Golden crumb, tomato, ham and molten cheese — schnitzel's big Latin cousin
In Argentina, milanesa isn't a treat, it's a food group — and round is the cut the whole tradition is built on. Lean, wide and even, it crumbs up flat and fries golden without a single fat pocket to lift the coating. The napolitana treatment takes it one glorious step further: tomato sauce, folds of ham and a blanket of mozzarella melted under the grill. It's a proper Friday-night cook — a bit of crumbing, a bit of frying — and the payoff is the kind of dinner that gets requested by name.
Ingredients
- 460g Your Farmer grass-fed beef round steaks (thin-cut)
- Salt and pepper to season
- 2 eggs
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 75g plain flour
- 150g dried breadcrumbs or panko
- Vegetable oil, for shallow-frying
- 250ml tomato passata
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 100g sliced leg ham
- 150g mozzarella, grated
Instructions
For the milanesas
If any steaks are uneven, flatten them gently between two sheets of baking paper. Season both sides.
460g round steaksWhisk the eggs with the garlic, parsley and a pinch of salt — this seasoned egg wash is the Argentinian signature.
2 eggs2 cloves garlic2 tbsp parsleyCoat each steak in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, pressing the crumbs on firmly with your palm. Rest the crumbed steaks in the fridge for 10 minutes so the coating sets.
75g plain flour150g breadcrumbsHeat 1cm of oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat — a breadcrumb dropped in should sizzle straight away. Fry the milanesas 2–3 minutes per side until deep golden, then drain on a rack.
vegetable oilFor the napolitana topping
Warm the passata with the oregano and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan for 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
250ml passata1 tsp oreganoHeat the overhead grill to high. Arrange the milanesas on a baking tray, spread each with sauce, lay over folds of ham and finish with a generous layer of mozzarella.
100g ham150g mozzarellaGrill for 3–4 minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbling and golden in patches.
Serve straight off the tray with a lemony leaf salad or a pile of chips — the classic Buenos Aires pairing.
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Round: Argentina's Milanesa Cut
Ask an Argentinian butcher for milanesa meat and you'll be handed thin sheets of round — they call it nalga, and it's the national standard for a reason. Round is lean, wide and completely even, with no seams of fat to shrink at different rates and pop the crumb off mid-fry. The coating stays glued, the steak cooks through in the same couple of minutes the crumb takes to turn golden, and every bite is the same. The round steaks in our beef subscription come thin-cut already, so the traditional pounding is all but done for you. Your Farmer® beef is 100% grass-fed and properly lean — and lean is precisely what a crumbed steak wants, because the richness arrives with the frying oil and the cheese. Fry in two rounds rather than crowding the pan — steady oil temperature is the crumb's best friend.
Swaps and Variations
Skip the topping entirely and you have milanesa in its everyday form — hot, golden, with just a squeeze of lemon. That's the version on Argentinian tables most weeknights, and it's closest to our topside schnitzel with lemon and caper butter, which works on the same principles. Topside minute steaks swap in perfectly here too. Provolone in place of mozzarella is common in Buenos Aires and brings a sharper edge, and the truly committed order it a caballo — with a fried egg on top. On these lean cuts and plenty more, our grass-fed cooking guide is worth a read with a cuppa.
Storage and Leftovers
Crumbed but uncooked milanesas freeze brilliantly: layer them between sheets of baking paper in a sealed container for up to 2 months, and fry from thawed. Cooked napolitanas keep 2 days in the fridge — re-crisp them in a 180°C oven for about 10 minutes rather than the microwave, which turns the crumb to cardboard. Frying ahead for a crowd? Hold the cooked milanesas in a low oven on a wire rack, not paper towel — paper steams the underside soft. And the great Argentinian leftover is the sandwich de milanesa: cold crumbed steak, crusty roll, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise. Worth cooking extra for.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my crumb coating fall off?
How much oil do I need, and how hot?
Can I bake the milanesas instead of frying?
Can I make these gluten-free?
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