Chicken Fried Steak is a traditional Southern dinner, but I've taken this classic dish and cooked it in my Air Fryer. I love having a comforting meal without all the extra calories from the deep fryer, and less of a mess (and grease smell) in my kitchen.
What Makes This Crispy Chicken Fried Steak Recipe So Good?
- Fast. Done in less than 30 minutes start to finish.
- Easy. Just dredge, cook, and serve.
- Healthy. Skip the deep fat frying for this air fryer recipe.
- Family-Friendly. Your whole family will love this meal.
- Versatile. Serve with your favorite side dish.
- Little Cleanup. The only mess will be the dredging station and wiping out the air fryer after.
Air Fryer Chicken Fried Steaks
The ease of cooking this Chicken Fried Steak in your Air Fryer may be your new favorite way to indulge in comfort food. You can add it to your favorite Air Fryer chicken recipes. You will not miss the deep-fried calories when you taste the crispiness of the breading.
What I have done, is taken the same concept, and cooked it in the Air Fryer so you can have dinner on the table in less time. While the steaks are cooking in the Air Fryer, you can be making the gravy. Only one saucepan is on your stove!
What is Country Fried Steak?
Country Fried Steak is an American dish, very familiar in Southern cooking. Simply, it is a breaded piece of meat, usually cube steak, that is dredged in a flour mixture with spices and then traditionally pan-fried.
Cube steak is a cut of beef that has been flattened and tenderized leaving little indentations in the meat. It is easily available in the grocery store and is very affordable.
How To Make Air Fryer Chicken Fried Chicken
If you prefer chicken fried chicken, you can still use this base recipe but use chicken breast.
- Take the chicken breast and slice it in half lengthwise to get two long chicken breast pieces.
- Put that breast between two slices of plastic wrap and beat the heck out of it with a meat mallet or a rolling pin (my favorite method). Be careful not to whack so hard that you take a piece of your countertop out with it.
- Once you've got a thin piece of chicken breast, you can follow the directions as written.
How do you Keep Breading on Chicken Fried Steak?
- Dip the cutlet into dry ingredients, then the liquid mixture of buttermilk, hot sauce, and egg. Repeat those steps once more, dry ingredients, and then liquid again.
- Make sure to shake off the excess flour and buttermilk between dunkings.
- As long as you spray the steaks with cooking spray liberally on both sides, this will taste as good as deep fried chicken fried steak.
What Should I Serve with this Air Fryer Recipe?
Serve the classics! Even though it's a healthier way of cooking it, it's still a total comfort food recipe.
- Gravy to cover the delicious fried cube steaks, roasted potatoes, and my Pressure Cooker Green Beans.
- Make double duty out of your Air Fryer and make Rosemary Roasted Potatoes before you fry the steaks that way the breading stays nice and crisp when you are ready to eat. You can dip the crispy Rosemary Roasted Potatoes in your gravy!
Baking Chicken Fried Steak in the Oven
You could bake this recipe if you don't want to fry your dinner, and don't have an air fryer. It will be harder to get the crispy breading that chicken fried steak is known for having. Here's how to do it:
- Take a cooling rack, and invert it into a baking sheet, lay your breaded steaks on it.
- Spray with cooking spray, and make sure to flip and respray halfway through cooking time.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 425 F. ( I have not tested this method! But I'm making a very educated guess based on similar things I've made before)
- Use a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken is cooked through.) Baking it on a cooling rack will allow the heat to circulate all around the meat.
How to Make Air Fryer Chicken Fried Steak:
In a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, pepper, salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, and sage.
Whisk together buttermilk, hot sauce, and egg.
Season steaks and pat dry. Let stand for 5 minutes before dredging.
Dredge the steaks, twice. Flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk. Make sure to shake off the excess in between dredges. After the double dredge, press any remaining flour into the steaks, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
Place the steaks in the Air Fryer and spray with cooking spray. Cook 400 degrees for 8 minutes.
Make the gravy! Combine the melted butter and flour for the roux over low heat. Then add the seasonings. Turn heat up to medium-low, and add milk and whipping cream until thick, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Use a meat thermometer to make sure the steak is cooked at 145 degrees.
Pour that flavorful country gravy over the finished Air Fried Chicken Fried Steak.
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure to let the steaks sit for 5 minutes after seasoning and patting dry, and before dredging.
- Flip steaks over at 4 minutes of fry time and lightly spray the other side for even crispiness!
- Can use chicken instead of cube steak, and make chicken fried chicken. Use chicken breast, butterfly them, use plastic wrap and a mallet to make them into thin cutlets and follow the recipe.
- If you want a lower carb version of this recipe, you could use a combination of almond flour and grated Parmesan cheese. I have not tested this recipe using those ingredients.
LOOKING FOR MORE GREAT AIR FRYER RECIPES?
- These juicy, flavorful Air Fryer Pork Chops use Porchetta seasonings to create a tasty fennel-spiced pork chop in just a few minutes.
- These Keto Chicken Tenders are the absolute best low carb breaded chicken tenders out there! They're so good and so easy to make in your air fryer.
- My Air Fryer Cheese Biscuits are the perfect little scrumptious morsels for parties. They make a great appetizer, as well as wonderful vegetarian side dishes.
- Philly Cheesesteak - Made fast and easy in your air fryer.
Looking for more great steak recipes? Check out my Perfect Sous Vide Steak Recipe!
And if you're looking for more great comfort food recipes, check out my Instant Pot Red Beans and Rice, my Keto Meatloaf or my Air Fryer Toad in the Hole!
Did your family love this recipe as much as mine did? If so, make sure you share this recipe for Chicken Fried Steak on Facebook and Pinterest so they can try it too.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below! Just click on the stars in the recipe card to rate. Don't forget to pin this recipe for later!
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Steaks
- 2 cube steaks, 5-6 ounces each
- 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 2 teaspoons crumbled dried sage
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 1 Eggs
- Non-Stick Cooking Spray
For the Gravy
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 cup Whole Milk
Instructions
Steaks
- For the flour dredge, mix together in a shallow bowl, whisk the flour, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, and sage.
- In a separate shallow bowl, whisk the buttermilk, hot pepper sauce, and egg.
- Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, than pat dry again with a paper towel.
- Dredge the steaks in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking off any excess. Then dredge in the buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Dredge in the flour mixture again, shaking off excess. Place the breaded steaks on a sheet pan and press any remaining flour mixture onto the steaks, making sure that each steak is completely coated. Let stand for 10 minutes.
- Place steaks in the air fryer basket. Lightly coat with vegetable oil spray. Set the air fryer to 400°F for 8 minutes, carefully turning steaks and coating other side with vegetable oil spray halfway through the cooking time.
Gravy
- Meanwhile, for the gravy: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Whisk in the flour, pepper, salt, and garlic salt, continually whisking.
- Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Turn the heat to medium and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened.
- Use a meat thermometer to ensure the steaks have reached an internal temperature of 145°F. Serve the steaks topped with the gravy.
Watch The Video
- Let the steaks sit for 5 minutes after seasoning and patting dry, and before dredging.
- Flip steaks over at 4 minutes of fry time and lightly spray the other side for even crispiness!
- Can use chicken instead of cube steak. Use chicken breast, butterfly them, use plastic wrap and a mallet to make them into thin cutlets and follow the recipe.
- If you want a lower carb version of this recipe, you could use a combination of almond flour and grated Parmesan cheese.
Get support & connect with our community on Facebook!
Nutrition
And don't forget to check out my air fryer cookbooks! Every day easy air fryer, and Air Fryer Revolution.
Nick
I have the original “Top Secret Restaurant Recipes “ book and it includes Shoney’s “Country Fried Steak” recipe. Their secret to helping the coating stick is to coat them and wrap the pieces individually in wax paper and freeze them for several hours prior to cooking the in a cast iron pan. I have used this recipe many times and the coating never comes off and the steaks are perfect. I’ve even put them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes and the coating stayed on.
I am going to use this technique along with your air fryer recipe and I will report back.
Kind regards
URVASHI PITRE
I’m very curious to hear how that goes.
Brittany
The gravy was a little salty but overall it was very tasty! Thanks!
Traci
These were delicious. My husband loved them!!! I used the Instant Vortex Plus and cut each cube steak into quarters (personal preference) and had to add another 5 minutes or so. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Kendra
I made this tonight. I marinated the steak in buttermilk and hot sauce for a couple hours and dredged in flour no repeat. It came out amazing!!
Ashley
I followed directions to the letter but despite spraying the fryer all the coating stuck and I was left with a bare steak🙁
URVASHI PITRE
That sounds like the coating didn’t stick to the steak well enough either. it might help to press the flour well onto the steak.
Robert Lee
The recipe is great, but I had the same problem with the initial “down side” sticking to the wire and pulling off even though I’d sprayed both the wire basket and then the steak. The top was done perfectly and did not stick when flipped. I’ll try it again and press the flour more into the meat.
Charlene Maguire
I am almost 69 years old and while I consider myself a good cook, I have never been able to cook cubed steak that was edible. I burn it, I cook it until your teeth bounce, but it has never been edible. UNTIL TONIGHT!
I tried this recipe for dinner tonight, because I just can't stop myself from buying cube steak when it's on sale, even if my attempts at cooking it aren't worthy of the purchase. But tonight's dinner was DELICIOUS! I actually got a crisp coating WITHOUT burning that devil to ashes! (I think your secret is the multiple times of coating, the recipe called for exactly one more dry and wet dredging than I'm used to). Hubby told me to make sure I add this one to my "make again" file, he wants this for dinner again soon! Thank you SO much for a great recipe, one that doesn't break the calorie bank AND that I don't burn to leather!!! And thank you for teaching this older dog a new trick!
URVASHI PITRE
So glad this worked for you! Isn’t it great to feel that little sense of accomplishment?