30-Minute Chicken Fried Cube Steak with Gravy

Name: 30-Minute Chicken Fried Cube Steak with Gravy
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 pound cube steak; 1/2 cup milk (or beef broth); 1 large egg; 3/4 cup flour; 1 teaspoon seasoning salt (Lawry's is good); 1/2 teaspoon paprika; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; cayenne pepper (optional pinch); 2 cups milk; salt and pepper to taste

Recipe Table of Contents

4.47 from 26 votes

Chicken Fried Cube Steak is a classic southern comfort food you can make at home in only 30 minutes. Think of that crispy golden brown breading smothered in gravy—an easy weeknight recipe with restaurant-quality results.

image of chicken fried steak on a blue plate with potatoes being covered with gravy

Jump To:

😊Why you should make this recipe
🐄Ingredients
👨‍🍳How to Make Chicken Fried Cube Steak with Gravy
Make it Country Fried Cube Steak
⬆️How to make this recipe bigger
🐄About the Gravy Options
❓FAQs
📖Comfort Food Recipes with Gravy
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Recipe

😊Why you should make this recipe

It is always time for great Southern comfort food.
Chicken Fried Cube Steak has crispy, spicy breading outside and tender chicken inside. Smother it with wonderful milk gravy, and you have heaven on a plate.
It only takes 30 minutes to make with these quick and easy-to-follow step-by-step photo instructions.
It has options for both the milk-based gravy for Chicken Fried Cube Steak and brown gravy if you want Country Fried Cube Steak.
Easy to scale up for to family size instead of the "for two" size—instructions below.
This simplified recipe makes a wonderful weeknight dinner the whole family will love.

My inspiration recipe is the Pioneer Woman version of Chicken Fried Steak. It was for six and needed a cut-down and a little streamlining to make it quicker and less fussy.

🐄Ingredients

Cube steak—usually top or bottom round steak or sirloin steak
Milk
Egg
Flour
Pantry spices—paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, seasoning salt (Lawry's or other), and optional cayenne pepper
Added Ingredient for Gravy—milk or beef broth

👨‍🍳How to Make Chicken Fried Cube Steak with Gravy

Set up a breading line. Pan #1 with milk and egg. Pan #2 with flour and seasonings.
Dry the cube steak. Coat in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, and then flour again.
Let the steak rest for a few minutes while heating oil over medium-high heat.
Using a fork, lay the steak into the oil.
When the edges turn golden, and it looks like some blood is coming through the flour (4-5 minutes), flip and fry for another 3-4 minutes to a final internal temperature of 145° - 150° and golden brown.
Remove steaks to a plate and tent lightly with foil.

To make gravy

Add flour from pan #2 to the pan drippings and oil and whisk for a few minutes to cook the flour. Use plain flour if making Country Fried Steak.
Slowly add milk (Chicken Fried) or beef broth (Country Fried) while continuing to whisk until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Make it Country Fried Cube Steak

The two most accepted differences are the spiciness of the breading and the gravy.

For the breading, eliminate the seasoning salt and replace half of it with salt. You can adjust other spices if you want. Some recipes only have salt and pepper. The egg as a base for the bread can be changed to milk but I suggest keeping the egg, it will stick better.

The gravy is easy to change. Use beef broth instead of milk, and don't use spiced flour; use plain flour.

⬆️How to make this recipe bigger

The full recipe makes 2 servings as written. You can increase the recipe to the amount you need.
Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings.
Use the volume of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust. You will have more flour than needed and can hold back on that a little.
Use a big skillet. I have a 15-inch skillet that can easily hole four cube steaks.
If doing more than four, you may need to heat the oven to 200° and place cook cube steaks on it covered with foil to keep warm during batch cooking.
Cook all the cube steak before making gravy.

🐄About the Gravy Options

Milk gravy is just gravy using milk as the liquid instead of broth. It is usually heavily peppered and has the spices of the breading.
The best way to make milk gravy is to use the seasoned flour from the breading tray and make a roux with the oil and drippings in the pan, then add the milk and thicken. Heavy pepper is recommended.
Use the same roux method to make brown gravy, but uses beef broth instead of milk. It will have more spice than traditional country-fried gravy due to spicy flour—I love this, but you can use flour without spices if you want and add some salt and pepper.
For more information, about making gravy, see How to Make Gravy from Scratch—Quick & Easy.

❓FAQs

What is cube steak?

Cube steak usually comes from top or bottom round steak or sirloin steak

The name "cube" refers to the shape of the indentations left by the mechanical tenderizer used to make the steak tender. You can do the mechanical tenderization at home, but most of us will buy it already cubed.

Is Country Fried Steak the same as Chicken Fried Steak?

They are almost the same, and the definitions are fussy. And there are regional differences also. Both are fried cube steaks coated with spiced flour, similar to what coats fried chicken.

Chicken fried steak has a spicy flour coating held on by an egg, similar to fried chicken. And it is combined with peppery milk-based gravy. A classic Texas roadside diner meal that every restaurant has in the south and most of the midwest.

Country fried steak is also fried cube steak. The coating may or may not have egg and may be less spicy. The gravy is brown, not creamy milk-based gravy. You will see a lot of "mays" in there because many recipes for country fried are the same as chicken fried outside of the gravy. But even the gravy gets confused sometimes.

I grew up in the midwest, and we called it "fried cube steak with gravy" and would specify milk gravy if used. I included both types of gravy in this recipe; you can call it anything you want. And you can vary the breading spices, but I suggest keeping the egg.

How to Make Breading Stick to Meat?

First: Dry the meat well before starting the breading.
Second: Shake excess flour and egg off after each coat.
Third: Let the meat sit with the coating for 5 minutes before cooking.
Fourth: Use a fork to handle the meat once coated and only flip once.

📖Comfort Food Recipes with Gravy

One Pan Beef Tips with Gravy

Fried Pork Chops with Gravy

Old Fashion Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy

Oven Fried Chicken with Gravy

This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

Start with about one pound of cube steak in two large pieces.

In a larger fry pan, heat 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.

Set up a breading line. In pan #1, beat 1 egg with ½ cup of milk. In pan #2, add ¾ cup of flour with 1 teaspoon seasoning salt, ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper if you want. Mix well.

Dry the cube steaks. Coat cube steak in the flour mixture, and shake off excess. Coat in egg mixture, shake off excess, and one more coat of the flour mixture. Place on plate and repeat for next steak.

By now, the oil should be shimmering. Using a fork, lay the steak into the oil.

steak in the pan cooking with edge browning and blood starting to come through the flour on top of the steak

When the edges start to turn golden, and it looks like some blood is coming through the flour (4-5 minutes), it is time for your only flip. Fry another 3-4 minutes. A final internal temperature of 145° - 150° and golden brown.

Remove steaks to a clean plate and tent lightly with foil.

Lower burner to medium. Add 4 tablespoons of the flour mixture from coating pan #2 to 4 tablespoons of the oil and drippings in the pan—you may need to remove some. Whisk for a few minutes to cook the flour.