Go-To Country Baked Steak And Gravy And A Favor To Ask

I have a favor to ask.  I love to get you comments and I like to know you they are from so if you comment as unknown, I'd appreciate if you would add your first name at the end.  Thanks Much

We had six pieces of cubed steak in the fridge and I considering using the recipe for Smothered Cube Steak on the “Ask Chef Dennis” blog but I didn’t want to use two skillets to cook it on the cook top so I reverted to our usual Baked Steak and Gravy (Bev prefers this anyway).  However, I still used Dennis’ recipe for everything but the final cooking except I increased the meat seasoning by 50% and the gravy ingredients by 25% to get the recipe below.  You can check out the Chef’s site for his great how-to pics by clicking on the above link.

This dish should not be confused with Chicken Fried Steak which is pan or deep fried then plated and topped with gravy but Country Style Steak can often refer to both of these dishes.

Smothered Cube Steak - Adapted from Ask Chef Dennis

Ingredients:

Cube Steak

6 cube steaks  

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon garlic powder

¾ teaspoon onion powder

¾ teaspoon dry mustard

¾ teaspoon sweet paprika

¾ teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper

4½ tablespoon all-purpose flour

3 tablespoon olive oil

Onion Gravy

2½ cups sweet onion thinly sliced – white or yellow onion can be used

2½ tablespoon unsalted butter

2½ tablespoon all-purpose flour

2½ cup beef broth

1¼ teaspoon onion powder

1¼ teaspoon garlic powder

⅛ teaspoon black pepper to taste

2½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard or spicy brown mustard

Instructions:

1. Add the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, dry mustard, chili powder, and black pepper to a small bowl.

2. Whisk the spices to combine, and set aside until needed.

3. Cover a cutting board with plastic wrap and place the cube steaks on top of the plastic-wrapped board. Then cover the steaks with another sheet of plastic wrap.

4. Use a meat mallet to pound the meat to a thickness of ½ inch.  (Mine didn’t need this)

*Letting the beef come to room temperature before pan frying will help it cook more evenly.

5. Preheat the oven to 350F.

6. Rub the seasoning blend on both sides of each steak.

7. Dredge the seasoned cube steaks in the flour, shaking off any excess flour.

8. When the pan is hot, add the floured seasoned steaks to the pan and sear the steaks for 2- 3 minutes on each side.

9. Remove the cooked steaks from the pan, and place them in the pan and tent with foil to keep warm while you make the gravy. 

10. Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter to the pan.

11. Add the sliced onions to the pan with the melted butter and toss to coat the onions. Cook the onions for 15-18 minutes until the onions are nicely browned and caramelized.  (Since I was baking them, I didn't cook them enough to caramelize)

Don't let the onions burn!

12. Reduce the temperature to low, and add the flour to the onions. Stir to mix the flour into the onions and let the onion mixture cook for 2-3 minutes.

13. Add the beef broth, worcestershire sauce, mustard, and seasonings to the pan and mix to combine with the onions to make the gravy. Simmer until the gravy begins to thicken.

I like to use a flat bottomed spatula for this to ensure I can get up all of the brown bits and keep the gravy from sticking.

*If the gravy is too thick add a little water to get the desired consistency.  

14. Add the steaks and any juices to an oven safe pan or dish, top with the gravy and bake, covered, for about 1½ hours or until meat if fork tender.

We served it with mashed potatoes.

The Verdict:

We usually don't season the meat with much more than S&P so this version had a lot more flavor and we really enjoyed it - this will be our new go-to recipe for country baked steak.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

3/10/25 event date