Michael Symon’s 5-Star City Chicken Isn’t Actually Chicken 🤔
Are you ready to shake up your dinner routine? Dive into the comforting embrace of Michael Symon’s “City Chicken.” This dish takes an unexpected twist—it’s not chicken at all! Instead, it features tender pork skewered and lovingly seasoned, offering a delightful crunch with every bite. Perfect for a family dinner or a weekend gathering, this recipe is guaranteed to impress.
A Brief Overview
In just over an hour, you’ll master a dish that’s simple yet flavorful. With crispy breadcrumbs encasing perfectly cooked pork tenderloin, this recipe is a testament to the beauty of reinventing tradition. Comfort food enthusiasts will find this to be a delicious alternative that leaves you craving seconds!
Cooking Time
- Total Time: 1 hr 10 min
- Active Time: 30 min
- Yield: 4 servings
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
- 2 pounds cleaned pork tenderloin, cut into even 1-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups plain breadcrumbs
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- Olive oil, for cooking
Special Equipment
- Eight 6-inch skewers
Step-by-Step Directions
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Prepare Your Grill: Set up your grill for indirect heat, ensuring one side is hot while leaving the other side off. For charcoal grills, pile the coals on one side only.
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Skewer the Pork: Thread the pork cubes onto the skewers evenly. Set aside while you prepare the coatings.
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Set Up Your Dredging Stations:
- In the first bowl, whisk together the flour, 1 tablespoon of paprika, salt, and pepper.
- In the second bowl, combine breadcrumbs with the remaining teaspoon of paprika, seasoning with salt and pepper as well.
- In a third bowl, whisk the eggs with the last 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, adding a dash of salt and pepper for extra flavor.
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Season the Skewers: Lightly season the pork skewers with salt and pepper. Dredge each skewer in the flour mixture, then dip in the egg, and finally roll in the breadcrumbs—ensuring you shake off any excess coating along the way.
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Cook the Skewers: Heat a cast-iron pan over direct heat on your grill. Add enough olive oil to fill about 1/8 inch up the side of the pan. Once hot, add the skewers in batches, browning them on all sides for about 2 to 3 minutes per side—be careful not to overcrowd the pan.
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Finish Cooking: Once browned, return all skewers to the pan, moving it to the indirect heat side of the grill. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 150°F, approximately 15 to 20 more minutes.
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Serve and Enjoy: When fully cooked and tender, these skewers can be served hot. Pair them with your favorite sides for a truly satisfying meal!
In Summary
Michael Symon’s City Chicken encapsulates the joy of creative cooking through a playful twist on traditional recipes. By using pork tenderloin instead of chicken, this dish defies expectations while delivering classic comfort flavors. Gather your loved ones and enjoy this culinary delight—it’s sure to become a cherished addition to your recipe repertoire!
Watch the video by Food Network
Video “Michael Symon's 5-Star City Chicken Isn't Actually Chicken 🤔 Symon’s Dinners Cooking Out” was uploaded on 07/12/2026 to Youtube Channel Food Network






































Food Network can’t afford camera people anymore?
People still don't realize "City Chicken" isn't made out of Chicken? DANGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My folks were Polish and they used beef and veal floured breaded quick pan fry then baked. That's how I learned from my mama, her folks and 2 oldest sisters were bork in Poland. Mom was born 1928 2nd youngest of 10 so the older and folks were here in 1880/late 1890's I guess.
খুবই সুন্দর রেসিপি ভালো লাগলো 👍👍👌
Mom made these! Fairly often supper in the '60s. I always thought, "why are we having fake chicken when we could have the real thing?" Never understood it even tho I liked mock chicken legs. Mom treated them as a novelty but it was definitely a legit meal for us. Oh and they were always ground meat, obv pork.
Serve w APPLESAUCE OMG!!! C’mon are u really from the Cleve?? 😂 LOL
Spicy food is trending these days
We( Americans)have been eati g spicy food
Like Indian, or Mexican korean food
Shut actually korean even make more popular
Like spicy chicken spicy pork spicy ramyun
Geesh!
Hold the dang camera STILL!
Long Island looks beautiful, food also❣️🧡💚❤️🦋🦋🦋
its pork and veal
Immatation yard bird. Say it ain't so Chef. Are you next going to tell us that #Tennessee_Yard_Art isn't really art?😳
This is essentially a NON KOSHER KABAB or the other entry on Google after the corn dog when people Google #Meat_Popsicle. Also is this a bad time to point out that 9 out of 10 cannibals say that Pigs and People taste the same. 😉
Chef, the pepper thing is awesome, but you know Chef Flay gave #Alton_Brown the sage business advice to never take from a partner what you could get from a bank, right?😳🫢
Pittsburgh is the only place I ever had this,delicious 😊😊😊haven’t heard of this in years,wow
How to do in oven😊
Okra is so good! My grandmother always fried everything in a cast-iron pan. If she were still alive, she would have celebrated the fact that lard is available now.
Now for the important question – love the eyeglasses!!! Where did those come from????? Oh, and the recipe looks delicious – not something I grew up with in NYC, but definitely on the "must try" list…..
BTW – Very impressed with frying over the open fire. My mother, who would be 99 years old, refused to fry in the house because even with the exhaust fan, she felt the smell lingered. So she would fry cutlets, eggplant, sausage and meatballs, etc… in her mother's cast iron pan over the coal fire un the yard and later on the gas grill. In the winter, it was quite a sight to see her standing in the yard amid the snow flurries, with her old "frying" jacket and ski cap casually flipping cutlets like nothing. I still fry that way, but without the ski cap.
My Grandmother (Ukrainian, lived in Binghamton, NY) made City Chicken…great memories of our visits to Grandmas. She always had City Chicken for us for lunches and a ham for special dinners. As a child, I called ham “Grandmas meat” since every visit included a ham dinner.