Country fried steak with gravy
Crispy, peppery breaded cube steak smothered in creamy pan gravy, with mashed potatoes to catch every drop.
- 50 min total
- 45 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.76 a serving
- 790 calories
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 4 cube steak, about 1 lb
- 1 large egg
- 3 cups milk, divided
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1½ cups instant mashed potatoes
From your pantry
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- 1½ tsp black pepper, divided
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1¼ cups water
Each serving has about 790 calories, 39 g protein, 57 g carbs and 45 g fat, and costs about $2.76 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No hot sauce? Sriracha works.
- No butter? Ghee works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the steaks dry and sprinkle both sides with ¾ teaspoon of the salt and ½ teaspoon of the pepper.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Stir 1 cup of the flour with the garlic powder and paprika in a shallow dish. In a second dish, the egg with ½ cup of the milk and the hot sauce.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Coat each steak in flour, dip it in the egg, then press it firmly into the flour again. Set them on a plate for 10 minutes and wash your hands.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Resting lets the coating turn a little pasty, and that’s what keeps it stuck on in the pan.Heat the oil in a large over medium-high until it and a pinch of flour sizzles right away.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Medium-high heat
Fry 2 steaks at a time, 3 to 4 minutes a side, until deep and and 145°F in the middle. Move them to paper towels.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Cube steak is tenderized with little blades, so check the middle of the thickest one with a thermometer. Lay each one in away from you so the oil can’t splash toward you.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Carefully pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the oil, keeping the . Turn the heat to medium and in 3 tablespoons of flour for 1 minute.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Slowly whisk in 2 cups of the milk and 3 to 5 minutes, , until thick enough to coat a spoon. Season with the rest of the salt and pepper.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Dolly’s tip: Pour the milk a little at a time and whisk hard. That’s the whole trick to gravy without lumps.For the potatoes, microwave the water, the last ½ cup of milk and the butter in a large bowl 3 minutes, until steaming. Stir in the potato flakes, let sit 1 minute, and fluff with a fork.
Timer: 3 min
Serve the steaks smothered in gravy with the potatoes alongside.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
