Southern Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy

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Cube steak and gravy is a simple but delicious Southern-style dinner, involving tender steak smothered in creamy and flavorful milk gravy.
 

There’s nothing quite as comforting as this Southern cube steak and gravy dish. Fortunately, it’s an easy dinner to make on a busy weeknight. All you need is cube steak, milk, and flour and you will have dinner ready in about 35 minutes. The end result is tender steak swimming in creamy and flavorful milk gravy. How good does that sound? You can choose to serve your steak with a variety of side dishes too, like Cheesy Garlic Mashed Potatoes With Mozzarella, Fresh Green Beans, Easy Homemade Dirty Rice.

Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy ingredients

Recipe Ingredients

  • Milk
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Flour
  • Cube steak

Helpful Kitchen ToolsC

How to Make Cube Steaks and Gravy

oiled pan heating up.

Pour just enough oil to coat the bottom of your cast iron skillet and heat oil over medium heat.

Flour, salt, and pepper in mixing bowl.

Put about a cup of flour in a bowl. Add some salt and pepper and stir that up.

steak being coated in flour.

Place a piece of cube steak in the flour mixture and press down a bit to ensure it is dredged in flour.

Cube steak being coated in flour mixture.

Turn it over and coat the other side…

Plate of flour-coated cube steak.

Repeat with all of the pieces.

Frying breaded cubed steaks.

Place in hot oil.

Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy Almost Done!

Fry steaks and flip to ensure they’re nice and brown on each side. Once done, remove steak and place on a paper towel-lined plate.

browning flour in skillet.
 
Oooh, see all that dark stuff in your pan? Those browned bits are going to make the BEST gravy!

Add about 1/4 cup of flour to this and seasoned salt and black pepper to taste.

Stir that up and continue cooking it on medium heat until the flour gets browned a bit, stirring the whole time.

I usually do this for about two minutes or so. If you’ve never made milk gravy the thought of browning flour may sound weird but trust me, it will happen and that is what gives this such a wonderful flavor.
 
Making milk gravy

Next, turn your heat down to the lowest setting and pour the milk into the skillet. I start out with about a cup and a half and then add more if I want it thinner.

Use a wire whisk to stir this because it really helps break up the lumps of flour and get it all good and mixed up.

Cook on the lowest heat until it thickens, stirring constantly. If it gets too thick, you can add more milk. This will just take a few minutes, so stir the entire time and be ready to remove it from the heat when it gets thick.

YUM Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy

Put your steak back into the milk gravy, turn them over to coat both sides and you’re done!

DELICIOUS Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy
I love serving cube steak and gravy with mashed potatoes.
 
southern steak and milk gravy

Southern Cube Steak and Milk Gravy

Southern cube steak and milk gravy - tender steak smothered in creamy and flavorful milk gravy. This dish is proof that simple food is often times the best!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Course: sauce
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gravy
Servings: 4
Calories: 502kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 pieces cubed steak
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour plus about 1/4 cup more to thicken gravy
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 cups milk approximately

Instructions

  • Place enough oil in a pan to just coat the bottom and put that over medium heat while you prepare your steak.
  • In a bowl, place 1 cup flour and add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/ 4 teaspoon pepper (more if you prefer). Stir that up. Dip each piece of steak into flour on both sides to get it coated well.
    4 pieces cubed steak, 1 cup all-purpose flour, salt, pepper
  • Place each piece of steak in the heated pan and cook until good and brown on both sides. Remove steak to a plate while you make your gravy.
  • Place about 1/4 cup 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).
    1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups milk
  • Slowly pour in 1 1/2 cups of milk, stirring constantly. Continue stirring with a wire whisk (to help with the lumps) over the lowest heat setting 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.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 502kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

Storage

Store the steaks and gravy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

Recipe Notes

  • You always want to have your oil good and hot before you add anything to it, as this keeps your food from getting greasy by actually searing it on contact.
  • If you’re unsure what cube steak is, it’s either sirloin or a top-round cut of beef that’s been tenderized and pounded with either a meat mallet or machine. This process is called cubing and leaves indentations in the meat, which is where it gets its name. So if you like, you can buy your beef and tenderize it at home. Just make sure it’s about a 1/4-inch thick.
  • To make this steak and gravy dish gluten-free, simply swap the flour for a gluten-free version. It’s that easy. All of the side dishes mentioned below are gluten-free too.

Recipe FAQs

What do you serve with cube steak and gravy?

I like to serve Southern cube steak with milk gravy, mashed potatoes or rice. But another option is to serve it with roasted vegetables, a side of potatoes and peas, or alongside a side salad and bread, to soak up every drop of the flavorful gravy. Yum!

Here are some more easy steak recipes:

Oven Steak Kabobs – A special meal on a budget

Chicken Fried Steak Recipe

Fork Tender Swiss Steak

The Perfect Steak

 

This recipe featured in Meal Plan Monday

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331 Comments

  1. My grandmother used to cook this but instead of cube steak she would would deer meat… I had never thought about useing cube steak instead of deer meat… Thank you so much for posting this.. I am cooking this for dinner tonight…

  2. Hey Christy,

    I asked my hubs last Sunday to name a dish he would like to have for dinner one night, and he said he wanted cubed steak. I had to no-no this for dinner, since I’m just too tired once I get home from work to deal with this, even though it’s really so easy! Anywho–I made it for him today for Sunday Supper, and it was delicious, but the steak was a little tough…truth be known, the last few times I’ve made it the result has been tough. And the thing is, even though it’s already cubed steak and supposed to be tender already, I usually give it a good smashing with my meat mallet. (maybe I just need to get a saucer.)

    The only thing I can think of is that my husband isn’t a fan of milk gravy on his steak. (He likes worcestershire sauce instead) So I don’t dump the steak back into the gravy. I have a friend who lets her steak simmer in the gravy for a loooong time, but I’ve found that the gravy gets too thick, and I can’t stir it good.

    Help! What are your suggestions?

    Celeste

    1. Some markets (like mine) use the cheapest, most gristle filled cuts of meat for their cube steak. Buy your own round steak and beat it yourself. It will probably even be cheaper. If you want to simmer the steak in the gravy. Try adding only half the flour so it’s thinner. Then mix the rest with cold water and add it when you want to thicken it.

  3. Love Southern steak & gravy!! Reading your posts from everyone, I visioned all of our grandmaw’s * mama’s pounding the crap out of round steak on a kitchen counter back in the day!! LOL…god bless thier hearts!! what they did to fix us kids wonderful meals…all made with love! I always use seasoned salt in my flour and I also dredge my cubed steak in egg & milk before I flour it on both sides. makes it a little more crust on the cubed steak. Also, when I take the steaks up from frying..I add a can of cream of mushroom soup with however much milk I want(more for thinner gravy,less for thicker)and let it come to a boil then add my steaks back to the gravy. MMM..MMM good!! We always just put it all in a big ole bowl. ALso have cut the cubed steak up in “fingers” before frying…thanks for the recipes & memories!!

  4. First off, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this site!!! You’ve done an AMAZING job Christy. I can’t wait to get my hands on your cookbook!!! I also LOVE cubed steak! I make mine pretty much the same way, but I soak mine in buttermilk for about an hour before frying them. When I dredge them in the flour it makes the breading extra fluffy and SO yummy!!!

  5. I’m going to try this recipe tonight. I love cubed steak and was raised on it; however, I have never been able to cook it like my Mom and Grandma did. Southern born and bread, love to cook, but for some reason I just can’t get cubed steak to turn out right…lol
    Does it matter what kind of flour you use? I would think so but haven’t seen anyone specify. All purpose or Self-Rising?
    Oh, and about the saucer thing to tenderize….Yep, I can remember seeing both my Mom and grandma do the same thing!

  6. I absolutley love your site!! I have made quite a few recipes and love them. I love gravy and sauces. I have always had a problem trying to make gravy like the one on this recipe. I have concluded that I used to much oil in the first place. I also think I let the mixture brown to much. I actually set a timer and did it for just 3 min. Are you supposed to turn down the heat before browning the flour? I have always had the same problem when trying to make sausage gravy. I don’t even try anymore I just use store bought. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank-you,
    A northern girl with a southern appetite.

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