The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (2024)

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If you are looking for a great comfort food meat recipe, this Polish city chicken recipe is going to become a favorite go-to meal for your family. Tender bits of pork on a skewer are battered and deep-fried to create a perfect morsel in every bite you devour.

The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (1)

Polish City Chicken Recipe

While we tend to avoid deep frying foods, there are just some occasions when you can't make it taste good any other way. This recipe is one of the rare deep-fried options that just aren't good any other way.

Polish chicken is a great choice for an appetizer but also works perfectly for your main dish. You can serve this with a simple plate of vegetables and a starch of your choice. Alternatively, it can be placed on a platter and added to a buffet as part of an appetizer for your next party.

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Why is it Called City Chicken?

City chicken was made popular during the Great Depression. It is made with small pieces of meat and battered then fried to look like a piece of fried chicken. During this time period, veal and pork were less expensive than chicken, so small chunks were used to make mock chicken using this method.

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What is the Best Cut of Meat for This Recipe?

If using pork, I find pork chops to be the best option for a tender result. A nice cut of veal is another option you can enjoy that turns out tender with this cooking method.

Of course, if you prefer, you can use the same option for chicken tenderloins, breasts, or thighs. While it isn't typically made with chicken, that doesn't mean you can't actually use chicken for the recipe. It's all about flavor and easy to make a crunchy coating.

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Do You Serve City Chicken with a Dipping Sauce?

This is totally up to you and your preference. This fried pork recipe is great as it is, but I absolutely love it with a nice dip. You can serve with something as simple as ketchup for the kids or make your own homemade garlic aioli. Ranch dressing, honey mustard, steak sauces, or even barbecue sauces can all be used as a dipping sauce for this recipe.

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What Goes with City Chicken?

What you serve with city chicken really depends upon if you are making this as a main dish or an appetizer. When serving as an appetizer, it goes great with any other options you prefer, but always best with a dipping sauce. I like to create an appetizer buffet that includes a few proteins and a few vegetables so you have options to satisfy your cravings.

When serving this city chicken as the main dish at a meal, I like to serve with traditional sides. It works beautifully with these homestyle cheesy scalloped potatoes or Southern style baked macaroni and cheese. Of course, I have to have vegetables at every meal so I like to serve this with bacon wrapped Brussels sprouts, or these roasted garlic Parmesan asparagus spears.

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Ingredients

  • Boneless pork
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Smoked paprika
  • Chili powder
  • Eggs
  • Milk
  • Italian bread crumbs
  • Vegetable oil (for frying)

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How to Make Polish City Chicken

In a bowl, mix together the salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and paprika.

Sprinkle the cubes of pork generously with the seasoning blend until coated on all sides.

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Thread 3-4 chunks of pork onto each skewer and set aside.

In a shallow bowl or dish, whisk together the eggs and milk.

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Using a separate shallow bowl, add the seasoned bread crumbs.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a baking dish with a wire rack.

Heat the deep fat fryer or a large skillet with frying oil until the oil reaches 350°F.

Using one hand, dip the skewer of pork into the egg mixture then dip that skewer into the bread crumbs.

Repeat this dipping and coating each skewer twice in each mixture.

Add the pork skewers to the hot oil being careful not to overcrowd the oil and cook for around 3 minutes per side until crisp and golden brown on all sides.

Remove the skewers from the oil and set aside on a wire rack in a baking dish.

Once all skewers have been fried, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.

Place the baking dish into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

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Remove the foil and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes before serving with your preferred sides and dips.

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More Comfort Food Meals

  • Authentic German Rouladen Recipe
  • Homestyle Baked Chicken Paprikash Recipe
  • The Best Copycat IKEA Swedish Meatballs
  • Simple Old Fashioned Goulash Recipe
  • The Best Authentic Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Chef's Tips

If you plan to fry foods on a regular basis, I highly recommend investing in a deep fat fryer. A great affordable choice is the Presto Fry Daddy.

Also, when working with skewers, it's a great idea to soak the wooden skewers for 15-minutes in cold water before putting your meat or vegetables onto them. This helps prevent them from burning while being cooked.

📖 Recipe

Yield: 6

The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe

The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (12)

Polish city chicken is the perfect tender on the inside and crispy on the outside pork dish that you will fall in love with making for your family!

Prep Time20 minutes

Cook Time1 hour

Total Time1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs boneless pork, cut into cubes
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon chili powder
  • 4 eggs
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs

For Frying

  • Favorite frying oil - enough to cover skewers

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, mix together the salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder;
  2. Sprinkle the spice blend over the cubed pork until coated well; The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (13)
  3. Thread 3-4 chunks of pork onto each skewer then set aside;
  4. In one shallow bowl, whisk together milk and eggs; The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (14)
  5. Pour the breadcrumbs into another separate bowl;
  6. Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a large baking dish with a wire rack;
  7. Heat the oil for frying to 350°F;
  8. Once the oil is hot and ready, dip your skewers first into the egg mixture then into the breadcrumbs, then repeat one more time so they are dipped into each mixture twice;
  9. Fry the skewers making sure not to overcrowd the oil for 2-3 minutes on each side or until the coating is crispy and golden brown;
  10. Place the fried skewers onto the wire rack and cover with aluminum foil; The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (15)
  11. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes;
  12. Remove the foil and continue cooking for 10 more minutes;
  13. Serve with dipping sauce and your choice of sides. The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (16) The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (17)

Notes

Serve city chicken with your favorite dipping sauces like ranch, barbecue, honey mustard, or even a nice white gravy.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:Calories: 600Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 258mgSodium: 1067mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 3gSugar: 3gProtein: 51g

The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (24)

The Best Polish City Chicken Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Polish city chicken made of? ›

Traditionally, city chicken consists of cubes of pork, veal, or both, which are threaded onto skewers, battered with flour and breadcrumbs, and baked or deep-fried to tender perfection. Cooks often shape the skewered meat to mimic chicken drumsticks, and the dish indeed tastes like chicken.

Why do they call city chicken city chicken? ›

The reason city chicken came to be goes back to the early 1900s when cuts of pork and veal were far more affordable to city workers in meat-packing hubs like Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Louisville than chickens, which were largely found in the country.

How to cook chicken to be tasty? ›

Go high and fast: Bake chicken for 12 to 15 minutes.

This will take between 12 and 15 minutes in a preheated 400ºF oven. That's hot enough to taste good without drying out. And as long as you eat it right away, it won't be in the danger zone for long enough to be unsafe.

What is the juicy part of the chicken? ›

Arguably the tastiest part of the chicken, thighs are little parcels of tender, juicy meat from the top of the bird's leg. You can buy them bone in, or bone out, and with the skin on or off.

What are 3 characteristics of Polish chicken? ›

Polish chickens are calm, gentle, friendly, and active birds. But they are easily surprised or frightened and may have a nervous disposition. It is because they can't see properly because of their large crests. Poultry handlers always talk to them when they're closer, so they don't get scared and fly off.

What is the most eaten meat in Poland? ›

Pork accounts for the largest share of meat consumption in Poland and is also the most commonly used for meat products. Thanks to its universality, pork is used in a variety of dishes, and the culinary tradition of Poles further favours its consumption.

Why is city chicken made from pork? ›

City dwellers longed for chicken, that fancy delicious bird that only farmers got to eat, the lucky devils. But the elusive fowl were raised in the country, and were hard to obtain in the city and expensive when found. So city mice fashioned a pork-veal dish as a sort of mock chicken.

What is the word chicken slang for? ›

a cowardly or fearful person. a young or inexperienced person, especially a young girl. petty details or tasks.

What is Pittsburgh city chicken? ›

City chicken is a skewer of pork cubes that are breaded, deep-fried, and then baked to resemble fried chicken. I like to use all pork, but the tradition is to use pork and veal combined.

How do chefs get chicken so tender? ›

Brines and marinades help tenderize the meat by bringing more moisture in the protein. With that extra moisture, you lose less when you cook. The simplest way to do this is with a dry brine — unwrap the chicken breasts, salt them on both sides and let them sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

What makes chicken taste the best? ›

Here are 7 tricks to make chicken breasts taste better and even totally delicious.
  1. Cook them right. Most people get scared and overcook chicken breasts, cooking out all the moisture and leaving them tough and dry. ...
  2. Marinate them. ...
  3. Cut them thin. ...
  4. Fry them. ...
  5. Stuff them. ...
  6. Shred them. ...
  7. Use the right pan.

What brings out the flavor in chicken? ›

The reaction of cysteine and sugar can lead to characteristic meat flavour specially for chicken and pork. Volatile compounds including 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, 2-furfurylthiol, methionol, 2,4,5-trimethyl-thiazole, nonanol, 2-trans-nonenal, and other compounds have been identified as important for the flavour of chicken.

What does Chick-fil-A soak their chicken in? ›

Chick-fil-A's secret to juicy chicken lies in their bringing process. Brining is the process of soaking meat in a solution of salt, sugar, and water. This helps to tenderize the meat and infuse it with flavor. Before cooking it, Chick-fil-A soaks its chicken in a solution of salt, sugar, and milk for up to 24 hours.

What does pickle brine do to chicken? ›

While brining chicken doesn't make it safe to eat in the same way adding acid to fish to make a ceviche might, much of what happens to the protein on a microscopic level looks awfully familiar. Sodium chloride-rich pickle brine unravels the alpha helix of the chicken protein in a process called denaturing.

What part of the chicken is best for weight loss? ›

The chicken breast is lean and has the most protein by weight, making it ideal for people who want to lose weight, maintain muscle mass and improve recovery. Fattier cuts like the thigh, drumstick and wings have more calories, which make them better for people wanting to build muscle or gain weight.

Is my Polish chicken a hen or rooster? ›

Because Polish male chickens tend to be bigger, they're also heavier. Polish roosters usually weigh in at around 6 pounds (2.7 kg). Hens are a little bit smaller, and typically weigh around 4.5 pounds (2 kg).

Are Polish chickens good meat chickens? ›

Basic Description. The Polish chicken is classed as a soft feather lighter breed and this description does mean exactly what it says, they are no use as a meat bird and although they do lay a decent white egg they are not a prolific layer.

What is a Polish chicken? ›

Charles Darwin classified any chicken with a crest as a “Polish” or “Crested” chicken, most likely due to the resemblance of the feathering on the head of the bird to the sprouting crests on the feathered caps worn by Polish soldiers.

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