Is Lionel Messi’s Milanesa Napolitana the Real Deal? Mangia with Us to Find Out

With a World Cup title and the most liked Instagram post of all time under his belt, Lionel Messi is no doubt globally beloved and supernaturally talented. But do his skills translate to the kitchen? In our latest episode of Celeb Bites, a YouTube series where we attempt to cook and bake like the stars to see which recipes are worth the hype, we tackled his milanesa Napolitana to find out.

For the uninitiated, milanesa refers to thin-sliced cutlets of any meat that are breaded and fried. Milanesa Napolitana stars breaded steak or chicken cutlets topped with tomato sauce, sliced ham and mozzarella cheese. According to a biography on Messi, his mother’s recipe for the chicken variation is his all-time favorite dish.

In his mom’s version, the egg is mixed with chopped parsley and the breadcrumbs are spiked with garlic and Parmesan cheese for extra flavor. The chicken is quickly pan-fried in olive oil until golden brown, topped with the sauce, ham and cheese and baked.

“I understand why Messi likes this dish, and I think this is why he won the World Cup, honestly,” says host Juliette Moreno.

See if you agree and find the full recipe by watching the episode here.

_{Taryn Pire is PureWow’s associate food editor. A former bartender and barista, she’s been writing about all things delicious since 2016, developing recipes, reviewing restaurants and investigating food trends at Food52, New Jersey Family Magazine and Taste Talks. When she isn’t testing TikTok’s latest viral recipe, she’s having popcorn for dinner and posting about it on Instagram @cookingwithpire.}