With the constant fluctuation in the egg market, having a good option to make chicken cutlets without eggs can be vital to any Italian. I've come up with 5 solid alternatives to batter your cutlets with instead of eggs.
Chicken cutlets are like a religion for most Italians, so the thought of substituting something for an egg is a sin. But the reality is some of us run out of eggs throughout the week, sometimes eggs are crazy expensive, and sometimes, we just need to get dinner on the table.
Learn more about the best Italian Chicken Cutlets or check out What Oil to Fry Chicken Cutlets with!
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Best Egg Substitutes for Batter for Chicken Cutlets
I've considered plenty of options to substitute for an egg to batter my chicken cutlets. All 5 of these options are solid, but here is my order from best to worst! See my notes below to see why!
- Heavy Cream
- Buttermilk
- Mayo
- Yogurt
- Half and Half.
Egg Substitute Analysis
While there are plenty of ingredients you can use as a substitute for eggs, I'll focus on the following five and how they affect Italian Chicken Cutlets.
Heavy Cream
Taste: Heavy cream is ultimately the closest you'll get to the taste of an egg-battered chicken cutlet. It's slightly richer, but overall doesn't have a huge effect on the flavor.
Texture: The texture is almost identical. I would bet you wouldn't even notice. The heavy cream binds to the chicken well and the breadcrumbs won't easily slip off.
Would I substitute: I would use heavy cream as a substitute for eggs, and even combine it with an egg if I were running low on eggs.
Buttermilk
Taste: Buttermilk flavor is delicious. It gives a little bit of sour bite to the cutlet, more common in Southern fried chicken. I loved the flavor of this one.
Texture: Texture is also great. It's a little bit of a thicker batter, definitely gets a good fry and crunch.
Would I substitute: Absolutely. I'd even make buttermilk cutlets just for the flavor, even if I wasn't out of eggs.
Mayonaisse
Taste: You can kind of taste the mayo. Both of my grandmothers used to do this when they were short on cash. Mayo is much cheaper than eggs. The flavor is definitely slightly affected, though, so ranked below heavy cream and buttermilk.
Texture: The problem with mayo is that it's a terrible binder. If you grab the cutlet with tongs or something, the breading can slip right off.
Would I substitute: In a pinch, I would. But would try to use something else first.
Yogurt
Taste: Yogurt gave a slightly sour flavor as expected. It was a good flavor, but just not what you'd expect out of an Italian Chicken Cutlet.
Texture: It's a good, crunchy texture, but the problem was that it stuck to the pan more than the other varieties, so some of the cutlets weren't completely covered in breadcrumbs at the end.
Would I substitute: No, not likely. Would probably just do something else or switch to a more traditional yogurt batter chicken recipe like butter chicken or chicken tikka masala.
Half and Half
Taste: Taste is fine. Nothing great, nothing bad. It's not as rich as the heavy cream, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Texture: The half and half also wasn't a good binder, and the cutlets didn't fry as well. Overall, it couldn't hold enough breadcrumbs to be worth it in the end.
Would I substitute: Wouldn't substitute, but I may add it to the eggs if I knew I was going to run out of eggs.
Egg
This is the control subject. The egg is the best binder of all the substitutes, which makes it your best option. If I'm making my chicken cutlets, I want them battered in egg.
How to Make No-Egg Chicken Cutlets
Step 1: You can follow our complete directions in my Italian Chicken Cutlets recipe. Step 1 is to slice the cutlets really thin.
Step 2: Combine your breadcrumbs with parsley, parmigiana, garlic powder, and salt.
Step 3: Choose your batter. Batter the cutlets in your batter substitute, then dredge them in the breadcrumbs.
Step 4: Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and fry the cutlets for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Set them on a cooling rack to rest, then serve.
Top-Tips For Battering Without Eggs
- If you have any egg, all of these substitutes work best if you can combine them with at least one egg.
- I ranked my order of which is overall best. Some aspects of each are better than others, but know what the pitfalls of each are before you start.
More Recipes to Substitute Eggs
Please leave a comment and star rating below in the recipe card! I love to hear what you think of our recipes. Feel free to tag us on Instagram @vindelgiudice.
📖 Recipe
No Egg Chicken Cutlets
Equipment
- 1 plate
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 large frying pan
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, sliced thin
- ¾ cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup parmigiana
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
- ¾ cup batter mayo, heavy cream, half and half, yogurt, or buttermilk
- ½ cup olive oil
Instructions
- You can follow our complete directions in my Italian Chicken Cutlets recipe. Step 1 is to slice the cutlets really thin.
- Combine your breadcrumbs with parsley, parmigiana, garlic powder, and salt.
- Choose your batter. Batter the cutlets in your batter substitute then dredge them in the breadcrumbs.
- Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and fry the cutlets for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Set them on a cooling rack to rest, then serve.
Notes
- If you have any egg, all of these substitutes work best if you can combine them with at least one egg.
- I ranked my order of which is overall best. Some aspects of each are better than others, but know what the pitfalls of each are before you start.
Vinny
There are so many options to batter your cutlets. One of these will definitely work for your family and you can get away with using no eggs!