Southern Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy epitomizes comfort food, offering a crispy, golden-brown coating that encases tender meat, all smothered in a rich, savory gravy. This classic dish is perfectly complemented by buttery mashed potatoes, creating a hearty meal that warms the soul and satisfies the heart.
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🥩 The Ingredients
With just a handful of ingredients, chicken fried steak transforms into a tender cut of meat enveloped in a perfectly crispy exterior, showcasing the magic of simple cooking techniques. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and variations) below.
🐔 Substitutions and Variations
- Protein - Naturally, beef is the key ingredient for this dish. However, the recipe works perfectly with thin chicken breasts and Southern-fried pork cutlets. See more about the best type of beef in the FAQs below.
- Cornstarch - The cornstarch helps to create an even more crunchy exterior, but all-purpose flour can be substituted. The cornstarch also helps the batter adhere to the steak.
- Seasonings - We use a combination of liquid flavor enhancers, including Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Soy sauce is a good substitution. For the spices, you can use any or none of them, depending on your preferences. Just don't forget salt. You'll need to lightly season the steaks as well as the batter.
- Oil - Vegetable oil is best for deep-frying the steaks. However, shortening or canola oil are acceptable choices. Avoid oils that have a distinct flavor, such as olive oil.
See the recipe card (with video) below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
👩🏼🍳 How To Make Southern Chicken Fried Steak
- Step 1: Season steaks with Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, hot sauce, and black pepper.
- Step 2: Dredge the steaks in cornstarch.
- Step 3: Dip steaks into a mixture of flour, beef stock, milk, egg, chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Step 4: Shake off excess and dredge through the seasoned flour.
- Step 5: Fry in hot oil until golden
- Step 6: Drain on paper towels.
Expert Tip
If you like a super crunchy chicken fried steak, then do a double dredge. Once you dredge the cutlet through the flour, submerge it back into the batter and then again into the flour. This will probably require you to increase the amount of batter you prepare.
🍶 How To Make Cream Gravy
- Step 1: Melt bacon grease over medium heat in a skillet.
- Step 2: Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring often, for 1 minute.
- Step 3: Whisk in the milk and cream and stir until lumps are gone.
- Step 4: Stir until thickened.
- Step 5: Season with salt and pepper.
- Step 6: Transfer to gravy boat and serve at once!
🍽️ How To Serve
- If serving a group, we place the warmed cutlets on a platter with a large fork and let guests serve themselves with the gravy passed on the side.
- The classic side dishes to chicken fried steak are buttery mashed potatoes, Southern-style green beans, and Southern-fried okra.
- These steaks also make unbelievably delicious chicken fried steak sandwiches, similar to the legendary DQ Dude served at Dairy Queen.
🙋🏽♂️ Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can prepare them about an hour before serving them and then keep them warm in a low-temp oven (225°F) on a rack in a baking sheet until ready to serve. They are still delicious hours after they are prepared, but they start to lose their wonderful crunchiness.
Your oil may be too deep. Place just enough oil in the skillet to barely cover the steaks as they fry. Their weight will hold down the cutlet as it cooks; ensuring the batter will adhere to the meat.
The technique for frying the steak is similar to frying chicken.
😋 Other Classic Southern Recipes
Ready to make the best dish this side of Fort Worth, Texas? Go for it!
And when you do, be sure to take a photo of it, post it on Instagram, and tag @HowToFeedaLoon and hashtag #HowToFeedaLoon!
Southern Chicken Fried Steak
Video
Equipment
- 1 large (12-inch) sturdy skillet ie, cast-iron
Ingredients
For the Steaks
- vegetable oil for frying
- 6 8 oz. cubed steaks or round sirloin steaks, tenderized
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoon seasoned salt, such as Adobo divided
- Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon Louisiana hot sauce
- 1 cup corn starch
- 3 cups all-purpose flour divided
- ½ cup beef stock
- 1 cup milk might need more if batter is too thick
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion salt or regular salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
For the Gravy
- 2 tablespoon bacon grease or butter
- 2 to 3 tablespoon flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon Adobo seasoning optional
Instructions
Make the Chicken Fried Steaks
- In a large skillet, add just enough of the oil so it reaches about ¼ 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.vegetable oil, 6 8 oz. cubed steaks
- Season one side of the steaks with Worcestershire sauce, Adobo, and pepper.2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoon seasoned salt, such as Adobo, Fresh cracked black pepper
- Season the other side with hot sauce, Adobo, and pepper.2 tablespoon Louisiana hot sauce
- On a platter or plate, spread the cornstarch.1 cup corn starch
- In a medium bowl, make a wet batter by mixing 1½ cups flour with the stock, milk, egg, chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. (If too thick, add more milk...the consistency should be like a thin/runny milkshake)3 cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup beef stock, 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon onion salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- On a separate platter, add remaining flour plus 1 tablespoon of the Adobo seasoning, mix well.
- Dredge the prepared steaks in the cornstarch.
- Add the steaks to the wet batter. Let the 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 of minutes on a 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.2 tablespoon bacon grease
- 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.2 to 3 tablespoon flour
- Gradually add the milk and cream, whisking vigorously until lumps are gone. Continue to stir with a wooden spoon until thickened.2 cups milk, 1 cup heavy cream
- Add salt (and seasoned salt, if using) and pepper, to taste.salt and pepper, 1 teaspoon Adobo seasoning
- Pour gravy over cooked steaks.
kd says
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
Don says
The recipe says for 8 servings, however the ingredients only call for 6 - 8oz round steaks? I'm guessing it is supposed to be 8 - 6oz round steaks
Kris Longwell says
Hi Don! Sorry for the delayed response. We'll update that. It should be 8 6 oz. steaks. It's really...1 steak per serving, no matter what the size. We'll update. Thanks for the heads up and we hope you make the steaks...they are soooo good!
Jane Johnson says
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
Kris Longwell says
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
Stacy Lynn Alexander says
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!
Kris Longwell says
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
Jim Tompkins says
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.
Kris Longwell says
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
Michelle Hammett says
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.
Kris Longwell says
Awesome, Michelle!!! So glad you love the chicken fried steak...it's definitely a favorite dish in our house!!
Jessica says
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
krislongwell says
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
Tracee says
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!
krislongwell says
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!!
Jan says
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!)
krislongwell says
Chicken Fried Chicken is the bomb!! Chicken Fried STEAK is even better in our book. See what the hubby thinks and let us know!!!
Stacey says
Tried this tonight. It was delicious. The whole family loved it!
Elizabeth says
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.
Kristin says
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!
krislongwell says
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)
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
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!
krislongwell says
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!!