Southern Living Magazine's Chicken-Fried Steak

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"A Southern tradition you can make in 40 minutes." — Southern Living magazine

Directions

SPRINKLE salt and pepper evenly over steaks. Set aside.
COMBINE cracker crumbs, 1 cup flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and red pepper.
WHISK together 3/4 cup milk and eggs. Dredge steaks in cracker crumb mixture; dip in milk mixture, and dredge in cracker mixture again.
POUR oil into a 12-inch skillet; heat to 360 degrees. (Do not use a nonstick skillet.) Fry steaks 10 minutes. Turn and fry 4 to 5 more minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack on a jellyroll pan. Keep steaks warm in a 225 degree oven. Carefully drain hot oil, reserving cooked bits and 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet.
WHISK together remaining 1/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 4 cups milk. Pour mixture into reserved drippings in skillet; cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, 10 to 12 minutes, or until thickened. Serve gravy with steaks and mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

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Footnotes

Reprinted with permission of Southern Living® magazine. All rights reserved.

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Dec 22, 2003

This recipe is absolutely AWESOME!!! I have tried several recipes from this site, however, have NEVER taken the time to review them, although I enjoyed most of them. I had to take time to say, I'm from Texas, where he have chicken fried steak at almost every restaurant. This TRULY is better than ANY restaurants I've ever had. It's was just awesome. Like others, I didn't use as much oil, or frying time.

—Judi'sMom

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Feb 09, 2004

This recipe came out pretty bad, but not inedible. First they call for way too much of everything, the egg/milk mixture mostly went down my disposal, along with the huge amount of cracker mix. And 3 1/2 cups of oil was a huge waste! 4 cups of milk made the gravy very very thin. I think if you scale back on some of these things it may come out better because the taste was ok for all the problems I had with it.

—CSYJNAMOM

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395 Ratings

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Aug 29, 2002

Excellent!

—GINNYG

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Dec 26, 2006

Exactly like the chicken fried steak I ate growing up in south Ga. I would not modify this recipe one bit. A few hints: be patient with the gravy because it will take a bit of time and constant attention to thicken, but it's well worth it. Use peanut oil instead of veggie oil if you can, because peanut oil lends a great flavor. Peanut oil also heats at a higher temperature which allows you to flash fry the steak. This will give you a crispy outside and a juicy, tender inside. Some people have commented that too much oil is recommended. Whatever size skillet you use, pour enough oil to cover at least half of the steak. It should not be submerged in oil, but the pan shouldn't be just lightly greased either. Serve this with homemade biscuits, corn casserole or creamed corn, candied sweet potatoes, and dark greens.

—ABoston

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Jul 23, 2003

Awesome recipe! You definitely don't need all the oil as stated. One and a half cups is fine. Maybe the gravy is supposed to be a little bland, but to suit our tastes I seasoned it up with garlic and onion powders and more pepper. For the person who asked what cube steaks are; they're labeled as cube steaks and they look as though they've been run over by a truck. Happy cooking!

—LINDA MCLEAN

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Jan 10, 2004

Wow! I just finished the last bite of this and it was wonderful. I took other reviewers advice and added extra salt and pepper to the beef, but it didn't really need it. I also used only 1/2 cup oil and it only took about 3 to 4 minutes on each side to cook. The gravy consistancy was just right. It turned out perfect and tasted just the way I've had it in restaurants. I will make this again but with the exception of the oil and less cooking time will follow the recipe exactly as stated. Thanks for sharing. Jeannie

—Jeannie

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Jun 29, 2003

This was a great recipe, it tasted like what I've had in restaurants. However, like the others I used less oil, and for the gravy; I mixed half milk and half beef broth..nice flavor

—BLUESKYCOOK

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Apr 30, 2006

Outstanding. Follow exactly but try these modifications. It's well worth the effort. Mashed potatoes are important. Use quality Round Steak and pound it to 1/4" to 1/2" thick. To the cracker crumbs add equal measures: 3 tbls. Onion Powder and Garlic Powder (POWDER, NOT SALT!) Shorten the cooking time by 5 minutes. Here's the payoff. Pour off all but a tbls. of the cooking oil. To Med. High heat add 2- 14.5oz cans of beef broth. Boil and scrape up brown bits. Add 1 tsp each, Onion and Garlic powder. Add 2 Large tbls. of mashed potatoes, stirring until they're dissolved. Make a roux of 1 tbls. butter melted in the microwave adding 1 tbls. flour to form a paste. Incorporate into gravy. Simmer gravy to desired thickness. No additional salt should be necessary. You will not be sorry. I promise. Serves approx. 6.

—MBROOKER

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