Chicken cutlet sandwich

Toast the Italian bread and slice into two halves.

Build the sandwich. Spread 1 tbsp of pesto onto each half of the bread and lay around 3 slices of fresh mozzarella onto each side of the bread.

Lay the roasted red peppers on top of the mozzarella, spreading evenly between the slices, and then place the broccoli rabe on top.

Finish by layering 1 chicken cutlet on top of each bottom slice and garnishing with a few fresh basil leaves. Place the top of the sandwich over the chicken cutlet, press down firmly together and then slice in half ready to serve.

Tips & tricks

Whilst homemade is always better, if you don’t have time to make all of the ingredients for the sandwich from scratch then there’s no need to give up on the recipe. You can generally find ready-made breaded chicken cutlets in all good grocery stores these days, saving you the step of creating your breaded cutlets at home. If you are going to make your breaded cutlets from scratch then we’d definitely recommend taking the time to marinate the chicken first. This helps to enhance the flavor, but most importantly, makes sure you end up with the juiciest and most tender chicken. Chicken cutlets are best made from chicken breast. They tend to be made by cutting a chicken breast in half, and are a fantastic source of lean protein. This sandwich is tastiest when made with chicken cutlets, but if you want to explore other chicken cuts to pack into this sandwich take a look through our helpful chicken cuts guide.

Broccoli rabe is a classic ingredient for a chicken cutlet sandwich, but some do find the flavor a little bitter. If you’re not such a fan of this one, or simply struggle to find it at your local grocery store, then you can swap in sautéed spinach for the broccoli instead. Lastly, to elevate your sandwich further, you can press it down into a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil to create a mouth-watering crispy and golden outer texture.

Variations of the recipe

As with any great sandwich there are always ways to vary the ingredients and we have lots of chicken cutlet sandwich ideas to help you personalize yours. Firstly, you can introduce mayonnaise to the mix if you like a slightly creamier tasting spread. Either add this to the pesto or spread on top whilst you’re building your sandwich. In the recipe above we’ve suggested using roasted peppers, but many chefs will swap these out for roasted tomatoes instead. Or you could add both, if you’re feeling extra hungry! We like this Italian chicken cutlet sandwich with slabs of mozzarella layered in, but if you prefer a spreadable cheese like ricotta, this will work just as well as an alternative. You can even experiment with different meats in the sandwich and swap the breaded chicken cutlets for Italian-American-inspired meatballs. When you’ve mastered this recipe, why not explore more sandwiches for your lunchtime needs? From a BLT to a fried egg sandwich, if you can fit the ingredient between two slices of bread, then you’ve got yourself a sandwich.