Southern Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy

Cube steak and gravy is a simple but delicious Southern-style dinner, involving tender steak smothered in creamy and flavorful milk gravy.
 

There’s nothing quite as comforting as this Southern cube steak and gravy dish. Fortunately, it’s an easy dinner to make on a busy weeknight. All you need is cube steak, milk, and flour and you will have dinner ready in about 35 minutes. The end result is tender steak swimming in creamy and flavorful milk gravy. How good does that sound? You can choose to serve your steak with a variety of side dishes too, like mashed potatoes, vegetables, rice or salad.

Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy ingredients

Recipe Ingredients

  • Milk
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Flour
  • Cube steak

How to Make Cube Steaks and Gravy

oiled pan heating up.

Pour just enough oil to coat the bottom of your cast iron skillet and heat oil over medium heat.

Flour, salt, and pepper in mixing bowl.

Put about a cup of flour in a bowl. Add some salt and pepper and stir that up.

steak being coated in flour.

Place a piece of cube steak in the flour mixture and press down a bit to ensure it is dredged in flour.

Cube steak being coated in flour mixture.

Turn it over and coat the other side…

Plate of flour-coated cube steak.

Repeat with all of the pieces.

Frying breaded cubed steaks.

Place in hot oil.

Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy Almost Done!

Fry steaks and flip to ensure they’re nice and brown on each side. Once done, remove steak and place on a paper towel-lined plate.

browning flour in skillet.
 
Oooh, see all that dark stuff in your pan? Those browned bits are going to make the BEST gravy!

Add about 1/4 cup of flour to this and seasoned salt and black pepper to taste.

Stir that up and continue cooking it on medium heat until the flour gets browned a bit, stirring the whole time.

I usually do this for about two minutes or so. If you’ve never made milk gravy the thought of browning flour may sound weird but trust me, it will happen and that is what gives this such a wonderful flavor.
 
Making milk gravy

Next, turn your heat down to the lowest setting and pour the milk into the skillet. I start out with about a cup and a half and then add more if I want it thinner.

Use a wire whisk to stir this because it really helps break up the lumps of flour and get it all good and mixed up.

Cook on the lowest heat until it thickens, stirring constantly. If it gets too thick, you can add more milk. This will just take a few minutes, so stir the entire time and be ready to remove it from the heat when it gets thick.

YUM Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy

Put your steak back into the milk gravy, turn them over to coat both sides and you’re done!

DELICIOUS Cubed Steak and Milk Gravy
I love serving cube steak and gravy with mashed potatoes.

Storage

Store the steaks and gravy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

Recipe Notes

  • You always want to have your oil good and hot before you add anything to it, as this keeps your food from getting greasy by actually searing it on contact.
  • If you’re unsure what cube steak is, it’s either sirloin or a top-round cut of beef that’s been tenderized and pounded with either a meat mallet or machine. This process is called cubing and leaves indentations in the meat, which is where it gets its name. So if you like, you can buy your beef and tenderize it at home. Just make sure it’s about a 1/4-inch thick.
  • To make this steak and gravy dish gluten-free, simply swap the flour for a gluten-free version. It’s that easy. All of the side dishes mentioned below are gluten-free too.

Recipe FAQs

What do you serve with cube steak and gravy?

I like to serve Southern cube steak with milk gravy, mashed potatoes or rice. But another option is to serve it with roasted vegetables, a side of potatoes and peas, or alongside a side salad and bread, to soak up every drop of the flavorful gravy. Yum!

Here are some more easy steak recipes:

Oven Steak Kabobs – A special meal on a budget

Chicken Fried Steak Recipe

Fork Tender Swiss Steak

The Perfect Steak

southern steak and milk gravy

Southern Cube Steak and Milk Gravy

Southern cube steak and milk gravy - tender steak smothered in creamy and flavorful milk gravy. This dish is proof that simple food is often times the best!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Course: sauce
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gravy
Servings: 4
Calories: 502kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 pieces cubed steak
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour plus about 1/4 cup more to thicken gravy
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 cups milk approximately

Instructions

  • Place enough oil in a pan to just coat the bottom and put that over medium heat while you prepare your steak.
  • In a bowl, place 1 cup flour and add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/ 4 teaspoon pepper (more if you prefer). Stir that up. Dip each piece of steak into flour on both sides to get it coated well.
    4 pieces cubed steak, 1 cup all-purpose flour, salt, pepper
  • Place each piece of steak in the heated pan and cook until good and brown on both sides. Remove steak to a plate while you make your gravy.
  • Place about 1/4 cup flour into skillet with meat drippings. Add a little more salt and pepper and stir this over medium heat until the flour is slightly browned (just a few minutes).
    1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups milk
  • Slowly pour in 1 1/2 cups of milk, stirring constantly. Continue stirring with a wire whisk (to help with the lumps) over the lowest heat setting until thickened and there are no lumps. This will happen rather quickly. Add a little more milk if you prefer thinner gravy. Return steak to the pan and turn to coat with gravy on both sides.
  • Serve steak and gravy together in a bowl or serve gravy on the side to go with mashed potatoes.

Nutrition

Calories: 502kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

“One of the best things you can do when things go bad is not make them worse.” ~unknown

This recipe featured in Meal Plan Monday

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319 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This was one of my Dad’s favorite dishes. He was a meat & potatoes guy. Now . . . it is my one of my husbands favorite dishes. Thanks so much for posting the recipe. Love your website & all the delicious recipes.

  2. 5 stars
    Finally a great recipe without prepackaged soups!! Milk gravy is also good for pork chops. How about with breakfast sausage for biscuits and gravy?

    Great, great recipe that I hope opens the imaginations. Thank you.

  3. My mom learned how to make milk gravey from her mom but instead we make our milk gravey with fried chicken once the chicken is done we use the left over oil and chicken bits to make our milk gravey. Everyone loved moms fried chicken and milk gravey. Never thought to try it with any other meat but will be trying this tonight!

  4. Hi there!! Just read your wonderful recipe. Thank you for bringing back great memories of my growing up. Whenever I make milk gravy now I think of my Mama. When she could she’d use real milk in her gravy, when she couldn’t she’d use half milk and half water. Works every time and no one knew the difference. Anyway just a thought to pass on. Take care and God Bless.

  5. My mama used a coke bottle to “beat the dickens” out of hers and I also did that until the pre-tenderized cube steak became available!!

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