Country Style Steak (Cubed Steak)
A simple and easy recipe for cube steak that can easily be stretched to feed as many as you like. Serve over rice or potatoes.
A simple and easy recipe for cube steak that can easily be stretched to feed as many as you like. Serve over rice or potatoes.
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 pound cubed steak cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour (for coating)
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (for gravy) (approx)
- 2 each onion gravy mix
- 4 cups water (or as needed)
- garlic salt (or powder) to taste
- 2 tablespoons brown gravy mix (or as needed)
- Carbohydrate 29.2859379024567 g
- Cholesterol 0.09 mg
- Fat 10.7636208750991 g
- Fiber 1.8712156548814 g
- Protein 3.78641030051602 g
- Saturated Fat 0.899629800027977 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (398g)
- Sodium 1882.46130790744 mg
- Sugar 27.4147222475753 g
- Trans Fat 0.234382221209448 g
- Calories 229 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Coat cube steak pieces with flour, and shake off the excess.
- Fry steak pieces in the hot oil just until browned on each side and there are some juices in the pan.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Stir together the onion soup mix and 1 tablespoon of flour; sprinkle into the skillet.
- Cook and stir over medium heat until it starts to brown.
- Gradually mix in the water and add the gravy mix to make a gravy.
- You can increase the gravy mix to thicken the gravy or use some corn starch if needed.
- Return the cube steak to the pan, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt.
- Cover, and simmer over low heat for about 1 hour.
Cubed steak is mechanically tenderized round steak, meaning its muscle fibers are already broken down by metal blades. This structural modification allows the meat to absorb moisture rapidly during long simmers, but it also creates a risk of over-drying if the initial sear is rushed. Maintain medium-high heat with vegetable oil to build a proper crust without boiling the protein in its own juices.
A frequent error involves dumping flour-coated meat directly into lukewarm oil, which causes the breading to detach and form a gummy sludge. Ensure the skillet is shimmering before adding the steak pieces. Fry them for just two minutes per side until golden brown, leaving the rendered fond in the pan to build the base of the savory gravy.
Stirring onion soup mix and flour directly into the pan drippings toasts the starches, removing the raw flour taste before water is added. If the resulting liquid remains too thin after simmering, whisk equal parts cornstarch and cold water into a slurry and boil for sixty seconds to activate the thickening agents. Adjust salt cautiously because commercial gravy mixes already contain high sodium levels.
Yield can be adjusted easily by scaling the liquid and soup bases proportionally to accommodate extra diners. Simmering the meat for a full hour breaks down remaining connective tissue until the beef achieves a fork-tender consistency.
