Southern Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy
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There’s nothing quite as comforting as this Southern cube steak and gravy dish. Fortunately, it’s an easy dinner to make on a busy weeknight. All you need is cube steak, milk, and flour and you will have dinner ready in about 35 minutes. The end result is tender steak swimming in creamy and flavorful milk gravy. How good does that sound? You can choose to serve your steak with a variety of side dishes too, like Cheesy Garlic Mashed Potatoes With Mozzarella, Fresh Green Beans, Easy Homemade Dirty Rice.
Recipe Ingredients
- Milk
- Salt
- Pepper
- Flour
- Cube steak
Helpful Kitchen ToolsC
How to Make Cube Steaks and Gravy
Pour just enough oil to coat the bottom of your cast iron skillet and heat oil over medium heat.
Put about a cup of flour in a bowl. Add some salt and pepper and stir that up.
Place a piece of cube steak in the flour mixture and press down a bit to ensure it is dredged in flour.
Turn it over and coat the other side…
Repeat with all of the pieces.
Place in hot oil.
Fry steaks and flip to ensure they’re nice and brown on each side. Once done, remove steak and place on a paper towel-lined plate.
Add about 1/4 cup of flour to this and seasoned salt and black pepper to taste.
Stir that up and continue cooking it on medium heat until the flour gets browned a bit, stirring the whole time.
Next, turn your heat down to the lowest setting and pour the milk into the skillet. I start out with about a cup and a half and then add more if I want it thinner.
Use a wire whisk to stir this because it really helps break up the lumps of flour and get it all good and mixed up.
Cook on the lowest heat until it thickens, stirring constantly. If it gets too thick, you can add more milk. This will just take a few minutes, so stir the entire time and be ready to remove it from the heat when it gets thick.
Put your steak back into the milk gravy, turn them over to coat both sides and you’re done!
Ingredients
- 4 pieces cubed steak
- 1 cup all-purpose flour plus about 1/4 cup more to thicken gravy
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups milk approximately
Instructions
- Place enough oil in a pan to just coat the bottom and put that over medium heat while you prepare your steak.
- In a bowl, place 1 cup flour and add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/ 4 teaspoon pepper (more if you prefer). Stir that up. Dip each piece of steak into flour on both sides to get it coated well.4 pieces cubed steak, 1 cup all-purpose flour, salt, pepper
- Place each piece of steak in the heated pan and cook until good and brown on both sides. Remove steak to a plate while you make your gravy.
- Place about 1/4 cup flour into skillet with meat drippings. Add a little more salt and pepper and stir this over medium heat until the flour is slightly browned (just a few minutes).1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups milk
- Slowly pour in 1 1/2 cups of milk, stirring constantly. Continue stirring with a wire whisk (to help with the lumps) over the lowest heat setting until thickened and there are no lumps. This will happen rather quickly. Add a little more milk if you prefer thinner gravy. Return steak to the pan and turn to coat with gravy on both sides.
- Serve steak and gravy together in a bowl or serve gravy on the side to go with mashed potatoes.
Video
Nutrition
Storage
Store the steaks and gravy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Recipe Notes
- You always want to have your oil good and hot before you add anything to it, as this keeps your food from getting greasy by actually searing it on contact.
- If you’re unsure what cube steak is, it’s either sirloin or a top-round cut of beef that’s been tenderized and pounded with either a meat mallet or machine. This process is called cubing and leaves indentations in the meat, which is where it gets its name. So if you like, you can buy your beef and tenderize it at home. Just make sure it’s about a 1/4-inch thick.
- To make this steak and gravy dish gluten-free, simply swap the flour for a gluten-free version. It’s that easy. All of the side dishes mentioned below are gluten-free too.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with cube steak and gravy?
I like to serve Southern cube steak with milk gravy, mashed potatoes or rice. But another option is to serve it with roasted vegetables, a side of potatoes and peas, or alongside a side salad and bread, to soak up every drop of the flavorful gravy. Yum!
Here are some more easy steak recipes:
Oven Steak Kabobs – A special meal on a budget
Just made this for dinner and my family loved it! It tasted just like when my own mother made it many years ago. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfect! I served it with homeade mashed potatoes, my grandma’s southern cornbread from scratch and your Candied Carrots, which were delish as well. Thanks for a perfect dinner!
I made this recipe last night for dinner and my family loved it. It was a hit! I will definately make this again. The only thing I did different was I didn’t put the steak back in the gravy 2 cook I just made a side of the gravy just in case someone did not like the gravy, but they all ended up loving it anyways!
Great meal — and I even made it with fat-free milk. Thanks!
Hello! I am cooking this reecipe of yours right now and am so excited to see how it will turn out. I have never cooked cubed stteak and ws unsure how to prepare it and that is how I found your recipe. The good news for me is that it is something my daughter (only 14) can eat. She has been in the hospital on constantly since having her intestine removed and the foods she is allowed to eat is so limited, I have run out of ideas – especially with a limited budget. Thanks in advance!
This is one of my favorite dishes but I don’t seem to find any tender meat anymore. I buy the cubed steak at Wal-Mart and it is tough as a boot and they won’t run it through the cuber for me. Any suggestions?
Yes – don’t buy your meat from Walmart. There is no “butcher” in the store, nor a cubing machine. All the meat comes in prepackaged and ready to put out in the refrigerated meat section for sale. Look around at other options in your area for purchasing good meat and if you can find a store that actually does their own meat packaging, you stand a better chance of getting more tender cuts at better quality, and even a cubing machine on site!
Other than that, don’t just “brown and serve” if you suspect the meat is not the more tender version. Use a recipe that uses onions (I suspect the onion has a tenderizing effect, if not just to add some flavor!) and some long slow cooking time in the oven – at least an hour after browning it in the pan. That gives it time to cook down and soften the proteins and hopefully make a more tender meal. Good luck!
for tough cuts of meat ..I brown in the skillet and move to crockpot and cook on low for some hrs and then you can cut it with a fork ..I always do my cube steak like this.
Sammie,
The first time I made cubed steak with gravy, I bought my meat from Piggly Wiggly, since they actually have a “meat man”. Normally, a locally owned grocery store will have fresher meat and they will fix it to your liking…(specific weight, cut,, tenderized, etc). I bought one package of cube steak at walmart, just to save time….(I have two toddlers who grocery shop with me)…and I cooked it the exact same way and it was like eating leather. I use this same recipe, except I brown one medium sliced onion after browning the meat, then make the gravy and simmer it for about 45 min.
MMmmm…serve this up with some mashed potatoes and english peas. My family carries me around the house on their shoulders cheering.
So funny I served mine with mashed potatoes and pees also!
Scored some sirloin on sale for less than the round, and had the butcher run it through the cubing machine… man, it was tender. This is the first time I made this, and now it will become a staple in my rotation.