The Best Cut Of Beef For Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken fried steak is one of those meals that seems more at home in a diner or restaurant, but is actually pretty easy to make at home. Covered in a crispy layer of seasoned and browned batter, and topped with creamy white gravy, chicken fried steak is the ultimate rib-sticking breakfast, although it's also great as a hearty comfort dinner. You can throw it together yourself in a half an hour or less, no deep-fryer required. It's also a meal that shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to make, and so it requires a steak that balances affordability with an ability to stay tender through the frying. To find out which cut of steak works the best we spoke to an expert, Bob Bennett, the head chef of Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to ask what he would use to make chicken fried steak. 

He said, "The one that I like the best is top sirloin." Explaining the reason, he said, "It is somewhat lean with just enough fat to keep it together when it gets pounded out." While not as rich as some more premium cuts, top sirloin is still a relatively juicy and tender steak, and it is going to be getting plenty of extra fat and flavor from the frying anyway. 

Top sirloin comes from the rear sirloin section of the cow, which doesn't get as much work as some other areas and this produces cuts that are relatively tender. It's also known for being a tasty cut. However, when preparing a chicken-fried steak, a leaner cut like top sirloin is still at risk of getting tough from the high heat. To mitigate this, the steak being used is usually heavily tenderized. Our recipe for chicken fried steak suggests cube steak, which is a common specification, but isn't a specific cut at all and is often made with top sirloin. It's more about the process of preparing it. The steak is pounded thinner with a meat mallet (like this Kitexpert one for under $10 from Amazon), which gives it the appearance of having cubes imprinted on the surface. It can also be sliced with a mechanical tenderizer to break up the muscle fibers. You can get top sirloin cube steaks pre-tenderized from many grocery stores, but if you want to do it yourself, pounding your sirloin with a meat mallet will be more than sufficient.

Chef Bob Bennett had one last piece of advice for top sirloin and chicken fried steak, warning that, "It cooks faster than you think!" His advice here is to keep your eye on it, saying, "No one really wants an overcooked fried steak, so paying attention and pulling it as the breading starts to get color is pretty key." Do that, and get the gravy for your chicken fried steak right, and nothing will stop you from producing a perfect version of this country classic.