Mom Meal Memories: Chicken Fried Steak Made Easy with Pioneer

We always love partnering with Pioneer for delicious and time-tested gravies and recipes for the entire family.

My momma is the best cook. Doesn’t everyone say that? But truly, my mom, a Louisiana born and raised, Texas transplant has mastered the art of true home cooking over her 72 years. Don’t tell her that I spilled her age. And honestly, we don’t often cook the way our moms did for us, do we? It takes time, and patience, and an eyeball to know how you measure ingredients in your heart. That’s how my mom cooks. I will ask her to jot down recipes for her favorites and it looks a lot less specifics and more like “a little of this”, “you need about this”, or “when it looks like this, then…” It’s both infuriating and endearing – I’m a girl who likes a recipe and a solid process.

But that’s kind of the beauty in the home cooking, yes? And I want to embrace these kind of recipes more. Understanding that the results may not be the same all the time, but always delicious. And I want to pass these meals down to my kids, too. As much as I want to believe my mom will be here forever, the reality is, she won’t. So it’ll be up to me to feed my kids the way my momma did, so that they can learn from me, and then hopefully pass these time-honored meals and recipes down to their kids. When I think of my mom and cooking when I was little, it always comes back to Chicken Fried Steak. Well, that and her homemade spaghetti sauce, and red beans & rice, and pot roast… but I digress. Her chicken fried steak was epic. It wasn’t a regular meal in the rotation but something that definitely colored my childhood and oft requested by my white gravy loving daddy. 

With pandemic and being so far from my mom and her home cooked love, I had to bring the chicken fried steak to life in MY kitchen this time. I will be honest; recipes that require frying things is typically not my jam. Nor is grease. Or butter. I am a whole foods loving girl and save my fried treats for the splurges. Let me tell you, this is worth the splurge. However, also being honest, I needed to make it a tad easier with just the same amount of comfort. After frying up these bad boys, I decided to use Pioneer Peppered Gravy Mix for that same, wonderful white gravy flavor with a lot less of the work. Success! 

And no surprise that the gravy was a success! Pioneer is celebrating their 170th anniversary this year – talk about time-tested deliciousness. 

*For additional fun, I did end up making some homemade gravy from the leftover CFS oil, flour and milk to see if my family could tell a difference, and y’all. They could NOT! They equally loved both – so now I’m down to make it a bit easier on this busy momma’s stovetop.

Mom’s Chicken Fried Steak

Ingredients:

  • Round steaks {about 2lbs} and ask the butcher to tenderize it if they do not have the tenderized rounds {My H-E-B does carry pre-tenderized cube steaks which were perfect!
  • Mom Meal Memories: Made Easy with Pioneer2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • Flour seasoned with salt/pepper
  • Can of Crisco {You’re going to have to trust us here. It’s the only grease to fry CFS in the good ole fashioned way.}

Mom Meal Memories: Made Easy with PioneerDirections:

  • Beat 2 eggs in a bowl with one cup of milk
  • In separate bowl/tray, put in 2 cups of flour seasoned with salt & pepper. You could also add garlic powder or even a little cayenne for a kick.
  • Mom Meal Memories: Recipes Made Easy with PioneerCut your tenderized round steak into serving sizes and you will take each piece and start with putting each into the flour mixture, then into the egg/milk mixture, then back into the flour mixture.
  • Mom Meal Memories: Recipes Made Easy with PioneerHeat oil to very hot but not burning. Test this with throwing in a little flour to see if it rises & bubbles but doesn’t turn brown immediately.
  • Place each piece into the oil. Cook turning once when they have started rising to the top, and then place on paper towels while you finish all the pieces.
  • While you are cooking the CFS, get the water boiling for your Pioneer Peppered Gravy, 1 1/2 cups. As it boils, prepare the package and whisk in the gravy mix to 1/2 cup of cool water. Once the water has boiled, add the gravy/water mixture to the boiling, and then whisk until thickened. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm. 

The results? Deliciousness. In a perfect world, I would have had mashed potatoes alongside it but like with the gravy, I take comfort short cuts where I can, so oven fries it was. And a little green never hurt anyone. 

Mom Meal Memories: Recipes Made Easy with Pioneer
This meal was 100% labor of love that my kids, now 11, so very appreciated. They, just as I do, associate my mom with chicken fried steak, and so this is aptly named “Gigi’s Chicken Fried Steak.” If we eat at a restaurant and they see it on the menu, they ask, “but is it as good as Gigi’s?”
 
Oh, my little friends. Nothing will be as good as Gigi’s. Because that’s straight cooked with love. And a little bit of grease. And I’m thrilled that I can share a little bit of that love train with my people. 
 
I’m so grateful to Pioneer for helping to make memories in the kitchen since 1851. That’s a lot of recipes and love shared over tables, friends. And don’t forget to check out some of our other favorites: I personally love their Pioneer Biscuit Gravy Mix and Pioneer Buttermilk Baking & Biscuit Mix, which is perfect for pancake and/or waffle mornings too! {Pro tip: Use that country gravy mix or the peppered gravy on your biscuits too!} And talk about convenient; you can find Pioneer products at so many local retailers around Houston. That’s one less stop for this busy momma. 

>>> COUPON SPECIAL OFFER <<<

And, I love this! Snag some great coupons for your favorites here too!
 
Cheers to more home cooking and great recipes this upcoming fall with just a little less stress. Just the way Gigi would want it. 
 

Connect with Pioneer Foods

Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram


 

Pin this post and be sure to follow
Houston Moms
on Pinterest!

Previous articleA Weekend Getaway to Round Top, Texas!
Next articleTo My First Baby on the Eve of Kindergarten
Meagan Clanahan
Meagan is a Dallas native who has lived in the Katy area for over a decade. She kicked a soccer ball all the way to Louisiana to attend college at her family’s alma mater of LSU, where she promptly fell in love with a Texas Aggie in Baton Rouge for an internship. After swimming back to Texas following Hurricane Katrina, Matt and Meagan fell in love with the Houston area and now couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Following several years of infertility, their miracle twins Ryan and Quinn were born in June of 2010. She believes there is nothing better than a chilled glass of Pinot Grigio, a large Sonic Diet Coke, sushi take-out, Girls Nights Out, and a mindless book to curl up with. Besides playing chauffeur and catering to the whims of her children, Meagan also is the Co-Owner of Houston Moms Blog. You can keep up with Meagan at The Clanahan Fam and on Instagram @meaganclanahan!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here