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Cube steaks are my go-to budget comfort food. They’re quick, cozy, and smothered in gravy. I love them with mashed potatoes or veggies, and I’ve got a simple trick to keep them melt-in-your-mouth tender every time.
Steak Night, Simplified
- Steakhouse Taste On a Budget: All the flavor of a fancy cut, without the high price tag. Which we all need in this economy!
- Gravy-Soaked Goodness: Juicy steaks smothered in rich, savory gravy that begs for bread or potatoes to soak it up.
- Tender Every Time: With the right cooking tricks, these steaks turn melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
Ingredients for Cube Steaks
- Low Sodium: If you are on a low-sodium diet or are sensitive to salt, be sure to use low-sodium beef broth and soup mix, or make your own homemade onion soup mix.
- Use More Soup Mix: Want extra flavor? Stir the rest of the onion soup mix into the gravy. It’ll be a bit saltier, but if that’s your thing, go for it
How to Make Cube Steaks
Cooking cube steak doesn’t have to be tricky! Just follow along and you’ll have dinner on the table in no time. Make my garlic parmesan green beans and mashed potatoes for the perfect sides!
- Pound the Steaks: Cover the cube steaks with a sheet of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet to pound the steaks are ¼-½-inch thick and even. Do this even if the steaks are already tenderized, as this will help prevent them from being tough.
- Season: Combine the flour, pepper, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl.
- Coat: Dredge the steaks in the flour mixture until fully coated, shaking off the excess.
- Sear: Add the olive oil to a large skillet, then heat over medium-high heat. Add the cube steaks to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the steaks from the skillet and place them on a plate or wire rack to rest.
- Sauté Onions and Mushrooms: Add the olive oil and onion to the skillet the steaks were cooked in and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook for about 5-6 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and golden brown.
- Make the Gravy: Add the beef broth and onion soup mix to the skillet and stir to combine. Combine the cornstarch and the water in a small bowl to make a slurry and add it to the gravy. Stir to combine, then add the steaks back to the skillet. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the gravy has thickened. Serve immediately.
Perfectly Tender Cube Steak Tips
Before you start, take a peek at these quick tips! They’ll help you get tender steaks, rich gravy, and a meal everyone will rave about.
- Bring to Room Temp: Let steaks rest 20–30 minutes before cooking for even results.
- Pat Dry First: Blot steaks with a paper towel so they sear crisp and golden.
- Skip the Slurry: Cornstarch is optional. The flour from the steaks often thickens gravy just fine.
- Pound Again: Even if pre-tenderized, give them a quick mallet pound for extra-juicy meat.
- Don’t Overcook: 2–4 minutes per side is plenty of time. If they are on for too long, they’ll turn tough.
- Make More Gravy: Double the ingredients if you want extra sauce for potatoes or rice!
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Cube Steak
This cube steak is tender, flavorful, and swimming in gravy! It's the kind of comfort food that saves the day when you need dinner fast.
Ingredients
- 1 pound cube steaks about 4 steaks
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Mushroom Gravy
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup sliced onion about half a medium onion
- 6 ounces sliced mushrooms
- 1 ⅔ cup beef broth
- 1 ½ tablespoons onion soup mix about half an envelope, or 6 teaspoons
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Cover 1 pound cube steaks with a sheet of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet to pound the steaks until they are ¼-½ inch thick and even. Do this even if the steaks are already tenderized, as this will help prevent them from being tough.
- Combine ½ cup all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon onion powder, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder in a small bowl. Dredge the steaks in the flour mixture until fully coated, shaking off the excess.
- Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the cube steaks to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the steaks from the skillet and place them on a plate or wire rack to rest.
Mushroom Gravy
- Add the 1 tablespoon olive oil and ½ cup sliced onion to the skillet the steaks were cooked in, and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Add 6 ounces sliced mushrooms and continue to cook for about 5-6 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and golden brown.
- Add 1 ⅔ cup beef broth and 1 ½ tablespoons onion soup mix to the skillet and stir to combine.
- Combine 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl to make a slurry and add it to the gravy. Stir to combine, then add the steaks back to the skillet. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the gravy has thickened. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Can you make it ahead of time? Yes! Tenderize the steak and prep the gravy up to 24–48 hours ahead. Store in the fridge until ready to cook.
- Can you freeze steak? Yes! Cook and cool the steak, then freeze it with the gravy in a flat ziplock bag (or airtight container) for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
- How do you reheat cube steak? Warm gently in a skillet on medium-low heat, or reheat in the microwave until hot.
Nutrition
Calories: 404kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 29gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 942mgPotassium: 805mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 2IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 44mgIron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!
More Easy Steak Recipes
I love to cook beef, and steak is one of my favorite ways to do that! For more simple steak recipes, try this Garlic Butter Herb Steak Bites with Potatoes, this delicious Brown Sugar Garlic Flank Steak, or these yummy Creamy Garlic Steak Bites with Mushrooms.
my husband and I enjoyed this steak recipe. We are fortunate to live a mile from a meat market that sells local grass-fed beef. I purchased an excellent set of waterless cookware almost 50 years ago. I cooked the dish in my stainless steel skillet with a tight-fitting lid on the stove for about 40 minutes. I added 1/4 cup red wine and cut the portions to 3 servings. If you’ve cooked with dry onion soup mix, you know the flavor profile to expect. So glad we have leftovers for tomorrow! Served with mashed potatoes and buttered green beans. Yum!
These are delicious! I didn’t have time to tenderize the cube steaks, so they weren’t as tender as they could have been, but the gravy – oh my!! This is a keeper.
my cube steaks came out very tough. mushroom gravy was good i added some butter
My effort at making this turned out much like the recipe photo, looked really good. Unfortunately, we did not think the soup mix added to the flavor; instead, it overwhelmed it with the mundane flavor of powdered onion soup mix. It wasn’t bad at all, just not what we had hoped for.
Wonderful recipe in every way.
I made this recipe for both my husband & I and it is really good! The onion soup mix gives the sauce such depth of flavor! Would definitely make this again, except we like a little heat so I added cayenne pepper to the flour.
Can you do this in a crock pot?
I’m going to try this looks good. I put cube steaks in egg then flower and fry and gravy separate. But your way is less mess and maybe more tastier. ?
This was soooo good! Definitely making it again! It was a bit too salty for my tastes. Next time I’ll use a low sodium onion soup mix and low sodium beer broth. Otherwise this was definitely a treat!
We absolutely loved this recipe! Only change I made was using gluten free all purpose flour. We will be making this again!!
I’m so glad to hear it worked out with gluten-free flour! Thanks for letting me know!
Darn it — this was so very, very good. And I think I might even try in the future the sauce with hamburgers as well. Because I cannot really eat sliced onions, I did not include them but I did use the dry onion soup mix. This is definitely a repeat item for our dinner menu, and so easy to make.
Loved it.
Will cook again.
Thanks.
This is excellent !
This was soooooo good!!!! I used cubed deer steaks and my family couldn’t get enough! I doubled the gravy but didn’t have to use the cornstarch to thicken. I feel like the flour from the steaks helped thicken it perfectly. I also let the steaks simmer for about 15-20 minutes in the gravy. Absolutely PERFECT! This will become a regular in our house!
Very good! After reading the reviews I doubled the gravy and simmered the cube steaks for 30 minutes. I actually added a cup of water to make sure they were well covered in liquid. I also added some minced garlic. The cube steaks were very tender and delicious! I served them with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. I’m glad I found a great recipe to use up our cube steaks before we get our 2021 beef!
Absolutely yummy!