Recipes

The Healthier, Easier Chicken Fried Steak

By  | 
Tony Maples Photography

 

Photos by DiAne Gates

Who doesn’t love chicken fried steak? Especially in the Texas Hill Country! A number of years ago fried food was banished in our house, and I was left with the daunting test of producing a chicken fried steak that wasn’t fried. And of course, some gravy to go alongside.

No more greasy pots to clean up. No more smell of fried grease clinging to everything in the house. No more spattered stove tops. Let me show you how. I bet you’ll never go back to the old way.

Chicken Fried Steak – The Easy Way

Ingredients:

4 cube steaks
Worcestershire Sauce
½ onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 package baby Portobello mushrooms, chopped
½ sleeve of saltines, crushed
1 cup of Panko breadcrumbs (Italian seasoning)
1 can beef broth
2 Tablespoons of flour

Chicken Fried Steak – The Easy Way

Set oven to 350 degrees. Shake Worcestershire Sauce over raw steak, then salt and pepper both sides.

Place saltines in a Ziploc bag and pound ’til crackers are crushed. Pour saltines into dish and add Panko breadcrumbs and mix. Dredge both sides of the steak in cracker and Panko crumbs, gently pushing the breading onto the meat. Spray baking sheet with Pam and place cutlets on baking sheet and spray the breaded cutlets with either Pam or drizzle with olive oil. Pop into the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, ’til steaks are done and breading is brown.

Chicken Fried Steak – The Easy Way

Sauté onions and garlic and baby Portobellos in two tablespoons of olive oil. Salt and pepper this mix to taste. Sprinkle flour over the mixture and stir. Add one can of beef broth and stir ’til all lumps disappear. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until gravy thickens.

Chicken Fried Steak – The Easy Way

Viola! You have chicken fried steak and gravy with half the calories and no stinky kitchen. My husband hasn’t requested a grease fried steak—not even once. And the fries are oven fried, too!