Onion Gravy Cubed Steak
Here in the south, cubed steak is just one of those dishes that everyone worships. It’s like fried chicken… I mean how can you not love it? Also like fried chicken, there are as many ways to make cubed steak as there are people ready to eat it. This is my go-to method that our whole family loves!
This couldn’t be easier to prepare. There are only like five ingredients in the whole dish, and they come together in a snap. Once your steaks are seasoned and browned, you make a simple gravy. Then everything gets put together, and you forget about it for an hour and a half. The hardest part of making this is remembering not to burn your hand off on the hot pan handle when it comes out of the oven (believe me I’ve done it more times than I care to admit). You will be ready to get into this dish after smelling it for over an hour!
If you’re not an onion fan, then those could be left out entirely. I’ve just always loved the way onions cooked down in a brown gravy makes anything feel like salisbury steak. We can’t get enough!
Onion Gravy Cubed Steak
Print recipe Ingredients
- 1 1/4lb cubed steaks
- 2 medium yellow onions (quartered then thinly sliced)
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups broth (I always have chicken broth on hand, but any kind will do)
- 1/2 cup milk
Directions
| Step 1 | |
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Preheat oven to 350. Pat your cubed steaks dry with some paper towels, then season generously with black pepper and kosher salt on both sides.  | |
| Step 2 | |
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Heat a large oven safe sauce pan over medium heat. Mix together the flour with 1 Tbs. each: black pepper, kosher salt, and paprika in a shallow dish. I always use a pie pan.  | |
| Step 3 | |
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Drop 1Tbs. butter and 1 Tbs. olive oil into the pan to melt together and get nice and bubbly while you dredge the steaks.  | |
| Step 4 | |
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I like to lay each steak in the seasoned flour, then pile flour on top and press it down into the meat. Then I flip it and do the same thing at least two or three times on each side. You want to make sure that the flour goes all into the nooks and crannies that the cuber has created in the steaks.  | |
| Step 5 | |
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Brown the steaks in rounds so you don't overcrowd the pan. If too many are in there, they will steam instead of getting a nice brown crust. I had two big and three small tonight, so i did the big daddies in the first round followed by the little guys.  | |
| Step 6 | |
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I give them about 3 minutes. Flip them. Give them another 2-3 minutes, then pull them to a plate to await their companions. Between the two rounds of steaks, I add another Tbs. each of oil and butter. This is how they should look before you start the gravy.  | |
| Step 7 | |
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Once everybody's out of the pan, I add another 2 Tbs. each of oil and butter (I'm guessing you figured out this is not a diet plate). Let it get all nice and bubbly.  | |
| Step 8 | |
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Add 1/4 cup of the seasoned flour from dredging the steaks into the hot drippings, and stir until well incorporated.  | |
| Step 9 | |
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Now slowly add the broth in several intervals; stirring in between additions. This is a very bubbly hot phase. It's actually very exciting to watch because as you add the liquid, the pan hisses and bubbles at you. While you stir, the broth gets absorbed almost immediately and it becomes a hot paste. This happens over and over again, until finally towards the end of the broth it starts to slowly come together into gravy. Then the 1/2 cup milk gets stirred in, along with 1/2 tsp. black pepper and 1 tsp. salt. Once it's all said and done, it should look like this.  | |
| Step 10 | |
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Now nestle the steaks into the gravy.  | |
| Step 11 | |
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And sprinkle over the onions.  | |
| Step 12 | |
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Cover with a lid, and put into the hot oven. Leave it alone for 1 1/2 hours. Then pull out this.  | |
| Step 13 | |
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We always serve this with mashed potatoes and green peas. It's what my mom always makes with cubed steak, and so do I. I don't even try to recreate her biscuits though.  | |
| Step 14 | |
| I hope you enjoy this as much as we always do! | |
I thought this was too much seasonings, especially the pepper. Are you sure you typed the measurements right?
This was a very good dish to make . I double the recipe so it took a little longer to fix it but it was worth well it. I now have enough for another night.
WAY too much salt…I’ll try again ,but cut the salt way back!
Hey Sue, thanks so much for the feedback!
Debbie commented on the seasonings as well. It’s been a long time since we cooked this, but I remember us liking it this way. You’ve definitely got me rethinking the seasoning though! The next time I can find cubed steak, I’m going to try this again and see.
Looking at the recipe I’m thinking maybe take out that last tsp. of salt and 1/2tsp of pepper that gets added in with the milk. Anyway, I really hope you try it again, because I do love this method for getting tender steak and a great gravy texture! Play with the seasonings, and please let me know what you end up with!
I tried this recipe tonight. I didn’t have any broth so I made some onion soup mix and used it in place of the broth. Was awesome! Great recipe.
Great tip! I’m totally stealing that the next time I don’t have broth!
I stumbled across this recipe while looking for something different to do with my cubed steaks. I am pennant and was craving brown gravy. Growing up, my mom used to bread them and. fry them , serve them with white gravy and mashed potatoes. It was good but , again, i just couldn’t get brown gravy off of my mind!.
I made this recipe almost exactly as described I didn’t follow seasoning exactly.. I just eye balled salt & pepper and I didn’t have paprika so I added chili powder.. because it’s red so close enough lol. I made more gravy then it called for because i had about 8 steaks and my son and husband would drink gravy if i allowed it! (Go figure they are both thin as a rail!)I also didn’t know if my pan was oven safe so I just put it in my casserole stone and covered it with tin foil.
MY GOODNESS! I will never have cubed steak any other way again! This was one of the best recipes I have found on pinterest! Hats off to you ma’am! I give this recipe 4000 stars! Even my husband said “wow this is awesome… You should make this again!” I told him I think this should be a weekly meal!
I am pregnant. Not pennent. Thank you autocorrect!
Thank you so much!!! You totally made my day! I’m so glad y’all liked it (I’m from GA obviously). I think it’s definitely a good idea to season to taste b/c I’ve gotten some feedback on the seasonings before, and apparently my family likes it super seasoned! The thing I love about this is that it makes the gravy while it cooks, and once it’s in the oven you’re done. Anyway, thank you so much… and I have a 3 month old girl named Ruby, so I completely understand the cravings! I think we went through a hundred gallons of ice cream!
I made this with deer that we had processed into cube steaks and it came out amazing and tender. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! Thank you so much for the feedback, and the venison sounds great!
I liked this recipe because there were no canned soups in the ingredients. I made it last night and served it over egg noodles. I leave out all salt because of my sodium restrictions, but otherwise it was delicious! However, my hubby thought it was too spicy. What?! I guess next time, I have to reduce the paprika and pepper. Crazy man. I sprinkled mine with cayenne pepper at the end while he sprinkled his with seasoned salt. 🙂 I’ll be making this again! Thanks.
That’s great… I think everybody should play with the seasonings to get it just the way they like it!
I’ve been making this for years with the mashed potatoes and sweet peas as a side too!!!! I was amazed that the recipe is identical to mine 🙂 I’m from north Louisiana so I share that love of southern cooking! I made this last night – all that salt and pepper and all and I don’t think there’s a thing that needs to be changed and I just wanted you to know good job Kerry! Keep up that yummy cookin!
Thank you so much, that makes me feel good!
Thank-you for the recipe. Next paycheck I will get the ingredients and make it. Looks delicious.
Is it possible to use the onion gravy mix instead of just adding onion and chicken broth? Also, instead of milk should I use water if I’m going to use the onion gravy mix?
Thanks.
I hate to tell you it should work, since I’ve never tried it. The next time I get my hands on some cubed steak I’ll try it this way and let you know. But if you try it this way, please drop me a line and let me know how it turns out!
I really LOVE this recipe. I make an old fashion Chicken Fried Steak with white gravy that my family loves. but this is a really nice change, I use beef broth and of course serve it just like the picture, mashed potatoes and peas a must for my husband!! Thanks for a great recipe. I also us cayenne instead of paprika because my family loves spicy.
Well you totally made my day… and I’ll be swapping the paprika for cayenne next time and give it a try! Thanks Cheryl!
The hubby said this is definitely a keeper! Wonderful flavor but ….even he thought it might be a tad salty and he is a salt a holic! Lol
I made this for dinner tonight and followed your ingredients to a tee (except I used beef broth). The seasoning was perfect! The people who said it was too much must like more bland food because I wouldn’t have changed the season one bit. Delish! The only thing I did differently was I kept it in the oven for just an hour, then let it sit covered until the hubby got home. I didn’t use as much meat and was scared it’d dry out. Wonderful recipe! Thank you!
Yay! I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. I love it when people enjoy my recipes, and it’s so nice to hear that someone else enjoys my “well seasoned” food!
I am trying this now but I do not have a 1 1/2 to wait I did fry them a little longer do you think it will be okay if I cut the oven time in half?
Sorry I just noticed this! I’m very curious how cutting down the time went. Let me know if you get a chance!
Absolutely delicious!!!!!
This made the BEST gravy hands down!!!! Our new favorite recipe for cubed steaks!!! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!!!
Made my day! I’m so glad you guys liked it!
In 39 years, I’ve never been able to make gravy until tonight! This recipe is delicious! It’s easy to follow and everything came out so good! Definitely a keeper!
Wonderful! Thank you so much for the feedback!
Can I submit steak for pork chops?? I think the gravy would be delicious together.
Of course you can! That sounds delicious… I’ll have to try it!
I love looking up recipes but it amazes me how some people complain about the seasoning every one has different taste and some people have health issues so adjust the seasoning instead of taking the time to complain to you. By the way I loved the dish because I adjusted the seasoning to my taste. Just saying (wink)
I meant to respond earlier in the week, but I have to say that your response totally tickled me… Thank you!
This recipe is a staple in our house…We absolutely love it! Although I do have to say cut back on the pepper if you don’t like a real peppery flavor…all the other spice ingredients are spot on. Thanks
That’s awesome! I must say I’ve cut back on the amount of pepper too now that our daughter is in on dinners with us. She is NOT a fan of spicy!