Have you ever heard that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach? Well, this Oven Baked Smothered Cube Steak is sure to do the trick.
Anytime I tell my husband he’s getting Oven Baked Smothered Cube Steak for dinner, I get an extra phone call during the day and an extra hug that evening!
I have lived in the south my entire life and cut my teeth on good old fashioned home cooked, from scratch meals like this one. Honestly, I do not cook this way often, that’s why Stacy enjoys it so much when I do.
Let’s talk about the smothered part. The gravy! Who taught you how to make gravy? Well of course most of us watched our Momma’s cook and learned from her. The most important thing to know is how to prevent the lumps!
First things first for me! Let’s caramelize some onions!
Place about 2 Tbsp. of Olive oil in the skillet and add sliced onions. Cook on medium high until onions are clear. Take the onions up leaving the oil in the skillet.
After coating the cubed steak front and back with seasoned flour, fry on both sides just until lightly browned. You are not trying to cook through, only brown the outside of the meat and take up. Drain on paper toweling. Leave the oil and the meat renderings in the skillet for making the gravy.
Sprinkle a couple Tablespoons of sifted flour across the surface of the skillet into the oil. There shouldn’t be much gravy base at this point. Don’t worry, that little bit of gravy base will make a skillet full of gravy! Using a fork, stir and break up any lumps at this time. You will need to work quickly.
Add your liquid, slowly stirring as you pour. To make the gravy brown, I use about 1 cup of decaf coffee which adds that special flavor to homemade brown gravy. Then add hot water until you have the desired amount of gravy. Continue stirring until the gravy comes to a boil. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally until desired thickness is achieved.
Place the cubed steak into an appropriate sized baking dish which you have sprayed with non-stick spray. I top mine with the onions!
Pour the gravy over the meat and onions. Cover with foil. Bake at 300° for about 3 hours. Slow and look Oven Baked Smothered Cube steak will come out ‘fork tender.’
Serve over a bed of rice and enjoy your husbands smile! This meal is what we call ‘fork tender’, no knife required!
- 4 cube steaks
- 1 small onion (optional)
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 cup prepared decaf coffee
- 1 Cup flour for battering the steak
- 2 Tbsp. flour for the gravy
- 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
- CARAMELIZE THE ONIONS
- Place about 2 Tbsp. of Olive oil in the skillet and add sliced onions.
- Cook on medium high until onions are clear.
- Take the onions up leaving the oil in the skillet.
- BROWN THE MEAT
- Coat the cubed steak front and back with seasoned flour
- Fry on both sides just until lightly browned. (You are not trying to cook through, only brown the outside of the meat and take up.)
- Drain on paper toweling.
- MAKE THE GRAVY
- You will need medium high heat for this process. Do not walk away!!
- Leave the oil and the meat renderings in the skillet for making the gravy.
- Sprinkle a couple Tablespoons of sifted flour across the surface of the skillet into the hot oil.
- (There shouldn’t be much gravy base at this point. Don’t worry, that little bit of gravy base will make a skillet full of gravy!)
- Using a fork, stir and break up any lumps at this time. You will need to work quickly.
- Add your liquid, slowly stirring as you pour. (To make the gravy brown, I use about 1 cup of decaf coffee which adds that special flavor to homemade brown gravy.) Then add HOT water until you have the desired amount of gravy, stirring constantly.
- Sprinkle with desired amount of salt and pepper.
- Continue stirring until the gravy comes to a boil. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally until desired thickness is achieved.
- BAKE IT!
- While gravy is simmering, place the browned meat into a prepared baking dish.
- Place the onions on top of the meat.
- Pour the gravy over the top of the meat.
- Cover with foil.
- Bake at 300° for about 3 hours.
- Serve and enjoy
Shirley Wood
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Now that I’ve started expanding my culinary skills, I am REALLY enjoying cooking sauces and meals from scratch! I can see why your husband gets so excited for this dish!
Ooo…this looks delicious. Can you believe that I’ve only recently started using cubed steak?! I can’t believe it took me so long to use this type of meat. It’s so yummy breaded with gravy.
What can you use instead of coffee? I don’t drink it, thanks
Looks very tasty – thank you for sharing with Pin Worthy Wednesday
This looks so easy and sounds so delicious! 🙂
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
This looks like an interesting and easy recipe. I will try this tonight. However, I’m adding some low sodium beef broth (with 1 tsp instant coffee), and sea salt for flavoring. I’ll let you know how this comes out. Thanks for your time and effort on this website.
This recipe makes me want to try cubed steak again. Yum! Thanks for sharing at #AnythingGoes.
Your recipe sounded so good ,I made it today ,the gravey had no flavour ( I must have made a boohoo somewhere so i added 2oxo cubes ,a good slog of wostershire sauce and 1/2cup BBQ sauce it went well with all in the end
I just saw your post on google+ . So glad you shared it there. Coffee in the gravy has me intrigued! Pinning.
Only one word is needed. AWESOME!
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Judy, it sure was good.
I’m drooling–this looks wonderful!
My Mother cooked cube steak a lot when I was growing up also. It sure costs more now than back then. Thanks for stopping by, Chrystal. I’ve enjoyed hosting with you ladies at #StopTheYuck.
My mother made a lot of cube steak recipes when I was younger. My guess because there was so much you could do with it and it was a cheaper cut of meat. Thanks for linking at the Yuck Stops Here!
Thanks for the Pin! I am so ready for Fall to be here, I’m sneaking in those dinners already 🙂
I am honored to be added to your recipe collection! I want to hear about it when you make gravy!
You’re welcome Zan. I hope you will tell me how your family enjoys it when you make it.
These hearty flavors just scream Fall to me… I am getting more ready for the Fall Season to arrive every day. Thanks for sharing this recipe. PINNED!
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
Oh, I do not have a recipe like this one, thank you, Shirley! Adding to my collection 🙂
This looks great – I refuse to buy cubed steak in the stores because I never seem to know how to cook it. Thanks for an awesome recipe!
That is funny Alli. Children and be so funny sometimes. It is for certain that white gravy and brown gravy both have their place at the table. We tend to prefer white gravy for biscuit type meals and brown gravy for meat and potato type meals.
The first time my youngest daughter had crackling cornbread at my mom’s house (she was about 2) she said, “Grandma, your cornbread has bones in it.” Crackling cornbread can’t be beat!
And, by the way, brown gravy is so much better than white gravy (in my opinion). And every good southern cook better know how to make cubed steak. Great tutorial!