Country Cube Steaks (not fried)

Angela T.
Apr 23, 2022
3 min read

Have the flavor and texture experience of country fried steak, aka chicken fried steak or minute steak, without fry oil or breading

In the interest of time—more time for family, more for writing, and more for all the other things—we tend to appreciate knacks for saving as much time as possible.

Lately, I've been exploring any dish I can prepare in one simple prep session using just one dish: which led me to today's dinner recipe, which does not meet those usual, most simple, qualifiers but it does curb much of the hassle of the ever-popular deep or pan-fried chicken fried steak procedure, and makes a good, affordable splurge (not completely health conscious) meal.

Essentially, mock chicken-fried steak

This recipe is a bare-pantry version as far as ingredients go . . . no fresh onion on hand and didn't use any garlic. I used only about a teaspoon of salt in the gravy and a light sprinkle of kosher on each side of the steaks. The end result was a perfectly familiar chicken fried steak experience. Great payoff for an easily prepared dinner, and somewhat healthier by eliminating the frying oil and a lot of extra flour/breading. I paid a somewhat reasonable $4.34 for just over 1/2 lb (about 9 oz) of cube steak divided into 2 servings.

Country Cube Steaks Recipe

INGREDIENTS

2 T butter
2 T flour
1/2 T dried minced onion
2 C milk
salt/pepper
2 servings cubed (tenderized) beef steaks

PROCESS

Place tenderized cube steaks in glass baking dish that fits their size in a single layer
Sprinkle salt & pepper on each side, set prepared steaks aside in their baking dish
In skillet, begin melting 2 T butter and add 2 T flour over medium-high heat, stirring often to prevent scorching. Continue until fragrant and somewhat browned (smelling like well-baked bread)
Stir in 2 C milk, raise heat to quicken boil point, continue stirring/monitoring 2-10 minutes until thickened to light-medium consistency that allows for some evaporation during cube steak cook time (an hour!)
While thickening the gravy, taste and season with salt/pepper accordingly. (I like to add the black pepper in three stages: as soon as I add the milk, midway through thickening—after a taste—and finally a 2 serving sprinkle when the gravy has reached it's desired consistency prior to being poured over the cubed steak and place in the oven.
Pour the gravy over the seasoned cube steaks, covering them by about 1/4 inch. Sprinkle pepper lightly over the top (for flavor and appearance)
Cover tightly with foil and bake in preheated 325F oven for 1 hour, checking 10-20 minutes ahead to be sure your gravy isn't burning. Expect it to be browning and well on its way to done. A little poke with a sharp knife will let you know if it's tender enough (and it probably won't be). At this stage, the dish should be looking a lot like a plate of chicken fried steak.
Re-cover with foil and finish cooking for the complete hour, possibly 10 minutes more.

Prep and cook a fresh side dish while you wait on the tenderized cubed steaks to become even more tender. Waiting the full hour should reward you with fork-tender steaks.

*To get tender cube steak, it should either be cooked quickly or for an extended time.

I'd never prepared cube steak before! I decided to bake it, unbreaded but smothered, knowing (based on this recipe by Julia Jordan) that I could just quickly throw this together and not think about it for awhile. Granted, my recipe is quite pared down: dry and staple ingredients only, besides the beef cuts.