My mother says the first time she remembered having this was when she was just a little girl. She was at her grandparent’s house and her grandfather asked her grandmother if he went and got some steak, would she make steak and gravy? Money was very scarce in those days and it was big news that her grandfather was going to get a special cut of meat for their meal!
He left and came back with a paper wrapped package of round steak. Back in the day they didn’t have cubed steak. My great grandmother opened the package and got a saucer out of the cabinet. My mother watched intently as Lela turned the saucer on its side and proceeded to give the meat a good and thorough beating to tenderize it. She then dipped both sides in flour and put it back on the counter where she beat it with the edge of the saucer again before finally cooking it just as I am going to do in this tutorial.
My mother said it was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted and from then on she knew exactly how to make steak and gravy.
I know my saucers are thankful that we can get cubed steak these days though…
- 4 Pieces Cubed Steak
- Flour
- Salt
- Pepper
- Milk
- Place enough oil in a pan to just coat the bottom, put that on medium heat while you prepare your steak. In a bowl, place 1 C flour and add ¼ tsp salt and 1/ 4 tsp pepper (more if you prefer). Stir that up. Dip each piece of steak into flour on both sides to get it coated well. Place each piece of steak in pan and cook until good and browned on both sides. Remove steak to a plate while you make your gravy.
- Place about ¼ C 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). Slowly pour in 1½ Cups of milk, stirring constantly. Continue stirring, with a wire whisk to help with lumps, over low heat 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.
Yum
This is how Salisbury steak was made when I was a kid. Instead of milk we used beef broth and fried up mushroom and onions right after the steaks.
Oh, that sounds wonderful too!!!
What wonderful memories.I remember my mother using a saucer to tenderize her steak.She also cooked the steak and gravy exactly like this.She would let me help using the saucer.Watching and helping my mother at 8yrs.of age is how I learned how to cook.Thanks Christy for the memories and all you do.
Thank you Doris!!! I am so glad it brought back wonderful memories for you!!
I still do this with with steak and have used it on pork also. Love to do this with steak to make a tomato and peppers based swiss steak.
Oh my , this sounds wonderful , i never have any luck with my gravy , but with your steps on to to make it , i believe i can do , thank you sweetie for posting this , love all your recipes , keep up the good work and have a blessed day.
Thank you Diane, I believe you can do it!!! I hope you have a blessed day as well!!
Keys to gravy hot oil a browned rouxe and stirring stirring stirring when adding the nilk.
It also helps a lot if the milk is not cold. I heat it in the microwave and yhe gravy is very smooth.
Make this one on a fairly regular basis… as for Diane’s comment, I too had a few problems with the gravy… but practice turned out to be my dear friend! Hang in there, it will come sooner than later. 🙂
This looks so good! Another recipe I will have to try soon!! I love milk gravy especially with some homemade biscuits.
I hope you get the chance to try it soon!!!
Thank You!
I had so-so luck with cubed steak, even though I had mastered much harder things (such as fried chicken, meatloaf, etc.) that others are jealous for because you know how to cook them correctly. I learned that keeping it simple was the secret to success as all the fussy stuff caused problems. Our grandparents didn’t do fancy! Take it back to the basics is the secret to success.
I honed in on this recipe because it was so simple, and it delivered. Never a failed attempt and easy.
Thank you for trying it John, I am so glad it delivered for you!! You are correct, our grandparents did keep things simple which helped to always turn out a great meal!! Have a blessed day!
This was my favorite meal growing up too! We called it “round steak rice and gravy” because mom always served it with rice and we had a never ending supply of round steak from our cattle. I never knew that other people had this same meal!
I think we’d be surprised at the number of homes that considered this one of their staples. Some wonderful families have gathered around this dish though the generations, what a blessing!
This is an amazing dinner. My Dad made this when we could afford to have cheap steak. It’s always been one of my favorites! I decided to make this for my husband and was looking to find a recipe that added extra flavor. (Maybe I will add onions and peppers.) however with 6 kids and all of our friends that pretty much lived with us, Milk was scarce after our milk cow was gone. He made it with water in place of the milk and it still has the same amazing flavor. Plus its so full of fattening ingrediants, water helps lower a few calories. So for some of you that need to pinch a penny, use water in place of the milk.
We just came back from vacation to the beach. We ate out most nites but my favorite meal of the whole week was the day my mom made cubed steak and gravy. So good.
What a wonderful treat!!!
Love love love your southern roots and love for our Lord. This is our dinner tonight.
I hope you enjoy it Kathryn!!!