Chicken Fried Steak

This Chicken-Fried Steak is a delectable Southern classic. Tender cube steak is double-breaded, fried to golden perfection, and smothered in a creamy flour and milk-based gravy made from the pan drippings. There is nothing quite as delicious as chicken-fried steak with gravy!

Satisfy your comfort food cravings with this mouth-watering recipe. Using simple ingredients and easy techniques, this dish will surely be a hit with the whole family. Plan or call your butcher ahead of time because sometimes cube steak can be difficult to find. Serve it for dinner with all your favorite southern side dishes or for breakfast with eggs over easy, fried potatoes, and hot coffee.

What is Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken fried steak is a classic Southern dish made by breading and frying a beef cube steak, similar to how one would bread and fry chicken. For a traditional meal, serve with country-style white gravy, mashed potatoes, and a southern vegetable like southern green beans or collard greens.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.

• Cube steaks: This beef steak, usually top-round or top sirloin, is flattened and tenderized by beating it with a meat mallet or a mechanical tenderizer. You can tenderize the beef steak at home using a cutting board, plastic wrap, and a meat mallet.
• Cornstarch: Just a little bit for a little extra crispy coating
• Buttermilk: Save money and make buttermilk by combining one cup of milk with one tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar.
• Hot Sauce: I like Frank’s hot sauce, but you can use your favorite brand.
• Oil: Use a neutral oil with a high smoke point like vegetable, canola, or peanut oil.
• Milk: Whole or 2% is best for creamy gravy.

How to Make Chicken Fried Steak

This is a summary version; for the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please refer to the recipe card below.

1. . Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and black pepper in a large shallow bowl. Whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and hot sauce in a medium shallow bowl.
2. Dredge the cube steaks in the seasoned flour mixture, into the egg mixture, and back into the flour mixture. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. Fry the cube steaks until golden brown.
4. Whisk the flour into the pan gravy and cook for a couple of minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until smooth and creamy.

Preparation Tips

• There is no need to deep fry these. Fry them in about 1/8 – 1/4 inch oil in a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven.
• Keep the fried steaks uncovered in the oven on warm while you finish them and make the gravy. This keeps them crispy until you serve the meal.
• Let the steak sit after breading for about 20 minutes. This helps to ensure a good coating with the breading.
• If the gravy becomes too thick, add 1/4 cup milk at a time till the desired consistency.

Serving Suggestions

• Garlic mashed potatoes
• Southern green beans
• Oven-roasted corn
• Homemade biscuits
• Scrambled eggs
• Southern collard greens
• Turnip greens
• Roasted carrots
• Southern potato salad
• Texas toast

More Chicken Recipes

Chicken Fried Steak Recipe

Classic crispy southern chicken fried steak with an easy finger-licking good pan cream gravy made from the drippings.

4.99 from 52 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: dinner

Cuisine: Southern

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 706kcal

Author: Beth Pierce

Ingredients

Chicken Fried Steak

• 4 cube steaks
• 1½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoons garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 dash hot sauce
• vegetable oil or canola oil for frying

Gravy

• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 3 cups milk
• Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Salt and pepper the cube steak on both sides.  In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and black pepper.  In a medium shallow bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and hot sauce.
• Dredge the cube steaks in the flour mixture, and shake off the excess flour. then dip into the egg mixture and back in the flour mixture. Refrigerate in a single layer on a  baking sheet for 20 minutes.
• Heat about 1/4 inch vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Fry the cube steaks until golden brown, turning once to brown the other side. Work in batches.  Move the fried cube steaks to paper towels to drain for a couple of minutes.  Move to a clean baking sheet and place in the oven at 225 degrees.
• Drain all but 4 tablespoons of the oil from the skillet.  Do not remove the browned bits from the skillet. Over medium-low heat, sprinkle the flour over the oil.  Cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. 
• Slowly add the milk while whisking.  Continue whisking until smooth and creamy. Simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve the warm gravy over the crispy fried steaks.

Notes

• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• To reheat, place on a baking sheet in a 375-degree oven for 10-12 minutes, flipping halfway through. Alternatively, reheat in the air fryer at 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 706kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 51g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 231mg | Sodium: 259mg | Potassium: 1014mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 595IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 340mg | Iron: 6mg

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