Chicken Fried Steak Recipe

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!

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.

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

• Skirt Steak 
• Steak Frites
• Garlic Steak Bites
• T-Bone
• Tri Tip Steak