Chicken schnitzel and fried chicken are very similar, but still do have some differences. Obviously, the two dishes are from different regions (schnitzel from Europe and fried chicken from America). One key difference is that schnitzel involves pounding the chicken cutlets until they are thin whereas fried chicken does not require this step. Additionally, fried chicken also commonly uses seasoned flour as part of the coating process, while schnitzel uses eggs and breadcrumbs.