The Best Cuts Of Meat For Tender And Juicy Chicken Fried Steak

Southern chicken fried steak is one of those regional steaks you need to try at least once. If you've never had it before, you should know there's no actual chicken involved. Instead, the steak is coated in an egg mixture (often including buttermilk) and a flour dredge and fried until crispy like it's chicken. For help on what cut of steak to fry, we spoke to Jamie Waldron, butcher and owner of J. Waldron Butchers in Ontario, Canada, about how he prepares chicken fried steak. Waldron admits his choices may not be traditional, but he gravitates toward either top sirloin or flat iron because of their tenderness.

According to Waldron, "Usually recipes call for a top round or something a bit tougher that then needs to be tenderized with either a mallet or a fork. I say take that step out and use a cut that's already somewhat tender." Many preparations call for using and cooking a cube steak, a mechanically tenderized top or bottom round cut from the cow's rear, but it can potentially be made with any number of cheap cuts. With a steak at the grocery store specifically labeled top sirloin or flat iron cut, you're working with better quality beef, and the results usually taste better. Cube steak is traditional because chicken fried steak has historically been a preparation used to spruce up cheap, tough meat, but don't feel too beholden to tradition.

Once you've got one of these cuts, Jamie Waldron's next bit of advice is to avoid deep frying the steak for too long. "That's where you run into trouble," he cautioned. "Seeing as how flat irons and top sirloins are best cooked to medium rare, you're best to achieve that doneness while deep frying too." 

If you're used to grilling steaks, then deep frying is a different beast since you can't see how the meat is cooking under the batter. It really should only take about four minutes or so, depending on how thick the cut is. Keep track of the oil's temperature with a thermometer, and make sure it's nice and hot — medium-high heat, or between about 350 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit, is a good target. If you do end up frying it too long, you'll notice the chewy texture the moment you bite into it. There's not a whole lot you can do here, besides learn from your mistakes and go heavy on the cream gravy.

Waldron offered one final bit of advice while speaking to us: "Season that flour dredge too!" At minimum, this can just be salt and pepper. You are, however, strongly encouraged to add some garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and paprika to round out the flavor of that crust. The steak itself is only one piece of the puzzle with chicken fried steak, even when you're frying something more tender than cube steak.