What is Cube Steak? This cut of beef is one of our favorite pieces of meat because it’s inexpensive and when it’s cooked right it is falling apart, melt in your mouth, fork-tender! Let me show you how it works!
We raise our own beef. In fact, we have an appointment to deliver a couple finished steers to the butcher next week. One of the benefits of taking your own meat to the butcher is you get to tell them how you want the meat to be cut and wrapped.
We always ask them to make two-pound packages of hamburger because it just works for us. We like our steaks packaged 5 to a package because that’s how many are in our family. And we always request them to make plenty of cubed steaks!
What is cube steak?
Cube steak is sometimes called cubed steak, or swiss steak. You might have heard of them referred to as “minute steaks” which is actually a Canadian term for cubed steaks.
What cut of meat is cube steak made of? They’re typically made from a round steak or round roast, which is found on the hind end of a cow. Cube steaks can also be made with beef from the chuck, or shoulder, portion of the cow. Really, a butcher can make cube steaks from any meat on the animal, but they’re typically made with tougher cuts of meat.
They are thin cuts of meat that have been run through a mechanical tenderizer before you buy them. The tenderizing process makes them have a rough texture that has little indentions in it.
Most of the time these steaks are made with beef but can be made from pork, deer, or elk too.
Cheap cuts of beef
Cube steaks are an inexpensive cut of beef which makes them a great choice if you’re living on a budget…and who isn’t! They’re less expensive than prime cuts of meat because they don’t have a great ration of marbling and can’t be thrown on the grill like some cuts.
Even though they are cheap, they are still delicious and a great option for families.
How to tenderize cube steak without a mallet
Of course, if you have a meat mallet it will work great for tenderizing cubed steaks. Not to worry though! I don’t own a meat mallet because I don’t want to store one more big bulky kitchen gadget! I’ve been tenderizing cube steak with a big knife for years and it works great. Let me show you step by step how to do it!
STEP 1: Lay meat on a cutting board.
STEP 2: Sprinkle meat with a little bit of all-purpose flour and a dash of salt and pepper. Feel free to experiment with seasonings. Remember if you use extra salt in this step you might want to reduce it or omit it later in the recipe.
STEP 3: Pound each piece of steak with a large knife. You can use a serrated knife, or not. It really doesn’t matter. Just use the cutting edge and pound, pound, pound. You want to whack the meat hard enough to leave indentions about 1/8″ deep. Be careful to not cut it all the way through.
STEP 4: Flip the meat over and repeat steps 1-3 on the other side.
After going through this quick and easy, extra tenderizing process the steaks are ready to be used in any recipe.
Cube Steak Recipes
Want to know how to cook cube steak? My very favorite way is in the slow cooker. After hours of being in the crockpot, it really breaks down and is extra tender! My favorite recipe using cube steak is my Crock Pot Cube Steak in Gravy! It’s so easy and amazingly delicious!
Another great way to cook cube steak is to thaw the meat just until you can cut it with a sharp knife. Cut it into thin strips, let it completely thaw, and use it instead of round steak in my Sweet and Spicy Beef recipe. I also use cube steak in my Slow Cooker Beef Stew!
Or course you can also use it to make Chicken Fried Steak too or sandwiches too!
Lee Sanyos says
Minute steaks and cube steaks are not the same thing or come from the same part. Minute steaks are usually rib eye meat, set up for cheesesteak. It is not the same for cube steak. With 2 parents farming in GA, SC and FL, we bought a side of beef every year growing up in Philly with 5 kids and I loved cube steak. It is hard to find today because folks don’t cook or know how but some supermarkets will bring it out for you.
Jessica says
If you buy them already ran through a cuber, I tend to cut them in half when I get home. Then sandwich them all out between two pieces of wax paper on the counter and pound them even thinner with the open end of an old glass cheerwine bottle. That’s how my grandma taught me lol. Usually they’ll flatten out and be almost as big around as before you cut it. Plus they’re more tender, fry faster, and go further for feeding a small crowd.
Jenny Vinson says
I cut meat in Rochester, NY and we packaged minute steaks AND cube steak! The minute steaks were thin slices and not cubed! Minute steaks were “quickly” cooked for sandwiches. Bottom line is it doesn’t matter who heard of them or who hasn’t. It’s how they’re cooked and served and does your family enjoy it!
One way, slow cooked with garlic in sautéed onions and brown gravy with mashed potatoes, mushrooms. Use your imagination, recipes are just guides! Enjoy
Amy Engberson says
I agree 100%! You can call it whatever you want! This cube steak recipe is always a hit with my family so we’ll keep making it and calling it whatever we want!
Cindy says
Best cube steak recipe I’ve come across . This is the only recipe that delivered butter soft ( and tasty ) cube steaks .
Amy Engberson says
I agree! The steaks really are buttery soft and so flavorful! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Alan says
Live in Kentucky for 55 years, always heard these called minute steaks.
Not sure how grandma cooked them besides flour, salt, pepper but they were always tender and not from a butcher.
Amy Engberson says
This is definitely a recipe that grandmas used to make! That’s the best kind of recipes!
Timothy says
Cube steak in my part of the world was with great reverence we called it COUNTRY STYLE STEAK , along with lots of onions and brown gravy, of course biscuits
Our beef was never tuff, but the beef we get today has no taste at all , I guess all good things come to and end
Amy Engberson says
We raise our own beef and our cube steaks are always fantastic! I haven’t bought them from the store for a long time though! I’m sorry to hear you haven’t been able to find good ones.
Terri Chapman says
Who cares what it’s called! It’s not worth sniping over. When I was a kid they were minute steaks and now they’re beef cube steaks. They’re all good.
Amy Engberson says
Thank you! I 100% agree with you! They’re delicious…the end of the story!
Teresa says
Maybe Minute steaks got it’s name from some sweet granny who said “I can make these steaks it only takes a “minute”. When my kids were little they couldn’t say Parmesan cheese. So we called it “shakey “
Cheese. They are grown now and we still call it that and any of their friends that we still see do the same. You just never know.
Amy Engberson says
That could be true! It’s funny how traditions like that stick!
John C. says
We bought some cube steak at our local Kroger.
I tried cooking it a couple different ways. It was stringy, gristly & INEDIBLE meat!!!
Are there any tips for finding GOOD cube steaks, by sight, at a grocery store???
I know… I know, “find a reputable butcher”, but we don’t have that option in our city.
Amy Engberson says
Yes, starting with a good cut of meat is typically the biggest secret to ending up with an amazing meal. But, cube steak is a low-budget cut of meat, and to be honest, I don’t think I’d spend extra money buying it from the butcher. The trick to making perfect cube steak is cooking it low and slow so that it has time to break down. Hopefully, that helps!
John C. says
Thanks for your timely reply!
Unfortunately, NONE of the Chicken Fried Steak recipes I’ve seen call for “low and slow”. They all recommend 2-4 minutes per side, take them out & start making gravy.
Low & slow might work for something like Swiss Steak, but we LOVE Chicken Fried Steak, when it’s good & it’s the only reason we buy it.
Amy Engberson says
I agree! Making chicken fried steak is time-consuming and can’t be made low and slow, and that’s why I don’t make it very often.
Judy T says
I feel you have to tenderize it further after purchase. Tenderize with knife or mallet like described here. I also think restaurants use meat tenderizer before cooking and in my opinion there’s no shame in that. We can’t always control what kind of meat we’re buying.
Jessica says
If you really don’t want to cube it yourself, get an eye round roast or London’s or rump’s when they’re on sale and ask them to slice and cube it for you. They usually run it through at least twice, but you ask for a third time. The eye round were my fave, good portions and no gristle streak.
Amy Engberson says
Thanks for the tips!
Johnny Wilson says
“You might have heard of them referred to as “minute steaks” which is actually a Canadian term for cubed steaks.”
They’ve been called minute steaks all across the US for decades. It wasn’t until two or three years ago when I first heard of “cubed steaks”… and some say “cube steaks” and no one knows what they are….
Oh, that’s because most people in the US had been calling them ‘minute steaks’…
Why make a big deal out of them? They are a low budget meal, they aren’t anything special by any means.
Amy Engberson says
I’m not sure how I made a big deal out of them. I’ve been eating this cut of meat my whole life and have always referred to them as cubed steak. I agree with you, they are a low-budget cut of meat. If you cook them right they are delicious though!
Susan says
I grew up in CT and we always called them cubed steaks.
Amy Engberson says
You can call them whatever you like! They still taste the same!
Libby says
Why be rude??
I’m in the US and I’ve NEVER heard cube steaks be called “minute steaks” . That’s a pretty big generalization you’re making.
Thank you, Amy, for showing me how I can make my own cube steaks at a discounted price. I’ll be trying this soon.
Amy Engberson says
Right! I totally agree with you! You’ll love cube steaks, regardless of what you call them!
Christina says
Bless his heart! I’m gonna go with he does not live in the South. I have never heard them called minute steak. Never and I travel a bit. I would probably not order it in the “uppers” even if I did see it. Why mess with perfection:)
Anyway thanks for the recipe.
Amy Engberson says
It’s good to know I’m not crazy! I’ve always called them cube steak, or cubed steak. Either way, they’re delicious!
Jack R. says
What are “minute steaks?” I’m 73 years old and have never heard of “minute steaks.” I’ve lived in the north, south, east and west. Now, I have heard and have cooked cubed steaks. Thank you for being so righteous and self-absorbed. When you publish a cookbook, or raise cattle on a farm, how about then you return to give your opinion? I appreciated everything I learned from pitchforkfoodie.
Amy Engberson says
I guess the term “minute steaks” really isn’t that popular! Thanks for taking the time to stop and leave an uplifting comment! You made my day!
Darla says
I am from Indiana and we always called them minute steaks. a little milk tenderized and floured fry and cooked in gravy. With mashed potatoes. The grocery store calls them cube steak. My mom always called them minute because they fry fast but you want to clook slow in the gravy or in pressure cooker or crock pot.
Melissa says
Wow, I’m 50 and have been eating them all my life, and have always been called cube steak. I’m going to try this tenderizing method and see if it helps. I’ve been wondering how they will do in the instant pot
Amy Engberson says
It doesn’t matter what they’re called, they’re still the same thing! I can’t wait for you to try this tenderizing method. They literally fall apart! I’m not sure how it would work to make them in the pressure cooker because there might not be enough liquid to make it build enough pressure to seal. Maybe you could add a little water to the bottom of the pot?
Jeanne Q Public says
Still looking for a way to cook cube steak in the oven *without gravy*.
Amy Engberson says
Cube steaks are a little on the tougher side. Cooking them with gravy helps tenderize them and add flavor. You could make Chicken fried steak out of them. Or, maybe you could try baking them in a BBQ sauce (maybe that’s too close to gravy?) I’ll brainstorm and see what I can come up with!
Margaret Brown says
I season my cubesteaks with Garlic Salt & Pepper pan fry them for a couple mins on each side then transfer them to a baking dish and pour alittle beef stock in and cover them with aluminum foil and bake for 1&1/2 hours then pull out and top with Mushrooms & Swiss cheese which I have sauted fresh mushrooms (You can use canned),but fresh is so much better lol & pop back in oven until cheese melts and Yum they are so delicious…My family begs me to make them all the time lol. You can also take the liquid from the pan and make gravy for mashed potatoes if you’d like
Amy Engberson says
Thanks for sharing! That sounds amazing. I can’t wait to try it with the cube steaks I have in the freezer!
Gina Dee says
Can you tell me oven temperature please?
Amy Engberson says
Check out my favorite Cube Steak recipe that’s made in a slow cooker! I think it’s the best way to make cube steak!
C. Manning says
Minute steaks have become a regular part of our menu now that our children are grown–it is an easy meal to make for just 2 people.
Amy Engberson says
I’m glad you’re enjoying them! I love how easy it is to make enough to feed a crowd, or just enough for 2!
James says
Yes very much helpful
Amy Engberson says
Cube steak is one of my favorites because it’s inexpensive and perfect for the slow cooker!