Cube Steak with Gravy

by Sabrina Snyder

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Easy Cube Steak with Gravy is ultimate comfort food, browned cube steaks and caramelized onions in a rich gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes!

Is there anything that says home cooked comfort food like big helping of Chicken Fried Steak or Cube Steak with Mashed Potatoes, smothered in gravy for your next Dinner Meal? If that’s not enough, Instant Pot Meatloaf is sure to do the trick!

cube steak with gravy on white plate with knife and fork

When you are craving a hearty steak dinner on a budget, you can’t go wrong with an inexpensive hamburger meat for this yummy recipe. Cubed steaks are an inexpensive quick cooking cut of beef, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t flavorful as a top sirloin.

With a little tenderizing and a delicious gravy recipe, you get a budget friendly dinner full of home cooked flavor!  With simple ingredients from your pantry, plus no packaged gravy mix or deep frying, this is sure to be your new favorite comfort food recipe. It’s a fast weeknight meal that is lighter on the calories since the pieces aren’t dredged in flour and fried. The easy gravy recipe is made with the pan drippings for rich beefy taste. Caramelized onions finish it off for the perfect combination of delicious flavors. 

Cube Steak with Gravy is an easy delicious everyday recipe to serve with your favorite easy side dishes like Mashed Potatoes and Sautéed Green Beans. A side of Dinner Rolls is perfect for soaking up any extra gravy. Turn this into one of your go-to Crock Pot Recipes for lazy, but tasty Sunday dinners with our variation later in this post.

cube steak with gravy cooking process

How to Make Cube Steak with Gravy

Thankfully, making this recipe is really easy. Cook the meat and onions, and then use the drippings as a base for the gravy! It’s that simple!

As a side note: Cube Steaks are best cooked in a cast iron pan or a large skillet, so you can cook them evenly all at once and get a nice crust, without overcrowding the pan. If you only have a medium sized skillet, cook in batches. An overcrowded pan lowers the oil temperature, causing you to cook the meat longer. Your meat will be overcooked and oily.

Check out the steps! 

  • Step One: Flatten the meat with a tenderizer mallet until desired thickness, making sure they are all even so you don’t overcook them.
  • Step Two: Fry onions, then the flat steak pieces. 
  • Step Three: Add the ingredients for the gravy, and stir.
  • Step Four: Combine everything and serve as a delicious and easy meal! 

More Favorite Comfort Food Recipes 

Frequently Asked Questions

What other meat can I use with this recipe?

You can make this Cube Steak recipe with any thin steak or cut of meat. Try chicken cutlets, boneless pork chops, or thin cut ribeye.

How do you make fried Cube Steaks with Gravy?

You can make an indulgent crispy fried coating. Mix ¼ cup flour (not flour for gravy) with paprika, salt and pepper, and coat meat in flour mixture. Fry in butter or vegetable oil, until golden browned and cooked through.

How do you make Cube Steaks with Mushroom Gravy?

Sauté sliced mushrooms with the sliced onions to make an easy Mushroom Gravy for Cubed Steak. If you want a creamy mushroom onion gravy, stir in a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup along with the fresh mushrooms. 

What other seasonings should I use on Cube Steaks?

Season your cube steaks with more than salt and pepper. Try favorite flavors like onion powder, cumin, and garlic powder.

Can I thicken this gravy using a mix instead of flour?

Add a package onion gravy mix, regular gravy mix, Au jus gravy mix, brown gravy mix, or onion soup mix with the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce to thicken gravy without flour.

You can also use two or three tables spoons of corn starch. Be sure to whisk it in really well to avoid any unwanted clumps.  

Cube Steak and Gravy onions in skillet

Key Ingredients for Cubed Steak with Gravy

The ingredients used in this recipe are pretty straight forward. You probably have everything you need in your pantry or fridge. If not, you can easily pick up supplies from the closest grocery store. 

  • Meat: Cube steak comes from top round or top sirloin of the rump of the cow. It’ is flattened using a meat tenderizer that looks like a mini version of Thor’s hammer! Tenderizing the cube steak is really important to get a flavorful, evenly cooked, tender cut of beef that cooks fast.
  • Onion: This recipe uses yellow onion, but if you only have red onion that is good to use too. 
  • Paprika: This spice is a powder made from capsicum or bell peppers. It can be sweet, hot, or smoked. It lends a strong red color to dishes and is fragrant. 
  • Worcestershire sauce: This yummy condiment is a malty, vinegary sauce made from fermented anchovies and flavored with tamarind, molasses, and other spices. But don’t let the curious ingredients turn you way just yet. The secret ingredient to a good gravy is in this sauce! 

Alternative Cooking Methods

There are two good alternative methods for cooking this recipe. One is the Crock Pot which takes all day to cook and produces a tender steak with deep flavor. The other is the pressure cooker which saves time, is easy to clean up, and is great for a busy household.

Crock Pot Cubed Steak with Gravy

  • In hot skillet, sauté onions in 2 tablespoons butter until translucent and softened, about 5 minutes.
  • Transfer onions to slow cooker.
  • Melt remaining butter in skillet and whisk in flour and cook one minute.
  • Whisk in beef broth and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Add to slow cooker with onions.
  • In a skillet, brown seasoned and floured steak for 3 minutes on each side.
  • Place browned steak pieces in gravy in the crock pot. Cook on low, covered, for 6-8 hours.

Instant Pot Cubed Steak with Gravy

  • Using the sauté setting, caramelize the onions for about 3 minutes. 
  • Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot, except for the flour. 
  • Pressure cook on high for 5 minutes. 
  • After releasing the valve, remove the steak and add the flour.
  • Mix thoroughly until thickened. 
  • Coat steak in the gravy and serve. 

How to Serve Cubed Steak with Gravy

This amazing recipe can be served with so many things! All the comforts of southern style food make for great anytime meals that your whole family will enjoy.

More Easy Hamburger Meat Dishes

Read More Easy Hamburger Meat Dishes

How to Store Cube Steak with Gravy

  • Serve: You can keep Cube Steak with Gravy at room temperature for up to 2 hours before it needs to be refrigerated. Keep it covered when not being served.
  • Store: Store Cube Steak with Gravy in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat over low heat on the stove top.
  • Freeze: Once cooled, place Cube Steak and Gravy in a sealed container and freeze for up to three months.

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Dinner, then Dessert

Cube Steak with Gravy

Easy Cube Steak with Gravy is ultimate comfort food, browned cube steaks and caramelized onions in a rich gravy!
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Cube steak with gravy on plate with mashed potatoes header image
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 4 cube steaks
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , divided
  • 1 yellow onion , sliced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

  • Using a meat tenderizer, pound the steaks on each side for 5-10 seconds to tenderize them.
  • Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a large heavy skillet on medium heat.
  • Add onions and cook 5-6 minutes until translucent, then remove the onions.
  • Season the steaks with salt, pepper and paprika.
  • Cook cube steaks for 4-5 minutes on each side on medium high heat.
  • Remove steaks, add remaining butter to the pan along with flour on high heat.
  • Whisk well and cook flour for 1 minute.
  • Whisk in the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce until smooth and creamy then let the broth cook for 4-5 minutes until boiling and thickened.
  • Add steaks and onions back to the pan and coat with gravy before serving.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 520kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 168mg | Sodium: 1730mg | Potassium: 698mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 771IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 4mg
Keyword: Cube Steak with Gravy

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Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Cube Steak with Gravy collage
Cube Steak and Gravy in skillet
Cube Steak and Gravy gravy in skillet
Cube Steak and Gravy on plate with mashed potatoes

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. So great to see a recipe that doesn’t have a packet or a soup can. Great recipe!
    wish there was more made from scratch recipes like this one!

    Reply

    1. Thanks Laura! Enjoy the recipes on the site. Lots and lots “from scratch” to choose from 🙂 Have a wonderful Summer!

      Reply

  2. Made this tonight and I loved it. My fiancé isn’t into gravy so he only had a little of that. The rest he loved. Made mashed potatoes and green beans to go with.

    Reply

  3. Made this recipe tonight for the family, it was absolutely delicious!! Just had to add extra salt and pepper.

    Reply

    1. Hi,
      Read your question about the color of the gravy and wanted to let you know that she used a browning sauce to add the brown coloring to the gravy. Ii don’t believe it’s listed as an ingredient, but it does show her using a growning sauce. I use “Kitchen Boquet” (spelling) as my browning sause and you can find it and other browning sauces in the spice aisle of a grocery store or perhaps where the gravy is located. Hope this helps.

      Reply

  5. I saved this recipe a while ago and I decided to make it after finally finding cube steaks on sale. But, I have a kitchen remodel happening with my pans packed in storage. I kept the Instant Pot unpacked for cooking. I’m wondering if I could cook this using the sauté tab knowing it will take much longer to cook? Thanks for your advice and delicious recipes.

    Reply

  7. I’ve never made cubed steak, but I’ve seen the meat in the store and was always interested. I finally decided to buy it and I found this recipe, SO HAPPY I did because WOW! Simple, yet delicious! I’m also shocked at how fast this came together, it was on the table in less than an hr 🙂 this is definitely going into the weekly dinner rotation, thank you for sharing!!

    Reply

  8. Will definitely make this recipe again! So freaking delicious! I added about a 1/4 cup of red wine along with the butter and flour phase to elevate flavors and I recommend!

    Reply

    1. I made it tonight and hoping my family like it ,but the only thing I just can’t get that gravey right.Thank for the recipe.

      Reply

  9. Made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit. Thank you
    For sharing, I’ll be back for more of your recipes.

    Reply