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    🏠Home » Recipes » Comfort Food Recipes

    30-Minute Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy

    Feb 17, 2021 · Modified: Apr 14, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · 8 Comments

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.50 from 20 votes

    Chicken fried steak is a classic southern dinner comfort food you can make at home in only 30 minutes. Think of that crispy golden brown breading smothered in wonderful creamy milk 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:
    • ✔️Tips
    • 🐄Milk Gravy
    • 📖Recipes with Gravy
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📝Recipe

    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    Introduction

    Time for some Texas-style diner comfort food. Chicken fried steak with gravy can be yours in 30 minutes with these quick and easy step-by-step photo instructions.

    I have done chicken fried steak before for this blog, but it was a bigger recipe and too complicated.

    As they say, I was trying to make my point the hard way. I truly fried it and made a mess in the kitchen. It was delicious, but a complete overhaul was in order.

    It is time for an easier, weeknight version that you can scale to your needs. My inspiration recipe is the Pioneer Woman version of Chicken Fried Steak. It was for 6 and needed a cut-down and a little streamlining to make it quicker and less fussy.

    It also needed some additional garlic, and I popped up the milk gravy a bit with some extra beef flavor — excellent comfort food.

    My Rating

    My rating system. Great 5 out of 5

    I love this.

    ✔️Tips

    What Meat to Use?

    No chicken is used here, this is beef all the way using cube steak which usually comes from the sirloin or top round cuts.

    The name "cube" refers to the shape of the indentations left by the mechanical tenderizer used to make the steak tender.

    Chicken Fried Steak or Country Fried Steak?

    This is called chicken fried because it is a steak that is fried like chicken and has a coating that is like fried chicken. So chicken fried steak makes sense, but chicken fried chicken is double talk. Also, usually, the coating of chicken fried steak uses egg and a milk-based gravy.

    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.
    Fouth: Use a fork to handle the meat once coated and only flip once.

    🐄Milk Gravy

    One of the main features of classic diner chicken fried steak is a milk-based tasty gravy. It is usually spiced like the steak, so we just use the flour from coating the steak and the oil from the frying. And it usually is peppered up a bit for more taste.

    For our Yankee taste, we needed a bit of a beef flavor pop to the gravy. I added some Pensey's beef gravy base. You may add 1-2 beef bouillon cubes or the equivalent if you have Yankee taste buds or lack the fond memories of milk gravy,

    📖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

    How To Make Gravy at Home

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

    101's Best Recipes, Beef Recipes, Comfort Food Recipes, Easy Dinner Recipes
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    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    cube steak with seasonings and egg

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

    adding oil to a frying pan

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

    mixing spices into flour

    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.

    coating the meat with egg mixture

    Dry the cube steaks. Coat cube steak in the flour mixture, 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.

    laying the coated meat into the hot oil

    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 turn to gold, 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° but go by the color also.

    tenting the steak on a plate with foil

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

    whisking flour into droppings in pan

    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. Whisk for a few minutes to cook the flour.

    adding milk to the roux in the pan with a whisk

    Slowly add 2 cups of milk while continuing to whisk. It should start thickening in a few minutes.

    whisking gravy until thickened

    Add salt and pepper to taste. Also, you may want to add 1-2 beef bouillon cubes or the equivalent for a heavier beef taste.

    chicken fried steak on blue plate
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    📝Recipe

    pouring gravy over chicken fried steak

    30-Minute Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Chicken fried steak is a classic southern dinner comfort food you can make at home in only 30 minutes. Think of that crispy golden brown breading smothered in wonderful creamy milk gravy—an easy weeknight recipe with restaurant-quality results.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.50 from 20 votes
    Print Email Text CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 2

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 1 pound cube steak
    • ½ cup milk
    • 1 large egg
    • ¾ cup flour
    • 1 teaspoon seasoning salt - Lawry's is good
    • ½ teaspoon paprika
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ teaspoon pepper
    • cayenne pepper - optional pinch

    Ingredient for Gravy plus flour from above

    • 2 cups milk
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • 1-2 beef bouillon cubes - optional-see discussion
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Start with about one pound of cube steak in two large pieces.
      cube steak with seasonings and egg
    • In a larger fry pan, heat 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
      adding oil to a frying pan
    • 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.
      mixing spices into flour
    • Dry the cube steaks will. Coat cube steak in the flour mixture, 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.
      coating the meat with egg mixture
    • By now the oil should be shimmering. Using a fork, lay the steak into the oil.
      laying the coated meat into the hot oil
    • When the edges turn to gold, 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° but go by the color also.
      steak in the pan cooking with edge browning and blood starting to come through the flour on top of the steak
    • Remove steaks to a clean plate and tent lightly with foil.
      tenting the steak on a plate 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. Whisk for a few minutes to cook the flour.
      whisking flour into droppings in pan
    • Slowly add 2 cups of milk while continuing to whisk. It should start thickening in a few minutes.
      adding milk to the roux in the pan with a whisk
    • Add salt and pepper to taste. Also, you may want to add 1-2 beef bouillon cubes, or the equivalent, for a heavier beef taste.
      whisking gravy until thickened
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    Your Own Private Notes

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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips

    1. Use the flour that is already seasoned to make the roux. If you need more flour, just use regular flour.
    2. Use the oil used to fry the steak for the gravy. You need 4 tablespoons.
    3. The recipe does call for the optional addition of some beef bullion or beef gravy base to increase the beef taste in the milk gravy.
    4. To help the breading stick better, make sure the steak is dry before starting, shake off excess well between coats, let set for 5 minutes before cooking, use a fork to handle the meat once coated, and only flip once.
    5. This gravy can be bland. Adding the beef flavor helps, using the flour that already has seasoning helps, but lots of pepper is frequently used.
    Nutrition note. The nutrition is calculated using a LARGE 8 oz steak and you consuming half the gravy. More reasonable serving ¼ to ⅓ of the total making the calories 300 or 400 calories.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Nutrition Facts
    30-Minute Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 606 Calories from Fat 99
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 11g17%
    Saturated Fat 4g20%
    Polyunsaturated Fat 0.03g
    Monounsaturated Fat 0.1g
    Cholesterol 200mg67%
    Sodium 1451mg60%
    Potassium 599mg17%
    Carbohydrates 60g20%
    Fiber 2g8%
    Sugar 16g18%
    Protein 66g132%
    Vitamin A 1050IU21%
    Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
    Calcium 400mg40%
    Iron 6.3mg35%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Main Course
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Originally Published  February 24, 2018. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

    image of Molly and Lilly dogs chasing Mr. Squirrel

    More Comfort Food Recipes

    • Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole
    • Oven Fried Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
    • Small Crock Pot Beef Stew
    • Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup—Stovetop or Crock Pot

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    1. Kathy Franklin

      January 16, 2023 at 9:38 pm

      5 stars
      Hubby and I enjoyed another success with this one tonight. I went by the text rather than ingredients list that only listed 1/4 tsp paprika. The text was 1/2 tsp paprika and also included the 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
      I am so thankful for you and your wonderful recipes and instructions.
      Love the dogs, too!

      Reply
    2. Pam Wheeler

      March 30, 2021 at 11:04 pm

      Oh my goodness! Just made this for my guy and myself and it is soooo delicious. I can't wait to see what else you have.
      Pam

      Reply
    3. Ralph Simek

      February 18, 2021 at 1:09 pm

      4 stars
      This sounds like a recipe that's something I want to try. Instead of using all purpose flour I'll be using Almond flour to greatly reduce the carbs. Any thoughts?

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

        February 18, 2021 at 1:32 pm

        Hi Ralph,

        Welcome to the blog.

        First, the coating will be different but I don't know how the technique would need to change. The coating sticks usually by the starch getting sticky. Not much starch probably means not much sticking. Also, I find almond flour does give a bit of a nutty taste. Not what I'm going for here.

        I also have serious doubts about almond flour being a good thickener. Standard thickeners work by the starch attaching to the fluid. Almond flour would definitely be different, if it works very well. You can Google some to see if it works well and how much. I do remember xanthan gum being a common low carb thickener but again, I can give no specific advice.

        Dan

    4. Susan

      February 18, 2021 at 10:06 am

      5 stars
      Hi! I just read through your instructions, and found you've misplaced the word "flour" a couple of times in your directions (when saying how much to put in the dry coating mix).
      I'm looking forward to making this. Had it as a kid with mashed potatoes and whatever vegie was out of the garden. 😊

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

        February 18, 2021 at 10:17 am

        Hi Susan,

        Thanks for the proofread. It has been that way for 3 years and nobody saw it. This is an update and I skimmed the instructions to be sure they conformed to what I do now. And then cut and paste from the post to the recipe card. So the error transfers.

        All fixed now. The two biggest hints on this recipe are to review the tips in the post about getting the breading to stick, and to use the remaining flour from the breading to make the gravy for the seasoning.

        Thanks again.

        Dan

    5. Kim Faubert

      May 25, 2018 at 10:52 pm

      This was delicious! I’ve always had a difficult time with milk gravy, either to thick or to thin... this was perfect with just the right amount of seasonings. The husband and I give this a strong 5 stars, thank you for sharing!

      Reply
      • DrDan

        May 26, 2018 at 8:44 am

        Hi Kim,
        Thanks for the note. I have a more detailed post on how to make gravy at home https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/how-to-make-gravy-101/ that may be useful.
        Dan

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