Our Hellers Family Panel reviewers are reviewing Hellers Frozen Focaccia Crumbed Beef and Pork Schnitzel. Learn how Hellers fits into your everyday life with reviews from real Kiwi families and discover new mealtime favourites.
Dinner dilemmas? It’s time to get your schnit together!
Looking for an easy dinner that the whole family might enjoy? Hellers has expanded its frozen schnitzel range, giving families more choice when it comes to quick and convenient meal options.
The frozen range now includes Focaccia Crumbed Beef and Pork Schnitzels, offering different ways to mix up family dinners. They can be enjoyed simply with vegetables, salad or chips, or used as a starting point for easy family favourites such as schnitzel burgers, wraps or salads.
Something for everyone
Sometimes getting dinner on the table is all about having a few easy options in the freezer. Hellers schnitzels are designed to make those busy weeknight meals a little simpler, whether you’re feeding hungry kids after school, looking for a quick family dinner or need something easy for a weekend lunch.
With beef and pork options to choose from, there’s also an opportunity to find a family favourite or try something a little different.
Because dinner should be easy. And with Hellers, it’s sorted.
Mix it up!
Schnitzels don’t have to mean the same dinner every time. Families tried them in different ways, from a simple schnitzel-and-salad dinner to burgers, wraps and other easy family meals.
Some ideas to try:
- 🍽️ Serve with chips, vegetables or salad for an easy dinner
- 🍔 Turn them into schnitzel burgers with your favourite toppings
- 🌯 Slice them up for a quick wrap
- 🥗 Add sliced schnitzel to a salad for a more substantial meal
- 👨👩👧👦 Let the family choose their own toppings and sides
What did Kiwi families think?
We asked families to try the Hellers schnitzel range and share their honest thoughts. Read their reviews below!
8
23 May, 2026
I was so happy to be chosen for this review ! We are always looking for new dinner ideas — especially quick and easy.
We did have limited options to find this product , and was only able to get beef (would really like to try the pork!).
The family all enjoyed it & it was a nice texture, crisped up nicely and tasted good. I would likely purchase these again , and I like that there’s many different dinner ideas you could use these with.
Thanks Hellers!
We were lucky enough to be chosen to review the new Hellers frozen schnitzel range for Kidspot.
We chose the focaccia crumbed beef, and cooked them up in the air fryer which made for a perfectly crispy crumb. So much easier than dealing with hot oil & all the other sticky mess when I have to crumb my own.
We decided to make ours into crispy burgers with some tasty sourdough buns. The adults and older children in our family all enjoyed the beef, but the youngest (& fussiest!) weren’t super keen.
I think we would be more inclined to purchase again if they were slightly thinner/smaller with more of them in a pack. Having each pack only contain four pieces means we have to purchase a couple of bags for one meal (if everyone eats it 😉), so a bag of six or so would be more appealing.
I used the pork and the beef schnitzel for school holiday lunches and they went down a treat.
We bought French stick and cooked the schnitzel in the airfryer for 18minutes so it was nice and crisp. We added it to our warm French stick with lettuce, cheese, onion, beetroot and mayo and it was like diy subway. Kids loved it. They loved the flavour of the crumb on the schnitzel. Nice easy meal
Awesome for school holidays.
Kids loved them. They were quick and easy to cook and they are tasty!! Would definitely buy
We were lucky enough to be able to try the new Hellers focaccia crumbed beef schnitzels.
We cooked ours in the air fryer, 15 minutes from bag to plate – amazing when you have hungry kids after a long day and need to serve something good fast! We served ours with a side salad and potato salad, this will probably be a staple in our household come summertime! A great addition to add to bbq’s and those beautiful summer nights when you don’t want to be standing around crumbing meat and cooking in the heat. The size of the schnitzels themselves are awesome! It’s nice to see something that’s actually worth the money. Great size for the whole family. They taste great, the focaccia crumb is delish, and they’re toddler approved so big tick in our household!
All round will definitely be purchasing again, and recommending to friends and family, which won’t be hard come the warmer months and I bring these to every bbq!
If there’s one question that rolls around far too quickly in our house, it’s “What’s for dinner?” Hellers’ focaccia crumbed beef and pork schnitzels made answering that a whole lot easier!
Both were absolutely delicious and so simple to prepare, which is exactly what we need on busy family evenings. Served with fresh salad or vegetables, they gave us a lovely, balanced dinner we felt good about, without spending ages in the kitchen.
The biggest win, though, was our son’s reaction. He has autism and is very particular about tastes and textures, so finding something new that he enjoys isn’t always straightforward. He absolutely loved both products! Having another dinner option that he happily eats makes such a difference for our family.
We also loved how versatile they were. We made schnitzel burgers, tucked them into paninis, and served them with salad, mash and vegetables. The same convenient starting point gave us several different meals, so dinner never felt repetitive. There are so many ways to serve them, depending on what’s in the fridge and how much time you have.
These were a real hit in our house: easy to prepare, full of flavour and flexible enough to keep everyone happy. A very tasty answer to the daily dinner dilemma!
Our family of 4 trialed out both the pork and beef options. We are a family who is constantly on the go, running from event to event with the kids, so when it comes to finding a product that the whole family will enjoy and is easy for those quick meals we are all for trying!
We cooked the Pork schnitzel innthe airfryer and served it with some left over boiled potatoes and some avo and cream cheese for a dinner.
We cooked the Beef schnitzel in the oven and served it on some bread with cranberry sauce and lettuce, with a side of grapes, cucumber and carrots for a quick lunch.
Points that were noticed across both meals from all family members (kids aged 5 and 12) were they liked the crumb vibe, it reminded them of a stuffing more than the over crispy or flaky coatings you get usually. The coating was not heavy or dense but yet still gave the effect of a crumbed food without being heavy on the stomach.
Majority of the household wavered for the pork over the beef, Mr 5 year old hands down was the beef! He tried the pork but said it was not for him because it was not in between bread (now please not my kids are not fussy and eat everything!!!) So he had 2 bites and said the pork was not for him…fair enough. He had the beef in bread (he took it out the bread and ate it and left the bread without eating the bread) and said it tasted better….haha obviously preferred taste here. But the others said they would eat either regardless but they just prefer the pork flavour.
The texture was very juicy and soft, you did not have to cook with any oil which was great!
I was the only one who felt that the texture of the ‘meat’ was more like you were eating a patty or some sort instead of a solid piece of meat….so for me personally I don’t like that, it was still tasty and great flavour, just the texture thing. But then on the other hand having it as that texture is amazing for a quick on the go meal for kids and chewing if that is a concern. They easy to slice but still hold their shape quite well.
You can taste the flavours without being over powered which is nice.
The great thing is my kids live being in the kitchen, and this was amazing for them to be a simple, easy meal that they could do on their own.
‘Simple enough even kids can cook it themselves’
They loved that!!!
It really did make life a lot easier by coming home after sports and just putting this on and knowing kids where fed quicker then the time it would take to make it from the beginning.
I would definitely buy a few bags and keep them for a quick meal on sports nights or after a long sport morning for a go to snack or quick lunch. I can definitely see the positives in the product!
We have just tried the Pork Schnitzels. We couldnt find the Hellers Schnitzel range at Woolworths but found at New World. We had our pork schnitzel with some chips and veges.
Was a bit disappointed with the Pork ones. I could taste the Rosemary but the texture wasnt what we expected. I would hve loved these to have an apple flavour. One of my daughters said they were a bit like mush, not a meaty texture. My first reaction was that it was a sausage mix. Not what we would expect from a schnitzel. In saying that though they had a lot of flavour. My husband liked them, gave them 8/10. He said they had lots of flavour and easy to cook.
We might give them a go in a burger next time.
Will give the Beef ones a try later this week.
Easy to cook, lots of flavour. Would prob buy again as a quick meal after sport or being late home
Our family was lucky enough to be chosen to review some of the brand new items in the Hellers frozen range. After trying out the Hellers frozen Focaccia Crumbed Beef Schnitzel (which was delicious by the way!) we just had to try the new Hellers Focaccia Crumbed Pork Schnitzel too! Now the Hellers beef and pork schnitzel are both made with a focaccia crumb but the pork schnitzel has a hint of rosemary and garlic added to its crumb too which really just enhances the pork. As soon as I opened the packet I could smell the rosemary and garlic and after smelling it as it cooked away I was really excited to try it for the first time. I decided to pair the Hellers Focaccia Crumbed Pork Schnitzel with some sides of mashed potato and coleslaw for a quick and easy meal for the whole family. The pork schnitzel was so golden and deliciously crunchy on the outside with juicy pork on the inside and it just tasted sooo good! The rosemary and garlic just went with it so well and we all loved the flavours! I cooked the pork schnitzel from frozen in our sandwich press which was so easy to do and it didn’t take long to cook at all. And the best thing about the Hellers schnitzel range is that our family loves schnitzel, but I hardly ever make it as it’s just so time consuming and far too many steps involved for me to make it from scratch, and now I don’t have to because Hellers have provided me with delicious schnitzel that is already ready to go. How good is that! After trying these products I can now confidently recommend them as a great option for a quick and easy addition to the family dinner rotation. You are going to love them!
P.S. Something to note is that the Hellers Focaccia Crumbed Beef Schnitzel is a 480g bag with 4 pieces in it while the Hellers Focaccia Crumbed Pork Schnitzel bag is 600g and my bag of port schnitzel had 5 pieces in it (this may vary from bag to bag but either way there is more product in the bag).
Our family was lucky enough to be chosen to review some of the brand new items in the Hellers frozen range. So off we headed to our local supermarket and in the freezer section we discovered the Hellers frozen Focaccia Crumbed Beef and Focaccia Crumbed Pork Schnitzel. We took a bag of each of these home and used them in a couple of family dinners that week, in fact they looked so good that we tried the Beef Schnitzel that same night we got it! We often make our own homemade version of Chicken Donburi for a quick and easy family meal so this time, instead of chicken, I decided to try using the Hellers Focaccia Crumbed Beef Schnitzel in this meal to see if was as good as the original. Needless to say the whole family loved this new beef addition! The schnitzel had instructions on how to cook it in the oven or in an air fryer which was super handy, and I actually choose to cook it in our sandwich press which worked really well. The schnitzel came out golden and crispy on the outside with juicy beef on the inside and I love that it is made to be cooked from frozen so if I forget to plan ahead for dinner then I don’t have to worry about the time it will take me to defrost some meant because I can just grab this straight out of the freezer and it is ready to eat so quickly! To make the meal, all I had to do was put the schnitzel in the sandwich press and let that cook away while I also got our rice cooker going and then put together a quick coleslaw. Once the rice and schnitzel was cooked it all went into each person’s bowl with some coleslaw, mayo, and hoisin sauce – mix together and you have a delicious meal that is ready to go in a jiffy! It’s a meal that my whole family loves, in fact my four children constantly request it, and we all thought that the Focaccia Crumbed Beef Schnitzel was perfect in this meal. The crispy outside gave the meal a great texture and it was super delicious! We will definitely be buying this again. In fact, the next meal I can’t wait to try with this Hellers beef schnitzel is a baked schnitzel dish (layer the frozen crumbed Hellers schnitzel in the bottom of an over dish, cover with a jar of tomato passata and top with cheese and bake until cooked) with mashed potato and steamed broccoli on the side. Yum! And so easy!
We were lucky enough to be chosen to try the Hellers Frozen Focaccia Crumbed Beef Schnitzel.
I was expecting a thin slice of beef but found a juicy, delicious beef patty instead. The Focaccia crumb was also yummy and crispy.
We had our schnitzel airfryed with mashed potato, gravy and veges and they paired well on the cold rainy day we had. My fussy 10yr old said the flavour was too fancy but the adults gave a big thumbs up. I will definitely buy these regularly for myself and can’t wait to try them in a burger!
We are reviewing the heller’s pork schnitzel and the beef schnitzel i baked it in the oven and I served it with kumra chips and Potato Chips and broccoli .It was liked by everyone in the family i did feel the product cost more than I would usually pay for a meal for our family.But if on special we would buy again. They were very easy to cook and did not take long to cook. i would definitely recommend them for a mealI f you were in a hurry
We have tried both products. These were cooked in the air fryer. We serve it with some salad and mayo and ketchup as dipping sauce. The crumb coating was crispy, and the meat inside was moist and tender. The seasoning in both was nice, and it didn’t overpower the taste of the meat.
Everyone in our family liked the products. This is very tasty and convenient meal for quick dinner. We will definitely buy these products in the future and will recommend to our extended family and friends.
Hellers Focaccia Schnitzels — My Family-Style Review
I picked up both the Hellers Focaccia Crumbed Beef Schnitzel and the Hellers Focaccia Crumbed Pork Schnitzel and had a bit of fun trying them in different ways.
They are both frozen, pre-formed schnitzels with a really nice rustic, crunchy focaccia-style crumb, rather than the very fine crumb you get on a traditional schnitzel.
The two packs are slightly different in size:
Beef — Hellers Focaccia Crumbed Beef Schnitzel
480 g pack — 4 × 120 g schnitzels
The beef schnitzel contains 46% beef. The crumb contains wheat and is seasoned with onion, garlic, herbs and spices.
Pork — Hellers Focaccia Crumbed Pork Schnitzel
600 g pack — 5 × 120 g schnitzels
The pork contains 47% pork and has a focaccia-style crumb with rosemary and garlic.
So the pork pack is the bigger one and gives you an extra schnitzel.
What I Did With the Pork
I actually found the pork really versatile and ended up using it in quite a few different meals.
🍎 Pork Schnitzel with Apple Sauce
For this one I pan-fried the schnitzel so the crumb got really crispy, then put a little apple sauce over the top.
I also roasted some seasoned baby Perla potatoes. Once the potatoes were cooked, I tossed them through the flavoured oil left in the pan and gave them a little extra crisp-up.
I served everything with a cabbage coleslaw with grated apple.
This was a lovely combination — crispy and savoury from the schnitzel, sweet from the apple sauce and apple in the slaw, and then the crunchy roasted potatoes.
🍔 Pork Schnitzel Sliders with Sweet Potato Fries
These were a fun one.
I made little pork schnitzel sliders and served them with homemade sweet potato fries and garlic aioli for dipping.
I used the air fryer so I could cook the schnitzel and fries at the same time without having to use lots of oil.
The slightly sweeter flavour of the pork went really well with the sweet potato.
I used fresh sourdough slider buns, but honestly, for this one I’d probably choose something softer and slightly sweeter next time.
Fresh Hawaiian-style sweet rolls or potato rolls would be my pick.
I wouldn’t use a crusty bread for these — soft, fresh white bread works much better with the pork.
🍛 Pork Katsu Curry Bowls
I also turned the pork schnitzel into a simple katsu-style curry bowl with white rice.
This was probably one of the easiest ways to make the schnitzel feel like a completely different meal.
Crispy pork + curry sauce + fluffy white rice = very easy family dinner.
🥟 Pork Schnitzel Bao Buns
This was another favourite because there was lots going on.
I put the pork schnitzel into bao buns with:
Fresh slivered cucumber
Fresh kimchi
Diced baby beetroot
Grated carrot
Diced raw red onion
Japanese mayonnaise
Toasted sesame seeds
A squeeze of lemon juice
I had hoisin sauce and sweet chilli sauce on the side for dipping.
The fresh vegetables and sauces worked really nicely with the crispy schnitzel.
🍐 Pork Schnitzel with Pear, Walnut & Blue Cheese Salad
For this one I baked the pork schnitzel in the oven and used the oven at the same time to toast some focaccia.
I served it with a simple pear, walnut and blue cheese salad and made little croutons from the focaccia.
I liked this because all the flavours tied together without making it feel like a complicated dinner.
What I Did With the Beef
The beef had a slightly more savoury and hearty flavour, so I found it worked particularly well in burgers, wraps and more traditional-style dinners.
🍔 Beef Schnitzel Burgers & Homemade Potato Wedges
I made beef schnitzel burgers with rustic homemade potato wedges.
I used the air fryer so I could cook both the schnitzel and potatoes from scratch.
I used a brioche bun for the burger.
For the wedges, I had BBQ sauce for dipping, while my partner went with good old tomato sauce.
A very easy Friday-night sort of dinner.
🫓 Beef Schnitzel Flatbreads & Pita Pockets
This was probably one of my easiest quick meals.
I air-fried the schnitzel and served it in flatbreads for the adults and fresh white pita pockets for the kids.
I added:
Hummus
Salad
Tzatziki
Nothing complicated, but it made the schnitzel into a really easy family meal.
🥗 Beef Schnitzel with Greek Salad & Toasted Ciabatta
For this one I baked the schnitzel in the oven and toasted some ciabatta at the same time.
I served it with a simple Greek salad.
This was probably the closest to a traditional “schnitzel dinner”, just with the focaccia crumb giving it a little something different.
🥔 Beef Schnitzel with Garlic-Butter Mash & Mushroom Gravy
This was definitely the comfort-food version.
I made garlic-butter mashed potatoes and topped the schnitzel with mushrooms and onions sautéed with beef stock, red wine, flour and cornflour until it thickened into a lovely gravy.
Then I added steamed green beans and peas with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
The crispy schnitzel, creamy mash and mushroom gravy all went together really well.
🧀 Beef Parmigiana
I also turned the beef schnitzel into a parmigiana.
I cooked and sliced the schnitzel, then topped it with tomato sauce/paste, herbs and three different cheeses before putting it back in to crisp everything up.
I served it with a simple green salad and balsamic vinaigrette.
It was a nice way to make the schnitzel feel like something completely different.
🌮 Beef Schnitzel Tacos
And because schnitzel apparently can go into almost anything, I also chopped up the cooked beef schnitzel and used it in tacos.
I added:
Salad
Salsa
Guacamole
Chipotle mayonnaise
The crunchy crumb worked really well with the softer taco fillings.
How I Found the Two Flavours
Pork
The pork has a lighter golden crumb and you can definitely notice the rosemary and garlic.
There are also mild onion and herb flavours, with a little paprika and pepper in the background.
The crumb is quite rustic and not as fine as a traditional schnitzel crumb.
I found the pork itself a little sweeter and juicier than the beef.
Overall, I’d describe it as the lighter and more herby of the two.
Beef
The beef has a darker-looking crumb and a stronger, more savoury flavour.
It has a more noticeable beefy taste and I found it a little drier than the pork.
You still get the garlic, onion, herbs, paprika and pepper, but the overall flavour is more robust.
The rustic focaccia crumb gives it a really nice crunch and makes it a little different from an ordinary crumbed schnitzel.
How I Cooked Them
I tried all three methods and they each had their place.
Oven — easiest
The easiest, especially when cooking other things at the same time, was the oven.
I cooked them at around 200–220°C on baking paper or an oiled tray.
A light spray of cooking oil over the top is optional, but I found it helped make the crumb extra crispy.
This is probably the method I’d use when I was making a whole family dinner because you can just put everything in the oven and get on with the rest of dinner.
Pan-fried — crispiest
If I wanted the really lovely golden, crunchy schnitzel texture, pan-frying was the winner.
I found it worked best when the schnitzel was slightly thawed.
I used around 1–2 tablespoons of cooking oil, cooked it until golden and then rested it on paper towels for a couple of minutes afterwards to get rid of any excess oil.
This gave the crumb a really good crunch.
Air fryer — my best all-rounder
For everyday cooking, though, I think the air fryer was probably my favourite compromise.
I could get a really crisp crumb without needing much oil, and it was quick and easy.
I cooked them at around 200°C for 10–15 minutes, turning them halfway through.
It also meant I could cook the schnitzel and homemade chips or wedges at the same time.
My Overall Take
What I liked most about these was that they weren’t just something you had to serve as “schnitzel, chips and salad.”
The focaccia crumb makes them quite versatile, so you can turn them into burgers, sliders, tacos, bao buns, curry bowls, wraps or parmigiana, or just have them as a more traditional dinner.
The pork was lighter, a little sweeter and juicier, with the rosemary and garlic coming through.
The beef was darker, more savoury and had a stronger beef flavour.
If I was cooking for the family, I’d happily keep both in the freezer because they make a very handy “what are we having for dinner?” option — especially when you can change up how you serve them so it doesn’t feel like you’re eating the same meal every time.
This week it was on special at new world with club plus card