How to Make Easy Southern Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy

Chicken fried steak is a Southern diner tradition. You’ll find it on the menu at nearly every mom-and-pop spot and at larger chains as well. It’s the first thing my husband orders whenever we return home to Georgia. But, thanks to this pantry-friendly, one-pan recipe, you don’t have to leave the house (or travel to the South) to enjoy it.

Here’s the easiest way to make chicken fried steak at home.

For the uninitiated, chicken fried steak isn’t chicken at all — it’s a piece of steak fried like one. A tender cube steak is battered and fried, giving it a delicate, fried chicken-like coating. It’s thought that the technique came about as a way to dress up inexpensive cube steak into a more flavorful dinner.

And it’s never served alone: A simple white gravy adorns every great chicken fried steak. The gravy not only ensures that even the leanest cube steak tastes incredible, it’s also a smart way to use up the oil and flour used for frying the steaks.

Chicken fried steak and country fried steak are often considered one and the same, but Southerners (Texans in particular) would like you to know that there are a few key distinctions. While both are coated and fried cube steaks, chicken fried steak is always served crispy, while country fried steak is served smothered in its rich gravy to actually soften the crispy coating. The gravies themselves are different, too. Chicken fried steak gets a white, peppery gravy, while country fried steak gets a brown gravy.

1. Pat the steaks dry and season them before coating. Cube steaks are pounded and tenderized using a meat “cubing machine,” which means you’ll find them wrapped in plastic at the grocery store. Make sure to pat them dry with paper towels (or a clean kitchen towel) and season them well with salt while you prep the ingredients for coating.
2. Cook just two steaks at a time to avoid steaming the steaks. Pan frying your steaks in a large skillet, rather than deep frying them, minimize the mess and lets you use a smaller amount of oil. Just be sure to fry your steaks two at a time to avoid overcrowding the pan, which will cause the steaks to steam.
3. Use the leftover flour and oil to make the gravy. This is a trick Kitchn contributor Patty Catalano turned me onto. Instead of using “fresh” flour for thickening the gravy, use a bit of the seasoned flour from coating the steaks. The flour gets cooked in a bit of the cooking oil, so it is perfectly safe (and a smart way to avoid waste!)

Chicken fried steak is best eaten the day it’s made. You can keep the first batch in a warm oven for up to 30 minutes while you cook the second batch. When serving, be sure to cover each steak with a generous portion of gravy, and serve it with potatoes, waffles, or veggies, just like Southern diners do.

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