany and Austria actually use most often for schnitzel. For a vegetarian version, thick planks of eggplant or a pressed slab of firm tofu breaded the same way work well. In this dish the cutlet's job is to be a thin, mild, tender surface for a crust and a sauce, and several meats do that job.

Other veal cutlets substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Turkey breast cutlets
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Closer to veal than chicken is, because turkey breast is denser and less sweet, so a breaded turkey schnitzel has more of veal's firm, clean, meaty character.
What changes
It is also often sold pre-sliced as cutlets, which saves you the pounding. Turkey is even leaner than chicken, so it punishes overcooking harder: get the pan properly hot, cook two minutes a side, and finish with butter or sauce rather than extra time in the pan.
Best for
schnitzel, cordon bleu, piccata, budget cooking, large batches
The best-value swap by a clear margin, and widely available around the holidays.
3Pork loin cutlets or pork sirloin, pounded thin
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Historically the everyday schnitzel meat across Central Europe, and the closest substitute in texture because pork loin has the same close, fine grain veal does.
What changes
It is sweeter and slightly more assertive than veal, with a faint pork richness that suits a breaded, lemon-squeezed cutlet extremely well and sits a little oddly under a delicate lemon-caper piccata sauce. Cook to 145F, roughly three minutes a side for a quarter-inch cutlet.
Best for
schnitzel, breaded cutlets with lemon, milanese, cordon bleu
In Austria and Germany this is sold plainly as Schweineschnitzel and is the default, not a compromise.
4Thin-sliced beef top round or eye of round
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Veal is young beef, so beef is the same meat grown up: deeper, more mineral, unmistakably beefy where veal is nearly neutral.
What changes
The problem is toughness, since round has far more developed connective tissue. Pound it thinner than you would veal, to about an eighth of an inch, and cook it fast and hot for 90 seconds a side. A beef milanese made this way is very good; a beef piccata tastes heavy, because the strong meat flavour fights the lemon and capers.
Best for
milanese, breaded and fried cutlets, beef schnitzel, kosher and halal cooking
Ask the butcher to run it through the tenderiser if you can. It makes a large difference.
5Eggplant planks
Taste and texture differ
Use 1 large eggplant for every pound of cutlets
The best vegetarian option and the traditional one in Southern Italy, where eggplant parmigiana predates the veal version in most home kitchens.
What changes
Cut lengthwise half-inch planks, salt them for 30 minutes and blot dry, then bread and fry exactly as you would a cutlet. The texture is soft and creamy rather than meaty, and the flavour is mildly sweet and vegetal, which under tomato and mozzarella is a real strength. It will not hold up to a thin pan sauce, so use it for parmigiana rather than piccata.
Best for
parmigiana, vegetarian breaded cutlets, baked casseroles
Salting first is not optional. Unsalted eggplant soaks up an alarming amount of oil.
6Pressed extra-firm tofu slabs or seitan cutlets
Taste and texture differ
Use 14 ounces tofu for every pound of cutlets
Press extra-firm tofu for 20 minutes, cut it into half-inch slabs, then flour, egg-wash and crumb it like a schnitzel.
What changes
Seitan is chewier and closer to meat. Both are neutral in flavour, which is actually true to veal, but they are much softer or much bouncier respectively, so the eating experience differs. Season the coating firmly with salt, pepper and grated parmesan, since neither carries much flavour of its own.
Best for
vegan and vegetarian schnitzel, parmigiana, sandwiches
Use a dairy-free egg wash of plant milk plus a spoon of cornstarch if you need it fully vegan.

What is Veal Cutlets?

Veal Cutlets is the butcher's name for thin boneless slices of young beef pounded flat so they cook through in two or three minutes, also sold as veal scaloppine, veal escalope or veal schnitzel, and in a dish like piccata or parmigiana the job is simply to be a mild, tender, even surface that carries a crust and a sauce.

Cooking tips

Thickness matters more than what animal the cutlet came from. Every one of these substitutes should be pounded or cut to about a quarter inch, so it cooks through in the same time it takes the breading to turn golden. Anything thicker and you get a burnt crust over raw meat.
Pound with the flat side of a mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan, working from the centre outward, and put the meat between two sheets of plastic wrap. Beating downward on bare meat tears it, and torn cutlets shed their breading in the oil.
Season the meat itself with salt before it ever touches flour. Substitutes such as chicken, turkey and tofu are all blander than veal, and salting only the crumb leaves the inside tasting of nothing.
Use the flour, egg, crumb order and shake the excess flour off. Then fry in fat about an eighth of an inch deep at 340-350F, and do not crowd the pan, because two cutlets in a cold crowded pan steam instead of crisping.
Rest the finished cutlets on a rack, not on paper towels, and salt them the moment they come out. Paper traps steam under the cutlet and softens the crust you just worked for.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best substitute for veal cutlets in piccata or marsala?

Pounded chicken breast, and it is close enough that chicken piccata is now more common on menus than the veal original. Turkey breast cutlets are even nearer to veal's firm, clean texture and cost less. Avoid beef for these two dishes: it is delicious breaded, but its strong mineral flavour clashes with the lemon, caper and wine sauces that piccata and marsala are built on.

Can I use pork instead of veal for schnitzel?

Yes, and across Austria and Germany it is the everyday standard, sold as Schweineschnitzel, with veal reserved for the more expensive Wiener Schnitzel. Pork loin has the same fine grain as veal, so pound it to a quarter inch and cook it to 145F, about three minutes a side. It tastes a little sweeter and richer than veal, which suits a breaded cutlet with lemon very well.

Can I just leave the veal out?

In parmigiana, yes, and it is a well-established dish in its own right: breaded eggplant planks layered with tomato and mozzarella is what most Italian home cooks make. In piccata, marsala or schnitzel the cutlet is the whole structure of the plate, so there is nothing to leave it out of. Use a vegetable or tofu slab as the cutlet instead rather than dropping it.

Are veal scaloppine, escalope and cutlets the same thing?

They describe the same object in three languages. Scaloppine is Italian, escalope is French and British, cutlet is American, and all mean a thin boneless slice pounded flat for fast cooking. The one thing to watch is that a veal chop, or costoletta, is a thick bone-in cut and is not interchangeable with any of them, since it needs a completely different cooking time.

Which substitute is closest to real veal in texture?

Pork loin, followed by turkey breast. Both share veal's tight, fine, almost dense grain, which is what makes a proper cutlet feel silky rather than stringy. Chicken breast is softer and slightly more fibrous, and beef round is noticeably chewier and needs pounding thinner. If texture is what you are chasing rather than price, buy pork loin and cut it yourself.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Veal Cutlets substitute

Other veal cutlets substitutes

2Turkey breast cutlets

3Pork loin cutlets or pork sirloin, pounded thin

4Thin-sliced beef top round or eye of round

5Eggplant planks

6Pressed extra-firm tofu slabs or seitan cutlets