What Cut of Steak Do You Use for Chicken Fried Steak
I have used a couple of different cuts for chicken fried steak and usually gotten decent results. I currently have almost a whole 1/4 beef in my freezer and just committed to cook chicken fried steak for dinner. Which cut is your favorite?
Also, do you have a favorite recipe? I usually use Pioneer Woman’s recipe and it is good. I often use one recipe and never deviate or experiment. I need to change that!
Last edited by J-Melt; January 10, 2026, 01:26 PM.
I use whatever I have on hand and cube it like cube steak (I have a vintage cube steak machine). I use Kent Rollin's recipe. You can buy an attachment for a KitchenAid mixer to tenderize/cube the meat.
The local grocery store sells pork cube steak and it makes a great chicken fried steak.
Last edited by 58limited; January 10, 2026, 02:46 PM.
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Michael_in_TX Of course: I have a 1982 Frigidaire fridge. I was using it as a keggerator (5 taps for Cornelius kegs) but I converted it back to a regular fridge.
Like others I have done it with sirloin and cube steak. Both of their "form factors" make it look like chicken fried steak. The sirloin is more flavorful and arguably more tender, but the cube steak (properly mechanically tenderized) just....looks and feels like the chicken fried steak my family and I ate nearly every Saturday at Luby's cafeteria.
SheilaAnn They are, but barely. Just ten locations in Houston remain after the liquidation in 2020. It's technically a different company now. And the experience is not the same; it's a merger of a sit-down restaurant and cafeteria.
I grew up with Piccadilly cafeterias (loved their chocolate pie, roast beef and fried chicken) then when we moved to Florida, it was Harvest House. I got their turkey and dressing, which was available all year long. I moved to Texas and there was Morrison's and Luby's. The last time I ate at a Luby's, it was pretty bad. I miss cafeterias.
Ground beef. It's always tender without any gristle, and you can make it any size you want. And you can choose how much fat you want in it.
EDIT to clarify: you wind up with a chicken fried hamburger.
If you doubt me, save enough hamburger to make a small patty and freeze it for the next time you make CFS. Treat it the same way you treat the steak and compare.
SheilaAnn and fzxdoc - ya make a patty whatever size you want, dredge the same as whatever cut you normally use and fry it as you normally would. You wind up with a chicken fried hamburger that tastes great and is easier to chew. And you can still make gravy.
Thanks Y’all! Sirloin was my first inclination! I have one in the water bath too that now! I will pound it down with my tenderizing hammer. Never thought of buying a mechanical one for my kitchen aid! I will think about that one once we get to the other side of our possible move.
Cube steak is often a pretty good deal up here in Chicago as well. The butcher that processed our cow charges $.99 more per pound to cube tenderize, so we skipped that this time.
Operation Chicken fried steak is a success! I used Kent Rollin’s recipe per 58limited. I used tallow as my fry oil and in roux for the gravy. Turned out pretty good, but definitely had a tallow side taste. My wife approves of the taste, but I’m not as sure. I need to try the leftovers another day and see how I like it after not needing to smell it as it cooked. It was the best breading I’ve ever done. A good step up from my prior thin breading on fried meats.
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