Chicken Fried Steak

Holy Gravy Batman!  This turned out to be just wonderful!  It had both a sweet and savory kick to it and it was just the perfect Sunday afternoon dinner.  And once again, it was one of those meals like feels 'bad' but it's not.  For those of you who haven't tried this dish, it's a steak breaded and fried like chicken.  But no chickens were actually harmed in the making of this dish.

This recipe calls for round steaks, I used cube steaks and they kept falling apart in the marinade so don’t make that mistake EVEN if the butcher swears they will work just as well, ‘cause she was WRONG!  Also, most CFS recipes call for re-dipping and re-breading at least twice but that didn’t work well for this recipe.  The best piece I made was the one-time dipper.  I also used almond milk in the gravy so it was a little sweet but still tasted great.  Kind of offset the crispy-crunchiness just right.

ALSO – you will have to measure the seasonings TWICE so get two shallow bowls ready – one for the marinade and one for the breading as you measure so you don’t get all the way through those darn little spoonfuls and then have to go back and do it all again.

I served it on top of Mashed Cauliflower with a side of Roasted Veggies.  If you want ‘biscuits’ with it, make a few of these ahead of time: Gluten Free Buns.

Chicken Fried Steak

makes 3 servings

1 1/4 lbs round steaks (boneless fat trimmed and pounded a 1/4 inch thick)

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4  tsp black pepper (fresh ground)

1/4  tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder 

1 tsp sweet paprika

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup coconut or almond flour

1/4 cup coconut oil

milk, whole or almond

Using a meat tenderizer hammer (or rolling pin), pound out each steak until about 1/4" thick.

Soak meat in creamer mixed with vinegar, salt and pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper and set aside.

Duplicate the same measurement of the seasonings, and combine garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne, sea salt and pepper in a shallow bowl with the 1 cup of flour.

Drain meat of milk and dredge in flour mixture. Set meat on a rack set over a baking sheet while the oil heats.   DO NOT DISCARD the milk or flour mixtures.

Place oil in a deep fry pan over medium heat. Once oil is heated add pieces to the pan and fry until brown, approximately 4-5 minutes on each side. Do not crowd the pan.

Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to remove excess oil, then immediately place meat on a wire rack and place in a warm oven. Continue until all pieces are cooked.

For your gravy, reserve about 1 tablespoon of the oil in the pan and set the rest aside.  If you don’t have that much in there, add some more.  Keep the crumbly good bits in the pan, it flavors the gravy.

Add about 1 tbsp of flour mixture used to dredge the meat into the hot grease and mix until it looks like slush.  If not thick enough, add more dredge until it looks almost dry. Brown this mixture but keep stirring it to keep from burning it. If you don't brown this mix, the gravy will taste uncooked.

Slowly add in the remainder of the cream marinade until it makes a thick, bubbly gravy.   If you run out of marinade, - slowly, a little at a time - add a little more cream or milk to thin it out and make enough for everyone.

Taste then season with salt and pepper if needed.   I love Lawry’s seasoning salt in gravy.

Serve each piece of meat with gravy on top. 

Print the recipe:  Chicken Fried Steak