Ready in just 16-minutes – start to finish! our air fryer turkey cutlets are the best way to enjoy breaded cutlets flavored with Italian seasoned breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.`

If you’re looking for a quick, healthy, and fast dinner recipe, you truly can’t cook a faster dinner than cutlets. Whether you call them bread turkey cutlets, turkey schnitzel, turkey chops, or escalopes, we’re referring to thinly cut turkey breasts that cook up in a flash.

Our air fried turkey cutlets turn out crispy on the outside with the crunchy parmesan crust yet still stay tender on the inside since they’re cooked so fast. The key to this is the high cooking temp, we tested this at a lower temperature and they were cooked through but not as crisp on the outside.

Ingredients list

turkey cutlets – pounded thin turkey cut from turkey breast or turkey tenderloins sort of like boneless turkey chops, you can either buy them pre-sliced and pounded thin or make your own from thinly sliced turkey breasts or turkey breast tenderloins.
eggs -large size, you could use egg whites for the egg wash to cut back on cholesterol. You can also use mayo (light or regular) as the binder for an egg free version.
Italian seasoned breadcrumbs – you can also use gluten free breadcrumbs or low carb ones too, just mix in a bit of Italian seasoning to add that Italian flavor.
grated parmesan cheese – grating parmesan from a chunk of parmesan will melt and coat better than buying pre-shredded parmesan, but the bags of parm still work fine.
garlic salt – if you don’t have garlic salt, you can use a mix of salt and garlic powder
black pepper
olive oil or olive oil spray– to brush or spray on the cutlets before air frying.

How to air fry turkey cutlets

Cooking time: 6-8 minutes
Temperature: 400 F (do not preheat the air fryer)
Pat the turkey dry with paper towels to remove extra moisture.
Sprinkle both sides with garlic salt and ground black pepper.
Take two shallow dishes, adding the beaten eggs to one, and mixing the seasoned breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese to the other.
Dip the cutlets on both sides, first in the egg wash, and then in the breadcrumb mix. Be sure to coat all sides. As an optional step you can spritz both sides of the cutlets with an olive oil spray for increasing browning. Add the turkey to the cold air fryer basket or oven.
Air fry the turkey cutlets at 400 F for a total of 6-8 minutes until they’re crispy, golden brown, and the internal temp is 165 F. No need to flip during cooking since this is a fast recipe! If you have thicker or larger cutlets, they could take as long as 12 minutes in total to cook.

Serve as a whole cutlet or slice it to serve over pasta with marinara sauce or on a salad. Enjoy!

Air Fryer Turkey Cutlets

Print Recipe

Make the best breaded turkey cutlets in an air fryer with an Italian seasoned breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Crispy and golden in just 5 minutes!

Author: Julia
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutes
Total Time: 16 minutes
Yield: 5 1x
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

1 lb turkey cutlets (5-6 thin cutlets)
2 eggs beaten
½ cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
garlic salt or salt + garlic powder
black pepper
olive oil optional for brushing

Instructions

Sprinkle the turkey cutlets with garlic salt (or regular salt) and pepper on both sides.
Take 2 low bowls or plates and add the beaten eggs to one dish and mix the bread crumbs and parmesan to another dish.
Dip each side of cutlets into the egg mixture and then dip them into breading, making sure they’re well coated.
Lay the cutlets into the cold air fryer. Our air fryer (a 5.8 Qt Cosori) held 4 chicken cutlets and we had to cook them in two batches. As an optional step, you can spritz or lightly brush both sides of cutlets with olive oil to increase browning.
Air fry at 400 F for about 6-8 minutes in total cooking time (there’s no need to flip), or until they’re crispy and the internal temperature of the turkey is 165 F. Thicker or larger cutlets can take up to 11-12 minutes to cook. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

You can make cutlets if you have a boneless turkey breast but cutting them lengthwise into very thinly sliced pieces and then pounding them thin with a meat mallet. We found it easier to buy if you can find them at the store, sometimes they’re just sold seasonally around the holidays.
Cooking the cutlets at a higher temperature like 400 F is the key to getting them crispy. Cooking them at a lower temperature like 360 F during testing didn’t get the crust as crisp.
This is an easy recipe to adjust to what you have on hand at home. You can use plain breadcrumbs instead of Italian seasoned, panko instead of regular, instead of eggs you can coat the cutlets in mayo. Regular salt can be used for garlic salt.
Make these gluten free by. swapping the breadcrumbs for a gluten-free brand. To make this recipe low carb you can use keto breadcrumbs or use crushed pork rinds.