On The Ranch Chicken Fried Steak

If you are searching for a hearty, flavorful meal to cook for your family, look no further!! Chicken fried steak is one of our top family favorites in the Bundick House, which is why we are excited to share it with you! You can almost bet there won’t be any leftovers with this meal!! This recipe will serve a family of five, but can be easily doubled if you are cooking for a larger group of people. It normally takes us about 30-40 minutes to make this meal once the beef is thawed out, tenderized and seasoned.

(When you order beef from us, our round steaks come pre-tenderized.)

We hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do!

—- The Bundick Family

Ingredients

• 4-8 cuts of round steak, tenderized (pounded with a meat tenderizer)

• Kosher Salt, to Taste

• Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste

• 1 1/2 tablespoon Garlic Powder

• 1 1/2 tablespoon Onion Powder

• 1-2 tablespoons Uncle Chris’ Gourmet Steak Seasoning

• 2 cups flour, All Purpose

• 2 cups Milk

• 4-5 eggs, cracked and whipped

• 3-4 cups oil, Canola, Vegetable, Peanut, Olive, or other fat for frying.

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees. Put a wire rack over a baking sheet and place in oven. You’ll use the oven to keep the finished steaks warm and crisp while you cook the gravy.

2. Pound the steaks thin. Using a meat mallet, pound the steak until it is very thin, less than 1/4 inch. As you pound the steak, turn it over often and tenderize both sides. Repeat this process with all the steaks.

3. Season the round steaks. Take each steak and lightly coat with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Uncle Chris’ Gourmet Steak seasoning on both sides of each steak. Make sure to press the seasoning into the steak.

4. Bread the steaks. Prepare two wide, shallow dishes (such as a casserole dish). The first one will have your flour for breading the steaks (you may add seasoning to flour mixture if desired). In the second, whisk together the milk and eggs. Working one at a time, dredge a steak in the flour. Using the heel of your hand, press the flour into both sides of the steak. Lift the steak, shake off the excess flour, and dip the steak into the egg wash, coating it on both sides. Lift the steak out of the egg wash, shake off the excess egg wash, and then dredge the steak into the flour a second time. Again, press the flour into the steak on both sides. Set aside on a plate. Repeat with the remaining steaks.

5. Fry the Steaks. Pour enough oil in a large frying pan to cover the bottom by 1/4 inch. Heat the oil until it sizzles when you drop a little flour into it. If the oil does not sizzle, it isn’t ready; it it burns, the oil is too hot, reduce the heat. Working one at a time, lay a coated steak into the hot oil. Use a metal spoon to spoon some of the oil over the steak. This sets the coating. Fry until you see the edges of the steak turn golden brown, usually about 3-5 minutes or so. Carefully turn the steak over in the pan and fry for another 3-5 minutes. Once both sides are golden brown, pick the steak up with a fork or metal spatula to drain the excess oil. Remove it from the pan and place it on the wire rack in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining steaks and leave them in the oven while you make the gravy.

6. Make Homemade Gravy. Turn off the heat under the pan. Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of oil from the pan. Make sure to keep all the crispy drippings in the pan. I hold the pan at an angle. This allows the crispy drippings to settle at the bottom so that you are able to spoon out most of the oil into a bowl. Whisk in 2-3 tablespoons of flour into the pan with the drippings and turn the heat on to medium. Cook until it is a light brown color, about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.

7. Finish the gravy. When the flour-fat mixture is smooth and a nice light brown color, slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. The mixture will seize up initially, and will loosen as you whisk in more liquid. Add milk to your desired thickness for gravy. If the gravy is too thick for you, add more milk. It it is too thin, let it cook longer. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. We always like to add a little of garlic powder and onion powder to our gravy as well.

8. Serve. Serve chicken fried steak with the gravy and a side of homemade mashed potatoes and you have a meal that will be enjoyed by all!