Chicken-Fried Steak Tips
What is the difference between country-fried steak and chicken-fried steak?
Many people use the terms interchangeably, so there is no guaranteed difference when you’re comparing this to a
country-fried steak recipe. Some Southerners may differentiate the two by their gravies: chicken-fried steak is typically served with a milk-based gravy, while country-fried steak often has a beef-based gravy (or a gravy made with both beef broth and dairy). That’s not universal, though—Cracker Barrel serves its country-fried steak with sawmill gravy, which is made with milk. (We have a similar recipe, as well as other
Cracker Barrel copycat recipes.)
What is the best cut of meat for chicken-fried steak?
Tough and cheap
cuts of steak like cubed steak or round steak work best. Cubed steaks are from the round, and they’ve already been pounded with a tenderizing mallet at the butcher. You can tenderize your own round steaks at home by buying thin steaks, covering them with plastic wrap and beating them with a mallet to achieve roughly a 1/4-inch thickness.
Do you wash cubed steak before cooking?
No, there’s no need to wash cubed steak before cooking.
Can chicken-fried steak be a little pink?
Yes, it’s safe for chicken-fried steak to be a little pink. The thinner your steak, the faster it will cook, though. So by the time you get a nice golden brown exterior, your steak might already be cooked through.
Research contributed by
Nutrition Facts
1 steak with 1/3 cup gravy: 563 calories, 28g fat (5g saturated fat), 148mg cholesterol, 839mg sodium, 29g carbohydrate (4g sugars, 1g fiber), 46g protein.