What Is Veal scaloppine and How Can I Use It?

Veal scaloppine rewards a little know-how: how to choose it, cook it, store it, and substitute in a pinch. Browse 11 recipes to cook with it.

Key Points

Thin, boneless veal slices pounded to about ¼ inch; the base for Marsala, piccata, and saltimbocca.
Mild, pale meat that cooks in a minute or two and leans on its pan sauce for flavor.
Dredge in seasoned flour and sear about 1 minute a side, then build the sauce in the same pan.
Overcooking and overcrowding are the two failure modes; pull the cutlets golden and cook in batches.
Chicken, turkey, or thin pork cutlets swap in directly using the exact same technique.

What is veal scaloppine?

Veal scaloppine are thin, boneless slices of veal, pounded until they are about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick so they cook in a minute or two. The name is Italian (scaloppine means little escalopes), and the cut is the backbone of restaurant veal dishes from Marsala to piccata to saltimbocca.

The best scaloppine come from the leg, especially the top round, cut across the grain and flattened. Veal's pale, fine-grained, mild meat takes a light dredge and a quick sear, then leans almost entirely on its pan sauce for flavor.

Cooking Veal Scaloppine

Speed is everything. Pat the slices dry and dredge them in seasoned flour, shake off the excess, then sear in hot butter and oil for about 1 minute a side, just until golden. They are so thin that the center cooks through in that time.

Then build the sauce in the same pan. Deglaze with wine or stock, scrape up the browned bits, add lemon and capers or Marsala and mushrooms, and finish with a knob of butter to give it body and gloss.

This is exactly how the corpus uses it. Veal Scaloppine with Lemon and Veal Marsala are the two pillars, while Sauteed Veal Scallops in Wild Mushroom Cream Sauce and Veal Scaloppine with Tomatoes & Olives show the range of pan sauces.

Classic Saltimbocca with White Wine Sauce wraps the cutlets with sage and prosciutto.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Scaloppine want bright, savory partners that wake up the mild meat. Lemon, capers, white wine, Marsala, sage, prosciutto, mushrooms, and a finishing swirl of butter are the classics, with a starch like buttered noodles or risotto to catch the sauce.

The biggest mistake is overcooking. A cutlet this thin goes from tender to dry and gray in seconds, so pull it the instant it is golden and finish any carryover in the warm sauce.

The second is overcrowding the pan. Pile the slices in and they steam, going pale and tough instead of browning, so cook in batches over high heat and keep finished pieces warm while you go.

Substitutes

The classic non-veal swap is chicken or turkey breast, sliced and pounded thin into cutlets. They cook the same way and take the same Marsala or piccata sauces, just with a slightly firmer, more savory result.

Thin pork cutlets cut from the loin are even closer in texture and a common everyday substitute.

For a budget option, thin-sliced beef top round works but is chewier and beefier, so it benefits from a quick pound and shorter rest. Whichever you choose, the technique is identical: thin, dredged, fast-seared, sauced.

Buying and Storing Veal Scaloppine

Look for pale pink, fine-grained slices with little marbling and a clean, fresh smell; deep red color means older meat and a stronger flavor. Even thickness matters more than anything, so if the slices vary, pound them between plastic wrap to a uniform ¼ inch before cooking.

You can often buy veal scaloppine pre-pounded, or buy veal cutlets or top round and flatten them yourself, which is cheaper and lets you control the thickness.

Keep fresh veal in the coldest part of the fridge and cook it within 1 to 2 days, since these thin slices are highly perishable.

Well-wrapped, scaloppine freeze for up to 4 months; thaw overnight in the fridge and blot dry before dredging so the flour grips and the meat browns.