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My husband loves chicken fried steak, it is one of his all-time favorite meals, but I don’t love all the calories and fat deep frying adds – this air fryer chicken fried steak recipe has become my tried and true way favorite for a satisfying crunch and hearty flavor – without all the extra oil.
I tested different methods and temperatures, on different air fryer machines, to come up with a simple recipe that just works – every time. I also designed this dish to be beginner-friendly, with lots of information to help you feel confident making it without extensive experience.
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!
Table of contents
Chicken Fried Steak in the Air Fryer
Chicken fried steak in the air fryer is cirspy and delicious without all the oil of deep frying – air fryers are like convection ovens that circulate air quickly over food to help you heat food fast like oil would – without the added calories and fat.
If you love chicken fried steak, you’re going to love this recipe – its easier, less mess, and so delicious!
We’re kicking up our take on this homestyle classic with cayenne pepper and smoked paprika, as well as some herbs and spices that give so much flavor it’s a knockout!
Air fryer steak uses cube steak to make a crisp and crunchy, tender, juicy breaded steak that is delicious with gravy, white gravy, or on it’s own.
Serve it with soft dinner rolls, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, or a BLT salad – it’s great with tons of side dishes!
We hope you love this recipe as much as we do.
Chicken fried steak is fairly simple to make if you’ve made breaded dishes before that are dipped and fried – we’re using a similar dredging process, only using an air fryer instead of a deep fryer so we can reduce the oil content and crisp our steak batter by using the high heat and air circulation.
How to Air Fry Chicken Fried Steak
To make this recipe, we will need the following ingredients:
- 1 pound cube steak (4 large slices): The main protein, providing a tender and flavorful base for the dish.
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk: Adds tanginess and helps tenderize the meat, creating a moist and flavorful steak.
- ¼ cup hot sauce (optional): Infuses a spicy kick and depth of flavor into the marinade, enhancing the overall taste.
- ½ cup all-purpose flour: Creates a crispy outer coating when air fried, giving the steak its signature fried texture.
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder: Adds a savory, aromatic flavor that complements the meat and breading.
- 1 teaspoon Italian herbs: Provides a blend of earthy and fragrant notes, adding complexity to the seasoning.
- 1 teaspoon paprika: Contributes a mild, smoky flavor and enhances the color of the breading.
- 1 teaspoon sea salt: Enhances all the flavors and ensures the dish is well-seasoned.
- 1 teaspoon pepper: Adds a sharp, pungent bite that balances the richness of the dish.
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper: Introduces a subtle heat that elevates the overall flavor profile.
- 2 large eggs: Acts as a binder for the flour coating, helping it adhere to the steak during cooking.
- ¼ cup water: Thins the egg mixture slightly, making it easier to coat the steak evenly.
After gathering your ingredients, we will use the following process:
- Prep. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees. Lay our three large plates with a deep rim (think pasta plate). Add milk and hot sauce to one bowl. Add flour, 1/2 salt and pepper, herbs and spices to one bowl, mix well. Add eggs to one bowl, beat until lightly foamy.
- Dredge. Remove cube steak from packaging and pat dry with paper towel. Season generously with remaining half of salt and pepper. Dredge steaks by dipping first in milk, then flour, then egg, and finally flour again to fully coat in breading. Shake off any excess flour.
- Air fry. Open air fryer basket and spray nonstick cooking spray. Place steaks in air fryer and air fryer 10 minutes at 400 degrees F. Flip steaks and cook additional 5-10 minutes, until steaks are crispy golden brown and meat is 150 degrees internal temperature when read with a digital thermometer.
- Cool. Remove from air fryer, let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing. Top with turkey or white gravy or chives.
- Enjoy!
Tips to Perfect Air Fryer Chicken Fried Steak & FAQs
These steaks are simple and delicious – but there are a couple tricks we’ve found to help them turn out great, every time!
What Kind of Meat is Chicken Fried Steak. Chicken fried steak uses cube steak.
What is Dredging. Dredging refers to dipping something in a series of milk, egg, and flour mixtures to create breading.
How To Keep Your Hands Clean Dredging Steak. We usually use a fork or tongs to dredge, but a lot of people like to use their hands dredging, and that works great too.
To keep your hands, or other tools from getting totally full of clumps when dredging, we recommend designating a dry hand and a wet hand. Only dip one hand in milk and egg mixtures, and use the other hand for flour.
How To Tell When Steak is Done. Steak is done when internal temperature reaches over 150 degrees Fahrenheit and batter is crispy and golden brown.
Preheat air fryer. We find it is always best to preheat air fryers before adding food to get the best results – you want a high heat to cook food fast, so preheat for at least 5-10 minutes.
Use nonstick spray. This recipe cleans up easily with nonstick spray – we find it was essential for keeping flour and batter from sticking to air fryer basket and coming off chicken fried steak as well. HOWEVER – some air fryer baskets are not recommended to use with
Shake off excess flour. Nobody likes too much flour and breading on a steak- shake off any excess.
Check steak temperature. Be sure to make sure steak reaches an internal temperature over 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
FAQs
Chicken fried steak is a dish made with a breaded and fried beef cutlet that is typically served with gravy.
To make air fryer chicken fried steak, coat the steak in a mixture of flour, spices, and egg, and then place it in the air fryer. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, flipping once, until the steak is crispy and cooked through.
Cooking chicken fried steak in an air fryer allows you to achieve a crispy, fried texture without using as much oil as traditional frying methods.
Chicken fried steak is typically made with a tenderized cut of beef, such as cube steak.
Air fryer chicken fried steak is typically served with gravy and sides such as mashed potatoes, green beans, or corn.
What to Serve With Air Fryer Chicken Fried Steak
Chicken fried steak is delicious served with soup, salad, vegetables, potatoes and other side dishes – it’s a really flexible, classic homestyle dinner.
We love serving chicken fried steak with Air Fryer Baked Potatoes, No Knead Bread, Whole Roasted Onions, Garlic Butter Roasted Potatoes, Roasted Tomatoes, or some of our favorite recent recipes:
You can find the rest of our easy side dish recipes in our complete side dish recipe index here.
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Air Fryer Chicken Fried Steak Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound cube steak – 4 large slices
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk, or 1 1/2 cups regular milk plus 1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
- ¼ cup hot sauce, optional
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Lay our three large plates with a deep rim (think pasta plate)
- Add milk and hot sauce to one bowl
- Add flour, 1/2 salt and pepper, herbs and spices to one bowl, mix well
- Add eggs and water to one bowl, beat until lightly foamy
- Remove cube steak from packaging and pat dry with paper towel
- Season generously with remaining half of salt and pepper
- Dredge steaks by dipping first in milk, then flour, then egg, and finally flour again to fully coat in breading. Shake off any excess flour.
- Open air fryer basket and spray nonstick cooking spray.
- Place steaks in air fryer and air fryer 10 minutes at 400 degrees F.
- Flip steaks and cook additional 5-10 minutes, until steaks are crispy golden brown and meat is 150 degrees internal temperature when read with a digital thermometer.
- Remove from air fryer, let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.
- Top with turkey or white gravy or chives.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looks good! I’m hoping to make this sometime this week. I didn’t see milk listed in the ingredients. Did you use buttermilk or regular? Thanks!
Woops, I fixed the recipe to add the quantity for buttermilk, see the note in there about mixing regular milk with some vinegar to make it into buttermilk. Enjoy!