This Chicken Fried Steak recipe is quick and easy and so delicious that your family is sure to love it! Save on your food bill with this inexpensive recipe, which costs dramatically less than the restaurant version!
Chicken fried steak is a tasty traditional Southern comfort food that can’t be beat, but it can be very expensive to buy at a steak house! Our chicken fried steak recipe is super easy and delicious. Because it uses ground beef, it is much more fork-tender than restaurant chicken fried steak, but it has all of the delicious flavor!
We always make our chicken fried steak recipe with white gravy and we have included an easy white gravy recipe. If possible, it is best to use some of the drippings, or leftover grease, from the beef to make the gravy. If you want to add a slightly different but delicious twist, you can use bacon grease for some or all of the gravy drippings.
Chicken fried steak is traditionally served with potatoes, like mashed potatoes topped with the same white gravy or baked potatoes. Rolling the baked potatoes in coarse salt before baking them gives them a more restaurant-like flavor.
It is also often served with a vegetable like fried okra, corn on the cob, broccoli or a salad. Coleslaw and potato salad are also great choices. Some people like to include a bread, like cornbread or Texas Roadhouse Rolls.
Mike has eaten a lot of chicken fried steak in his life and he absolutely loves this recipe. Whenever there’s a special occasion like his birthday or Father’s day, he requests this as part of the meal. Try it and see how it satisfies the chicken fried steak lover in your family!
This easy chicken fried steak recipe and white gravy recipe are from our Dining On A Dime Cookbook, Volume 1:
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Easy Chicken Fried Steak Recipe
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef (You can use pre-made hamburger patties.)
1/4 cup milk, place in shallow bowl
1/4 -1/2 cup all purpose flour, place on plate
1 egg, whipped with fork and place in shallow bowl
1/2 -3/4 of a tube of crackers, crushed, place on plate
Instructions
- Form ground beef into 5-6 patties.
- Heat a frying pan with a little oil.
- Dip each patty into milk, then flour, then egg and last of all crackers.
- Place in the hot frying pan.
- Season with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder.
- Turn down the heat and fry on one side. Then flip to other side.
The ground beef is done when the juices run clear.
Chicken Fried Steak White Gravy Recipe
- After frying the meat, leave 2-4 Tbsp. of drippings (and crumbs) in the pan, draining the rest.
- Add flour to the drippings.
- Quickly whisk to mix and loosen the crumbs. The mixture will be thick.
- Slowly add milk, whisking to mix into the flour mix. Whisk well.
- Bring to a boil, whisking the whole time until the mixture is thick. If it gets too thick, just add a little more milk.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
*If the meat is too lean to leave grease for the gravy, you can use bacon grease or cooking oil, but the oil will not flavor it as well as meat grease.
Recipes That Go Great With Chicken Fried Steak
Easy Garlic Salad Recipe – Creamy And Delicious Coleslaw-Like Recipe!
Easy Garlic Cheese Biscuits Recipe
The BEST Homemade Potato Salad Recipe EVER!
Best Ever Easy Cornbread Recipe
Texas Roadhouse Rolls Recipe Copycat
Baked potatoes rolled in coarse salt
We have never used cracker crumbs, just the flour with salt and pepper. (Garlic powder sounds good, too!) My mom discovered that hamburger works as well as the more expensive cubed steak when I was growing up. We never had much money, and she got so many compliments on her “country fried steak.” :) Ground beef is usually more tender than cubed steak, too, so that’s an added bonus.
Ha ha so THAT’s what it is! I ate it once at a buffet. And thought it was the grossest chicken ever. I mean what is that stuff? Its ground beef LOL! Well that explains it then.
Looks good, but what is the sauce on top?
White gravy.
How do you make white gravy!?
Here’s the recipe. https://www.livingonadime.com/homemade-white-gravy-recipe/
Do you ever tire of spoon-feeding answers when it is staring them in the face? I would.
I am afraid when it comes to teaching it goes with the territory and you need to have lots of patience sometimes. I was very blessed to have a lot of people in my life who were very patient with me when I was first learning things and it meant so much to me that they were and because of it they helped me to have confidence to keep learning and improving and later to helped me to be more patient with others. Now that being said so I don’t sound too pious and there have been times when I have had to sit and just shake my head in wonder at some people at this time in history. : )
What kind of crackers do you use?
Just saltines.
I used Ritz. I think the saltines will be better. I am going to make it again. It was good and so easy to make. But, I think the crackers make the difference.
Great idea! Thanks for the recipe. I will be trying it as soon as baby is born and I get rid of the heartburn from anything cooked in oil. I love the idea of using hamburger, as it is cheaper and more tender than cubed steak. I get a great price on the lean stuff at the Commissary.
Thank you for your service. Though only one spouse may be enlisted, both service. Blessing for the babe.
Never thought of using hamburger. This will become a regular meal on our menu! I love chicken fried steak!
Thanks for the e-mails with all the great ideas in your newsletters! I really enjoy reading the articles and the comments. They are really encouraging! This recipe looks really good, it’s on my meal calendar!
I enjoy your ideas. I was wondering about how to get housekeeping tips to you. I have some I would like to share.
Tommie in Abilene, TX
Sounds good! Definitely, I will be trying and cooking this recipe today. I love reading your emails/articles….thank you for sharing your great ideas and recipes.
Thank you for saying such nice things. Our readers don’t realize how much it makes our day when they are so sweet and say such nice things.
Why is this called “chicken fried steak” when when you use hamburger meat ? hubby would like this.
I don’t know Ann. It usually uses beef minute steaks or something like that but it has been called this for decades. I think maybe it is because it has the crispy crust of fried chicken but you use the minute steak instead of chicken so you get the name chicken fried steak. This recipe is the frugal version of it.
Chicken Fried Steak is steak that is fried like chicken.
Never liked it with the cubed steak as it was always too tough and chewy.
I’m gonna go make mine right now!~
thanks for the question and answer…us Aussies (Australians) need clarification on some of the names. I would have gone looking for chicken mince (ie mince in Australia is what you call hamburger. Why is it called that? because the butcher uses a mincer to mince the meat)
I have personally made this many times for me and hubby, it is delicious, only difference is I use McCormick county gravy mix instead of making the cream sauce, its just because Im a bit lazy!!Lol This cookbook is the best and most useful I have ever owned, just sent for 2 more ,one extra for me and one for my son, just mailed my one daughter one in Germany and gave my other daughter one 2 months ago….Thank you, Jill, Tawra and Mike
Thank you Jeannine. That is so sweet of you to take the time to let us know how much you like the book and all. Really do appreciate it. :)
I was in a little diner last week and the lunch special that day was chicken fried hamburger pattie with mashed potatoes gravy and green beans and I thought “what?” I had never had chicken fried hamburger pattie only cubed steak. But it was oh so delicious!! So glad I found this recipe.
Yes Kate I always called this my poor man’s chicken fried steak :):)
These were delicious and I think I only used maybe a half pound of meat and it made three huge streaks. And that was with me spreading them really thin. I give this recipe an A+!!
Robin this is one of our most popular recipes and one of my favorites too. I am so glad you mentioned that you only used 1/2 lb. of meat because many people don’t know that you can adjust the meat amount in most of our recipes and they still come out really good. Thanks for the A+ : )
What kind of crackers did you use? I’m gonna try saltines but it doesn’t sound very flavorful
Yes use saltines and it tastes just like the chicken fried steaks you get at diners. Now I do add some garlic and onion powder and salt while I am cooking it too. You can pretty much season as you like but usually these 3 things and pepper taste best.
This is such a good recipe! I used cube steak and ritz crackers and it was a HIT with the kids. They immediately cut their (larger than necessary) portion in half and asked to pack the other part for their school lunch the next day. That’s a win!
I an in my sixty and don’t cook but I tried this and it was great and my husband loved it
oh Bonnie so glad you liked it. We try to keep our recipes simple enough that even those who don’t cook much can do them easily and yet they taste good so thank you for letting us know that this one worked out for you.
I love this recipe…..so I have made a few things from your web site and now I a going to buy your cook book…..why not..
What type ground beef do you recommend
Debbie you can use any kind. I use what is the cheapest they have.
Being English I was totally confused that chicken fried steak is made with ground beef It took me a while to get my head around it but I’ll definitely give it a try! I expect many people won’t know what our toad in the hole is. Sausages cooked in Yorkshire pudding batter !
Yes Jeanne so true. Here in the states Chicken Fried Steak is usually made with what we call minute steaks but they are more expensive so using the hamburger (minced meat???) is the less expensive version. Even to me though why this has the word chicken in it is beyond me but they have always called it that. I think it is because you fry it with a crust the way you do chicken maybe. Yes I too have often wondered what your toad in the hole was. LOL
Tawra, I have all of your books. But I just love your website and e-mails. They give me so many ideas to feed my “meat and potatoes” husband. Sister in Christ, God has gifted me with enough so I don’t worry about finances. Your recipes and ideas are great boosters to let me know that spending more is not always good.
Very good recipe! I like the idea of using ground beef, just saw 10 patties for $10 at Aldi. Usually I would I use some kind of “inexpensive” beef roast (used to use eye roast, but now… ) that I could take pleasure in Pounding with a meat mallet. Only thing I do differently is to use wax paper when I bread or flour things for the skillet. I can lift the edges, get some on top, flip, do the same… it’s ‘like’ a plate, but I can toss it at the end. I don’t have a dishwasher.
Yes I don’t have a dishwasher either and I love my wax paper for this type of thing.
I used Japanese panko crumbs and it turned out great (crispier coating). This recipe will be made often!