What Is Milanesa?
Milanesa is a type of breaded meat that's then fried. It's originally from Italy and was brought to South America during the mass emigration back then.
The meat fillet can be either beef, chicken or even fish and eggplants. The fillet however has to be cut into a thin slice as you can see in the video below.
The fillet is usually dip in egg and then coated with bread crumbs before being fried. Each house has their own recipe and style of making milanesa, of course.
And today I would like to share how I learnt to make milanesa from my husband's side.
Argentine Style
My husband Marco is Argentine and so are his whole family.
Milanesa is a very common dish that he always had as a kid, together with mashed potato. Back then my mother in law would always ask him "Do you want white puree or orange puree?"
White puree refers to mashed potato and orange puree refers to mashed sweet potato.
Of course, his answer would always be a scream of "White puree!!"
Now that I think of it, until now he prefers his milanesa with mashed potato.
I didn't know about milanesa until I married Marco. That's what I love about blending cultures, we learn from each other.
And I learnt how to make milanesa both from Marco and my mother in law. He said milanesa is one of the things that he learnt to make since he was a little boy. There's even a picture of him standing on a tiny chair so that he would reach the kitchen top, where he made his milanesa.
Baked Milanesa
Like I mentioned earlier, typically milanesa is fried.
In this recipe I'm sharing the baked version of it, as my mother in law likes to prepare her milanesa now. A healthier version, you can call it.
The condiments are exactly the same as you would fry the milanesa but instead you simply bake them.
You do need to spray the milanesa with a bit of oil just to get that lovely golden brown color.
These milanesa don't take long in the oven since they're thin so keep an eye on them. Basically you're looking for the color since the fillets take no time to cook at all. So once you're happy with how they look, take them out and serve immediately.
There you go, a family recipe from ours to yours.
Hope you would give it a try as it's super simple and delicious.
More Argentine Recipes
- Argentine rolled flank steak (matambre)
- Tuna pionono (tuna roll cake)
- Chimichurri
- Ricotta & spinach pie
- Argentine empanada
By the way, do tag me in Pinterest and Instagram whenever you make any of my recipes. I would really love to see your creations!
Video
Baked Steak Milanesa
Ingredients
- ¾ lb round beef (330 gr), thinly cut
- 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cup bread crumbs (190 gr)
Instructions
Preparing the meat
- Work with one slice of meat at one time. Season the meat with salt, black pepper, parsley and garlic on both sides. Stack one on top of the other on a plate.
- Prepare eggs and bread crumbs in 2 different plates. Season eggs with salt and pepper and whisk them. Take one piece of meat and coat it with the eggs on both sides. Then place it in the breadcrumbs and coat it well on both sides also. Repeat this to the remaining of the meat slices. Stack them on top of the other for easier handling.
Baking the milanesa
- Grease a baking tray with some oil. Place the uncooked milanesa slices on it. Spray the top surface evenly with oil. Grill at 225ºC (440ºF) preheated oven for 3 minutes on each side. Ready to be served with rice or mashed potato.
Debbie says
Hi Bae, Thanks for this recipe. I love your recipes that I tried in the past. Can I freeze the Milanese after baking and reheat it whenever I want?
Jenna says
What kind of breadcrumbs do you use?
Bea says
I used the most common breadcrumbs. But you can also use panko. Hope it helps!
Perla says
Hi! I'm going to try this recipe tonight. I'm excited to see how they turn out baked. I'm Mexican and have always had them fried!
Bea says
Awesome! Bake ones are equally delicious also. Hope you like it! Marco is Argentine and his family likes to make them like this.