Chicken-fried steak with pepper gravy, mash and green beans
60 min · 47 g protein · 519 cals / serving
Thin, tender top round steaks in a crunchy, golden crumb, smothered in a creamy, black-pepper country gravy, the way a Texas diner does it. Fluffy potato-and-cauliflower mash and snappy green beans complete the plate, and there is plenty of gravy for all of it.
Ingredients
Steak
- 600 g top round, pounded thin top round steak, cut into 4 steaks and pounded to 5 mm (1/4 inch), or 4 cube steaks; patted dry
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp liquid egg white, or 2 egg whites
- 2 tbsp low-fat buttermilk
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp paprika
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp canola oil, scant
Pepper gravy
- 2 tsp butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups skim milk
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
- a pinch salt
Mash
- 2 large gold potatoes, peeled, chunked
- 1/2 large head cauliflower, florets
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 2 tsp butter
- 1/3 tsp salt
Green beans
- 1 lb 2 oz green beans, trimmed
Steps
- Boil the potatoes and cauliflower in salted water for 15–18 minutes, until very tender. Drain well, let them steam dry for a minute, then mash with the milk, butter and salt. Keep warm.
- Lay the steaks between two sheets of baking paper and pound them to an even 1/4 inch with a mallet or rolling pin. Set out three plates: the flour; the egg white whisked with the buttermilk; and the panko mixed with the paprika, garlic powder and salt. Dredge each steak in flour, dip it in the egg mixture, then press it firmly into the crumbs on both sides.
- Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the steaks 3–4 minutes a side, until golden and crisp and cooked through (145°F at least; pounded thin, it stays tender). Move them to a rack in a low oven.
- Wipe the pan, melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the flour for a minute. Whisk in the milk and broth a little at a time, then simmer 3–4 minutes, whisking, until it coats a spoon. Season with plenty of black pepper and the salt.
- Steam or boil the green beans for 4–5 minutes, until bright and just tender. Serve the steaks on the mash with the gravy poured over and the beans alongside.
Good to know
Can I use cube steak?
Yes. Cube steak is round that the butcher has run through a tenderiser, which leaves the little cube pattern; it needs no pounding. Pounded top round does the same job and is easy to find.
Why chicken broth in the gravy?
It gives a lean, milk-based gravy the savoury depth that pan drippings usually bring, and keeps it from tasting like plain white sauce.
All-potato mash?
Use 1 1/2 lb potatoes and skip the cauliflower; it is a little more classic and a little less light: about 62 instead of 67.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 92
- Protein
- (38%)
- 8 g
- Fat
- (24%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (39%)
- 9 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 174 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2077 kcal goes into the pot and 2563 g of ingredients comes out as about 2260 g of food: 92 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.