The Best Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy

It’s time to set your tastebuds free with The Best Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy you will encounter.  Fried to a crisp perfection and doused in warm creamy gravy over mashed potatoes, this is comfort food at its best.

Chicken Fried Steak

All too often we get set in our ways and make the same recipes night after night, week after week and we hear the same grumbling from our kids “we are having that again!”  Well it’s time to freshen things up and wow them with The Best Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy, they will never see it coming.  So crisp and delicious on the outside and tender on the inside you will have them speechless.

Why do they call it chicken fried steak?

• I asked myself the very same question.  It is called chicken fried steak because it is prepared in the same method fried chicken is made, breaded and fried, therefore you get the name chicken fried steak.

What type of meat do you use for chicken fried steak?

• You use beef cube steak that has been tenderized into a thin piece of meat, thinner than a hamburger patty.
• You can usually find the beef cube steak already tenderized in you grocery store.  If not, you can ask the butcher to tenderize it.

Dinner is a great time to be able to sit and talk about your day and what better way to sit and talk than over a delicious home cooked skillet of chicken fried steak and gravy.

I don’t know which is better the think creamy gravy or the fried outside of the steak, but what I do know is that is all works together.

How do you make chicken fried steak?

1. Prepare three separate shallow containers.  One with cornstarch, a second with an egg and buttermilk, and the third with flour, garlic salt, paprika, pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, baking powder, garlic powder, and buttermilk.  Whisk the egg and buttermilk together in the second container and combine all ingredients in the third container, mixing in the buttermilk until crumbles form.
2. One steak at a time dip in the cornstarch, then the egg/buttermilk mixture, then into the flour mixture.  Set on a baking sheet until ready to fry.
3. Heat a cast iron skillet with peanut oil on high heat.  One steak at a time fry until golden brown on each side, flipping only once.  About 2 minutes a side.  Place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels until all steaks have been fried.
4. Carefully remove 1/4 cup hot oil from the skillet and place in a medium sized sauce pan.  (Discard the rest of the oil in a resealable container and wipe out skillet for using again.)  Add flour to sauce pan, whisking to combine.  Pour in milk, paprika, and pepper.  Whisk until bubbling, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened.  About 5 minutes.
5. Pour 1 cup of the gravy mixture into the skillet and add the chicken fried steak back to the skillet.  Pour additional gravy over the top and garnish with parsley.  Serve hot over mashed potatoes and remaining gravy.

What do I do with oil after frying?

• DO NOT throw it down the drain.
• Place it in a resealable container and throw it in the trash.

While sticking with your same recipes is always good, try to shake it up a bit and surprise your family with The Best Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy for dinner tonight.

Looking for other delicious skillet meals?

• Teriyaki Meatball Stir Fry
• The Best Cabbage and Kielbasa Skillet
• Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi Skillet
• Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken Piccata