This chicken fried steak recipe beat Grady Spears—cowboy food legend, James Beard award-winner, and my great friend, at the Golden Chile Awards, to take its place as the definitive chicken fried steak recipe, and today I am sharing the whole process, including my secret ingredient, with you.
As the home of chicken fried steak, Texans have some pretty big expectations for this iconic dish– it’s as Texan as chili or the Alamo, so understand that everyone has a recipe, and they are comprised of similar ingredients with specific twists.
As a chef, I have been on a quest to gather everyone’s best techniques and this post is really about the chicken fried steak secrets that chefs and excellent cooks utilize, combining them all together, and providing you with a recipe for the Ultimate Texas Chicken Fried Steak.
Let’s get back to the basics for our friends throughout the country, and around the world, because the idea of a chicken fried anything seems to be causing some confusion.
How To Bread Chicken Fried Steaks Properly
Now we will set up a standard breading station. In one large glass bowl or casserole dish, we will place our 3 cups of all purpose flour seasoned with seasoned salt, pepper, onion powder, and spices.
In our next shallow dish, we will place 3 cracked eggs and 1/4 cup of whole milk, whisked well. Some people use a buttermilk-egg mixture instead of milk and that provides different flavors in the final crust which you might choose to experiment with.
One at a time take each tenderized steak and coat it in the seasoned flour mixture, shake it off and dip it into the egg mixture, and then back into the seasoned flour. Place the steak, now breaded back onto the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining steaks.
Place the breaded steaks into the refrigerator for 20 minutes while the breading develops. It will go from looking white and powdery to looking more like a dough.
To Fry the Chicken Fried Steaks
Take another baking sheet and place a wire rack over it for draining the cooked steaks when they come out of the oil. Alternatively, you can transfer them to a plate lined with a paper towel. when they are done cooking.
Fill a large cast-iron skillet or large saute pan with a high smoke point oil such as canola oil, sunflower oil, or grapeseed oil. Heat the oil to medium heat, about 350°. I check the temperature of the oil with my infrared thermometer, which I love for these types of messy and potentially dangerous hot oil situations.
Starting with one steak, use tongs to lay the steak down in the hot oil. Cook this steak 3-5 minutes watching the edges for a crispy golden brown crust, then flip. The next side will usually not take quite as long to cook. Transfer to your wire rack or plate lined with paper towels and season immediately with fine salt or seasoned salt. This is the secret to really excellent fried foods. Salt quickly before the crust cools. Repeat with the remaining meat.
Some people choose to hold the cooked chicken fried steaks in a warm oven, but I find this makes the breading go soft. I prefer to work quickly for the best flavor.
My grandmother Wanda, the owner of 3 north Texas cafes and the best gravy maker in the state!
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Does breading Fried Chicken fall off?
We’ll be the first to admit it—the breading is the best part of baked or fried chicken (pork, steak, fish, or anything). So when the breading separates from the cooked chicken and falls off, it’s a major bummer. If this happens to you, try our foolproof method for breading chicken.
Is fried chicken healthy?
No, it has a very high caloric content, in addition to excess saturated fats and carcinogenic compounds that are generated in the frying process.
Why is chicken fried steak soggy?
If the steaks are too close together it steams the edges, causing the breading to get soggy and easily fall apart. This recipe is referred to as chicken fried steak is because the meat is prepared similarly to how fried chicken is made. Unlike the name implies, it is made with cube steak, not chicken.
Why does my bread fall off when frying?
CNet reports that there are three crucial things you might not have been doing when frying your food, resulting in breading that falls off of the food you’re preparing. The food should first be dredged in flour so that there are no visible spots untouched by it.