Chicken Fried Steak…3 words that make my Texan heart swoon.
Folks, if you’ve never heard of chicken fried steak, or if you have it every other meal…get ready for one of the best (if not the best) chicken fried steak recipes in all of the Lone Star State and beyond!
And heck, we’ve gotta add some Black Pepper Cream Gravy, right? Let’s do this!
CHICKEN FRIED STEAK IS EASY TO MAKE AT HOME
There are many, many different recipes for preparing classic Southern Chicken Fried Steak.
We’ve tested most of them. And we’ve come up with our own version that we think will rival even the best of the West.
Watch us show you how to make incredible Chicken Fried Steak!
TENDERIZED CUBED STEAK WORKS WELL
I (Kris) recently had the privilege of competing on Food Network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games.” And guess what? The first dish I made was my classic Chicken Fried Steak! And the judges LOVED it! Read more about this amazing experience from a wonderful writer, Sarah Blaskovich from the Dallas Morning News: Adventures in Feeding.
To impress the judges, I went with a more expensive cut of meat, a beautifully marbled ribeye. Though the result was luxurious in taste and texture, you can absolutely achieve chicken fried steak perfection with an inexpensive cut of meat, such as cubed, or round steak. Just ask your butcher to tenderize the steaks for you. Or, you can do it yourself carefully with a meat mallet.
Here is a shot of me (Kris) looking like a goofball talking about my Southern Chicken Fried Steak on Guy’s Grocery Games on the Food Network.
SET UP A DREDGING STATION
Creating a crunchy and extremely flavorful crust around the steak requires a 3-step approach.
Corn starch is commonly used in Asian/Chinese cooking. It helps to create a crunchy exterior. So why not use it on our chicken fried steak? Let’s do it!
Followed up by an amazing batter of flour, beef broth, milk, chili powder, smoked paprika, onion salt and black pepper.
A final dredge through season flour will provide the extra crunchy exterior we all want.
Take a large sturdy skillet and add just enough oil so only about half the steak is submerged.
You want the weight of the steak to hold down the cutlet as it cooks, this helps to ensure the batter will adhere to the meat.
Once golden brown (about 4 minutes), flip over and cook until golden on both sides (about a total of 8 to 10 minutes). Drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
WARM COOKED STEAKS IN THE OVEN
If you are feeding a crowd of hungry folks (like we usually are), you can make the steaks an hour or so before serving.
As each chicken fried steak is cooked to perfection, just place it on a baking sheet with a rack, and keep warm in a low-temp oven (200°F).
The steaks will stay nice and crispy until ready to serve.
And trust us when we tell you that if you’re doing chicken fried steak, you gotta make some cream gravy.
HOW TO MAKE CREAM GRAVY
- Heat 2 tbsp grease in a skillet
- Add an equal amount of flour to create a roux.
- Add milk and cream and whisk to remove lumps.
- Season with salt and lots of black pepper.
- Stir until thickened.
Chicken Fried Steak is a classic dish in Texas and the Southern U.S.
The meat is tender and flavorful and the crunchy batter is absolutely delicious.
Serve this with mashed potatoes and fried okra, and you will be in yummy heaven.
A CLASSIC SOUTHERN DISH
Well, you can take the boy out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the boy. Which really isn’t an issue anymore, since the Loon and I moved back to Texas.
Once you dig in and take your first bite, you’ll understand why we get so excited about this dish.
Come on…you know you want it…
Southern Chicken Fried Steak
Ingredients
- 6 8 oz round sirloin steaks, or cubed steaks tenderized
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp Louisiana hot sauce
- 2 tbsp seasoned salt, such as Adobo divided
- Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 cup corn starch
- 3 cups all-purpose flour divided
- 1/2 cup beef stock
- 1 cup milk might need more if batter too thick
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp onion salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Oil for frying
FOR THE GRAVY
- 2 tbsp bacon grease or butter
- 2 to 3 tbsp flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet, add just enough of the oil so it reaches about 1/4 inch up the side. Heat to 350° F, or until a pinch of bread tossed in sizzles and turns a nice golden brown in a couple of minutes.
- Season one side of the steaks with Worcestershire sauce, Adobo, and pepper.
- Season the other side with hot sauce, Adobo, and pepper
- On a platter or plate, spread the cornstarch
- In a medium-size bowl, make a wet batter by mixing 1 1/2 cups flour with the stock, milk, egg, chili powder, salt, paprika, and pepper. (If too thick, add more milk...the consistency should be like a thin/runny milk shake)
- On a separate platter, add remaining flour plus 1 tbsp of the Adobo seasoning, mix well.
- Dredge the prepared steaks in the corn starch.
- Add the steaks to the wet batter. Let excess drip off.
- Add to the flour mixture.
- Working in batches, carefully place the steaks in the hot oil.
- Cook for about 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Approx. 4 minutes per side
- Drain for a couple minutes on plate lined with paper towels. (Keep cooked steaks in low-temp oven (200°F) until ready to serve.)
MAKE THE GRAVY
- Heat the bacon grease (or butter) over medium heat.
- Add the flour, and stir to incorporate. Add more flour if too wet (should resemble wet sand). Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Gradually add the milk and cream, whisking vigorously until lumps are gone. Continue to stir with a wooden spoon until thickened.
- Add salt (and seasoned salt, if using) and pepper, to taste.
- Pour gravy over cooked steaks.
Oh my (spoken in my best George Takei impression). What a lovely crispy coating! And so much flavor. Confession – not only is this my first time making CFS, it’s my first time eating it. As a lifelong Yankee (through geography NOT baseball affiliation, Red Sox Nation) I don’t understand white gravy so this was paired with my mushroom sage gravy but honestly, the best bits were those crispy edges with no gravy whatsoever! I love how you season everything so nicely. Never overpowering, always flavorful.
For those who have had the coating fall off, I wonder if bringing the steak to room temperature before preparing would help?
xx Kathy
Kries, I made this last night. Absolutely delicious. I did a happy dance through my living room after tasting it. My puppies danced with me. Thank You So Much. Will make this again for my friends. Love you and Wesley.
Janie
Hi Janie!! You are singing sweet music to us right now? We get super excited when anyone tries our chicken fried steak and loves it as much as we do!!! We are THRILLED you had such great success and THANK YOU to the moon and back for letting us know and for the amazing review!! That means the world to us!! xoxo Kris & Wesley
This recipe far surpasses your other one for chicken fried steak, and that one was good too! The batter is so flavorful, and the steak turns out so moist inside and with a nice crunchy crust on the outside. (Use homemade beef stock, if you have it.) The gravy is a little bland for my taste, but that’s how white gravy is. I might make a brown gravy next time, and there will be a next time!
Hi Stacy! Thank you so much! We are ALWAYS going back and tweaking recipes and updating when we feel we’ve improved the overall taste. So, we are THRILLED to hear that you loved the changes we made. That is one of our all-time favorite dishes, so that makes us so so happy!! And thank you for letting us know and for the GREAT review! We can’t tell you enough how much that means to us!! All the best, Kris & Wesley
I made this for my partner and I. I used a sirloin and a cast iron skillet. I use an instant read to make sure the oil was 350 DegF. The coating was super crunchy and tasty. However the coating did not stick to the steak, It would fall off then we cut the steak. What went wrong?
Love the blog. Thanks for all you do.
Hi Jim! So sorry to hear the crust came away from the steak. That can happen from time to time. Usually, the corn starch dredge helps the crust to adhere to the steak. Maybe try again and make sure the steak is fully covered with the corn starch before adding the wet batter. Let us know if you try it again and how it turns out! And thank YOU for the support and kind words. That means the world to us!! Best, Kris & Wesley
This is the best Chicken Fried Steak ever. Love the crispiness and the flavor is wonderful. This is the only recipe I will use from now on.
Awesome, Michelle!!! So glad you love the chicken fried steak…it’s definitely a favorite dish in our house!!
My daughter and I made this last night, it is the Best Thing Ever! We had it for supper last night and we all had it for breakfast this morning again! Thank you for this delicious recipe, we’ll be making this again soon. I took a picture, I would post but I don’t see an option. Also shared your video on my FB page. YUMMY
Hi Jessica!! That’s the best news we’re heard all week!! AWESOME!! So glad y’all loved it. We sure love it a lot, too!! And thank you so much for letting us know! Means the world to us!! Stay in touch! All the best, Kris & Wesley
First…they sent you home for serving fried meat in the first two rounds! I was yelling at the tv, “he’s from Texas!” Seriously, couldn’t believe they kept the chef who gave them canned sloppy joe sauce in spades.
I’m making this again tomorrow and will use beer in the batter…love this!
I know!!! I was thinking the same thing…oh well. So glad you like the CFS…beer is definitely a good addition. I’m going to add that back into the recipe. I did that on the fly on the show, and it was good!!
You know, boys, you CAN also use this on chicken. I wanted chicken fried steak but had no beef and it was too hot to go to the store. Found chicken in the freezer. tenderized the chicken and followed your recipe. Worked just fine. We’re gonna have the REAL thing this weekend after we go shopping. (Gotta tell ya, my husband was disappointed it was chicken, but said it’s the best chicken he’s ever had!)
Chicken Fried Chicken is the bomb!! Chicken Fried STEAK is even better in our book. See what the hubby thinks and let us know!!!
Tried this tonight. It was delicious. The whole family loved it!
There’s also a meat press “Fast Cutlet Maker V2”. It flattens the meat and create a cube pattern on it. It’s popular among germany people.
Definitely can’t take the Texas out of a person! I had such a hankering for chicken fried steak yesterday so I got the steak but was hunting for a recipe today. I think it is more Texan to call it “chicken fried” instead of “southern fried”. I stumbled across your blog today and look forward to using your recipe. Thanks!
Awesome, Kristin! Growing up in Texas, I sure understand the need for a delicious chicken fried steak recipe. I agree, growing up, it was always called Chicken Fried Steak, but I have found most people outside of the Lone Star State think that means its some sort of chicken dish. This is one of our favorite recipes…Let me know how it turns out!! All the best, Kris & Wesley (The Loon)
Now this is some seriously delicious looking fried chicken.. definitely could devour a massive bowlful of it right now. Thanks for the recipe, saved to recreate!
Hi Thalia! This is actually a popular dish in the Southern U.S. (I grew up in Texas). It’s seasoned/tenderized round steak (beef) that is battered and then deep fried. Served with black peppercorn cream gravy. It’s crazy good!! I guess it’s called chicken fried steak, because you fry the steak in a similar way you would fried chicken. Yum!!