Step away from the ordinary with these delightful Minced Chicken Cutlets, uniquely paired with crisp kohlrabi and aromatic garlic scapes. This recipe skips the meat grinder for a wonderfully rustic texture, achieved by hand-chopping the chicken. The result is an incredibly tender and juicy cutlet, perfectly complemented by the sweet, mild flavor of pan-fried kohlrabi. Topped with a vibrant dill and smetana (a type of sour cream common in Eastern Europe) sauce, this dish is a celebration of fresh, seasonal ingredients—a light yet satisfying meal perfect for a weeknight dinner or a special summer lunch.
Minced Chicken Cutlets with Kohlrabi and Garlic Scapes
Ingredients for Minced Chicken Cutlets with Kohlrabi and Garlic Scapes
- 300 g chicken fillet
- 2 tablespoons semolina
- 1 egg
- 5 g ground red pepper (paprika or cayenne)
- 5 garlic scapes
- 1 small head of kohlrabi
For the sauce:
- 100 g full-fat smetana (a type of sour cream common in Eastern Europe, can be substituted with regular sour cream)
- one small bunch of dill
- a few stalks of green onion
How to Make Minced Chicken Cutlets with Kohlrabi and Garlic Scapes
First, marinate the chicken fillet in a mixture of ground red pepper, salt, and a small amount of olive oil. You can decide whether to use hot pepper for the marinade or stick to regular ground paprika; it’s a matter of taste. A spicy marinade will add heat and zest to the finished cutlets.
Season the chicken fillet with spices
Prepare the minced mixture
Spoon the mixture onto the pan
We prepare these minced cutlets without a meat grinder, just using a sharp knife. Dice the meat into very small cubes, place it on a cutting board, and add the egg, semolina, and chopped garlic scapes. Mix the ingredients right on the board, add salt, and continue chopping everything together with the knife for about 3 more minutes. The result will be a cutlet mixture with small pieces of meat and garlic.
This amount of ingredients makes two large cutlets. Before frying, place them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to allow the semolina to swell slightly.
Fry the cutlets on both sides
Heat the oil. Since the mixture is quite loose, spoon it onto the pan like a thick pancake batter: first make a small mound, then flatten it out in the pan to form a large, flat cutlet. Cook for 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
Slice the kohlrabi
One small head of kohlrabi is enough to create a “second layer” on our cutlets. Slice the kohlrabi into 1-centimeter thick rounds, peel them, and sprinkle with salt.
Fry the kohlrabi and place it on the cutlets
Pan-fry the kohlrabi slices in hot oil for 3 minutes on each side. Place the cooked kohlrabi slices on top of the cutlets.
Prepare the sauce
Now, prepare the sauce. Finely chop the dill, mix it with salt, and grind it in a mortar and pestle until it releases its juice. This method gives the sauce a beautiful light green color. Combine the mashed dill with smetana (a type of sour cream common in Eastern Europe) and finely chopped green onion.
Drizzle the minced cutlets with kohlrabi with the dill sauce
Drizzle the minced cutlets with kohlrabi with the dill sauce.
Minced Chicken Cutlets with Kohlrabi and Garlic Scapes
And there you have it—a beautiful and flavorful dish that’s as pleasing to the eye as it is to the palate. These Minced Chicken Cutlets with Kohlrabi are best served immediately, while the components are warm and the sauce is cool and creamy. For a more complete meal, consider serving them with a side of boiled new potatoes or a simple green salad. We hope you enjoy this fresh take on a classic comfort food and that it brings a taste of a creative summer kitchen to your table. Enjoy your meal!
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