Chicken Fried Steak Recipe
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My 30-minute chicken fried steak is the ultimate comfort food classic. It’s made with steak dredged in a delicious seasoned breading that’s fried until golden brown and served with an unbelievably flavorful gravy. The name may be a bit confusing, but I promise once you try this, you’ll want to serve it to everyone. Sound good, let’s cook!
I have to say, and I think you’ll agree with me, that chicken fried steak has one of the most confusing names out there. It’s not chicken. It’s steak that gets the fried chicken treatment, which is the whole reason the name exists. Pound a humble piece of bottom round thin, dredge it through a seasoned batter the way I do my homemade fried chicken, fry it fast in hot oil, and pour cream gravy over the top the way I do with my biscuits and gravy. That’s all there is to it, and you’ll have a little taste of the South on your table for very little cost. Let’s get into it!
Featured Comment
I love this recipe. Always used cracker crumbs after dredging and egg wash, but this is crispier! Thank you, Chef!
-April
Chicken Fried Steak
Chicken fried steak is a Texas and Oklahoma dish of thin cube steak that has been battered in a seasoned, fried-chicken-style coating, pan-fried in oil, and served under a milk-based cream gravy. This recipe exists to make a tough cut of beef much more tender and flavorful.
I cook chicken fried steak the way most home kitchens get the best version of it, which is to start with a whole bottom round, slice it against the grain, and pound the slices thin enough that the inside cooks at the same rate that the crust browns. The batter is flour with cornstarch (the same trick I use to keep my fried chicken crust light), seasoned with paprika, onion, and garlic granules.
The gravy is a white roux finished with whole milk, basically a béchamel without the onion, bay, and clove, and I always make more than I think I need because there are always mashed potatoes coming.
My biggest piece of advice for you is to make sure the flour is really seasoned up. It is what gives this dish so much flavor. Feel free to cut off a little piece of steak, bread it and fry it, and taste it. Then, adjust from there. Follow my easy step-by-step video, instructions, and chef tips below, and I hope you enjoy this recipe with your family as much as I do
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here are all the ingredients I use to make this easy chicken fried steak in just 30 minutes, along with a few substitution recommendations.
For the steak
- Cube steak – Thin tenderized slices of bottom round are the traditional cut and what the grocery store sells as cube steak. Top round, sirloin, flank, or skirt all work if you slice against the grain and pound them thin yourself.
- Eggs and whole milk – The egg wash is what holds the breading to the meat. I prefer whole milk because fat is flavor, my friend. Lower-fat milk is fine, but the egg wash will be a bit thinner.
- Hot sauce – This adds just enough heat to properly season it up. Don’t worry, it’s not forward in any way and will not burn your tongue off.
- All-purpose flour and cornstarch – The combo of both of these is what will give you an incredibly fluffy, light breading that sticks to the meat. It’ll puff up and crisp until golden brown. You could swap corn for potato starch.
- Paprika, onion granules, garlic granules – These are the savory base of the breading. I suggest you go a little heavy here.
- Salt and black pepper – These are used in the breading and not the meat, so season well.
- Cooking oil – Safflower is what I use because the smoke point is high and the flavor is neutral. Peanut oil, canola oil, and avocado oil all work. If you have tallow, for sure use that.
For the gravy
- Unsalted butter and all – purpose flour – The roux. Equal-ish parts by weight, cooked just long enough to lose the raw-flour taste without taking on color.
- Whole milk – Full fat is what makes the gravy taste like a gravy and not a thin sauce. So, non-negotiable!
- Salt and pepper – I season the gravy at the end after it’s been thickened by the roux.
How to Make Chicken Fried Steak
Trim and slice the beef: Trim the excess fat and silver skin off a bottom round roast with a boning knife. Set the roast on the board so the grain points away, flip it once, and slice across the grain into pieces between a 1/2 inch and 3/4 of an inch thick. Cut around any tendons and discard them.
Pound the steaks thin: Lay a strip of plastic wrap on the cutting board, place a slice of beef on top, and fold the plastic over to cover the meat. Pound with a mallet until the slice is between an eighth and a quarter of an inch thick. Transfer each one to a parchment-lined sheet tray when it’s done.
Mix the egg wash: Whisk the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, and pepper in a wide bowl, or pie tin as I did, until the wash looks like a uniform scrambled-egg mix.
Mix the seasoned flour: Whisk the flour, cornstarch, paprika, onion granules, garlic granules, salt, and pepper in a second wide bowl until the seasoning is fully worked through the flour. Stick a finger in and taste it.
Dredge the steaks: Drop one steak at a time into the egg wash and coat both sides. Move it straight to the seasoned flour, switch hands so one stays wet and one stays dry. Then press the flour into the meat on both sides until the surface is completely coated. Set each breaded steak back on the parchment-lined sheet tray.
Fry: Cook the breaded steak on each side in a large frying pan over medium-to medium-high heat. It should be around 350°. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 ½ minutes per side or until browned and cooked through. Drain on paper towels or on a rack over a sheet tray.
How to Make Chicken Fried Steak Gravy
Make the cream gravy: While the steaks are frying, melt the butter in a medium saucepot over low heat. Whisk in the flour the second the butter is fully melted. Cook the roux just long enough to combine into a smooth paste.
Pour in the milk: While whisking constantly, bring the heat up to medium-high. Keep whisking until the gravy is thick enough to a nappe consistency, which should coat the back of a spoon. Drag a finger down the center of the spoon. If the sauce on top holds and the gravy does not pour back into that finger mark, the consistency is right. Finish with salt and pepper.
Enjoy it: Serve the chicken fried steak with the gravy and garnish with optional chopped parsley and green onions.
chef tips + notes
One of the biggest reasons breading falls off is that the oil is not hot enough. You have to make sure it holds at that 350°. temp. I fry 2 or 3 at a time to hold that temperature, because crowding the pan can drop the oil temperature too quickly.
- Switch hands at the dredge: I keep one hand for the egg wash and one hand for the flour. Battered fingers are how I’ve watched the breading end up on me instead of the steak.
- Make extra cube steaks for the freezer: I pound the whole roast, freeze the slices between parchment, and pull 2 or 3 the next time a weeknight needs a quick meal for the fam. It ends up being cheaper than buying cube steak at the counter, and I’ve already done the prep.
- Roux color matters: I keep the roux pale for this gravy. A blond or brown roux tints the creamy yellow and tastes too nutty against the steak, so I make a white roux and whisk the flour in and add the milk fast.
- Skip the pan oil for gravy: I’ve definitely reused the pan oil for the gravy in place of butter, but the trade-off is steak that sits and steams while the gravy is on the stove. Butter in a second pot is faster, and the steaks stay crisp. I know this will ruffle feathers, but it’s a smoother process and every bit as tasty. Unless, of course, you like those little fried breading bits.
- Some history: The history is a little murky, but the working theory is that German and Austrian immigrants brought Wiener schnitzel south with them, and Texas cooks swapped veal for the cheap cube steak the local cattle ranches were producing.
Serving Suggestions
This is a meat-and-potatoes plate, and that means garlic mashed potatoes on the side, a big ol’ ladle of extra gravy over the top, and a pile of fried cabbage or garlic green beans somewhere on the table to cut the richness. A slice of homemade cornbread is also great to serve when company is over. It’ll double as a way to mop up whatever gravy is left at the end of the meal.
On weekends in the summer, I’ll plate the chicken fried steak next to a scoop of vinegar-based coleslaw and a square of baked macaroni and cheese. I highly recommend this combo, which is simply delish!
Leftover steaks go in the oven for a few minutes the next morning, then they slide onto a homemade buttermilk biscuit. I like to add on a spoonful of gravy and a fried egg, and breakfast is served!
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: I do not make this one ahead. Chicken fried steak is best straight out of the pan.
How to Reheat: To reheat the steak, place it on a rack on a cookie sheet tray. Bake at 350° for 4-5 minutes or until crisp and warm. If reheating the steak from the freezer, bake on a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper at 350° for 12-15 minutes. Heat the gravy in a small saucepan over low heat until warmed. You can also heat both of these in a microwave until warm.
How to Store: Cover and keep it in the refrigerator for 3 days. This will freeze covered for up to 2 months.
More Steak Recipes
Video
Chicken Fried Steak Recipe
Ingredients
For the Steak:
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 dashes hot sauce
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup corn starch
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion granules
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic granules
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- 8 cube steaks
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup cooking oil
For the Gravy:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups whole milk
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Steak: In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, and pepper until combined.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, corn starch, paprika, onion granules, garlic granules, pepper, and 1 ½ teaspoons of sea salt until combined.
- Next, add 1 cube steak to the bowl with the whisked eggs and milk and completely coat.
- Transfer the egg-washed steak to the bowl with seasoned flour and dredge to completely coat on each side. Place on a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper and repeat until all of the steaks have been breaded.
- Add the breaded steak 2 or 3 at a time to a large frying pan over medium to medium-high heat, or at 350°, and cook for 1 ½ to 2 ½ minutes per side or until browned and cooked through.
- Drain on paper towels or a cookie sheet tray with a rack. Repeat the process until all of the steaks have been cooked.
- Gravy: In a medium-size saucepot over low heat add in the butter until melted and then whisk in the flour until completely combined.
- Pour in the milk while constantly whisking and turn the heat to medium-high until nappe, or very thick.
- Finish the gravy with salt and pepper and serve with the chicken fried steak.
- Serve with optional garnishes of chopped green onions and parsley.
Tried for years to get a chicken fry recipe that tasted right. This is definitely the one
Fantastic!
I am getting ready to make this recipe again this week! It is so great I am relly looking forward to it! Thanks Chef Billy
This chicken fried steak is delicious.
I made this to ight. I don’t have a picture but it’s really good. I’d give this a 10
I just made the chicken fried steak for dinner tonight.. it’s only me.. so I have lots of gravy left.. LOL.. It turned out fabulous.. i garnished with green onions. Also made a Orzo salad to go with it… Dinner was superb.. Thank you Billy!!
Very best chicken fried steak give it a five star for us
Thank you very much.
Hi Billy do own your own restaurant or currently work at if so where is it located and what is the name I would definitely like to eat therev
I do not.
Each and every recipe is “over the top”and how can you go wrong when you can not only watch Chef Billy’s detailed instructions, he puts it in writing as well, makes ME look like a rock star in the kitchen.⭐️ Thank you Chef, you have taught an old dog some new tricks.
Yum! Looks delicious.
Hey, Billy…
Thanks for all of your great recipes and cooking assists. I do have a question, though… you frequently refer to your fans as “Comies”(?). Just curious as to what that means. Thanks again… I’ma big fan.
“commis” which is a French term that means chef in training.
Soooo easy to make! I love your recipes. Everything turned out beautifully and was sooooo good. Thank you for doing all of these.