comfort/meat/recipes/sides/snacks

Crispy Chicken Fried Steak Bites with White Wine Sausage Gravy

Posted April 22, 2015 by Stephanie
chicken fried steak bites recipe - www.iamafoodblog.com

chicken fried steak bites recipe - www.iamafoodblog.com

chicken fried steak bites recipe - www.iamafoodblog.com

chicken fried steak bites recipe - www.iamafoodblog.com

chicken fried steak bites recipe - www.iamafoodblog.com chicken fried steak bites recipe - www.iamafoodblog.com

chicken fried steak bites recipe - www.iamafoodblog.com

Warmer weather on the horizon means that Mike and I are planning on heading out to our patio more, which means drinks and nibbles as the nights start to get longer. I hardly ever (read: never) drink without having something to snack on and even though I’m not the biggest indulger, I absolutely love coming up with drink pairings. There’s something so satisfying about figuring out what goes with what.

I partnered up with Dark Horse Wine to bring you this unexpected pairing of Sauvignon Blanc with crispy, crunchy chicken fried steak bites and white wine sausage gravy. Their light, crisp, refreshing white is the perfect foil against deep-fried deliciousness. All of their wines are under $10, so they’re perfect value for money.

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I’m still not sure why battered, deep-fried steak is called chicken-fried. I kind of get it, but at the same time, deep-fried steak makes sense to me too. Regardless, chicken fried steak is delicious. I had the chance to have the real deal (I hope!) while I was in Dallas last year and I was absolutely smitten. So smitten that I had two chicken fried steaks in under 24 hours. It was okay though because I was only in town for two days, so really, it just meant that I ate one for lunch one day, and then again the next.

As much as I love the knife and fork aspect of chicken fried steak, I wanted to create a more bar-style snack to go with the Sauvignon Blanc. It wasn’t much of a stretch for me to create steak bites, seeing as I am absurdly obsessed with miniature foods. Most people don’t think of Sauvignon Blanc as something to have with bar snacks, but I really liked the contrast of the delicate citrus notes paired with the in-your-face flavor of the steak bites.

This is my kind of steak: bite-sized, deep-fried, dip-able, and delicious. Cheers to Spring!

Bite Sized Chicken Fried Steak
serves 2


  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 lb top round cube steak, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons potato starch or cornstarch
  • 1/8 teaspoon each of: paprika, garlic powder, cayenne
  • 2 tablespoons buttermilk
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • oil for frying (I like grapeseed or rice bran)

Preheat the oven to 250°F.

Season the steak cubes generously with salt and pepper.

In a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, potato starch and spices. Whisk the buttermilk into the flour. This helps create extra crunchy bits. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can skip this step. In another shallow bowl, lightly whisk the egg.

Toss the steak cubes into the flour mix, then the whisked egg, then back into the flour. Let floured steak pieces rest on a plate/tray while you heat up your oil – it helps with crunch.

Place a cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet lined with paper towels. Heat an inch of oil in a high-sided, heavy bottomed pot or skillet over medium high heat until oil reaches 350°F.

Fry the steak pieces, being careful not to crowd the pan, until deeply golden brown and crispy, about 5-6 minutes, flipping if needed. Drain the steak bites on your prepared rack and keep warm in the oven while you make your gravy.

Inspired by: The Candid Appetite

Sausage White Wine Gravy
makes about 1 cup gravy


  • 1/4 pound sausage, removed from the casing
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 3/4 cups milk
  • salt and freshly ground pepper

Over medium-high heat, in heavy bottomed skillet, cook the sausage, breaking into pieces, until brown and cooked through. Sprinkle on the flour, stir and cook for a minute or two. Pour the wine into the pan in a slow stream, stirring constantly. Add the milk and cook, stirring frequently until the gravy thickens. Season with salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper. Enjoy hot.

This post was sponsored by Dark Horse Wine – follow them on Twitter and Instagram for other unexpected wine pairings. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that help keep I am a Food Blog up and running!

chicken fried steak bites recipe - www.iamafoodblog.com

22 Comments

  1. Crispy Avo on Joy’s blog , now crispy chicken on yours with gravy!!! I going to fry my self to fat food heaven. Thank goodness it is winter here soon! I can bulk up ;)

  2. My desk is now saturated by a pool of drool.

    Also, I am confused by chicken fried steak too. Not sure if it’s an American thing… but I would most likely expect to receive chicken…. then pleasantly surprised by the appearance of steak. Either way, yum.

  3. I heart the idea of doing a bite-size version! My husband orders chicken fried steak whenever we’re in the south and the sheer size of it always weirds me out…that plus the fact that he can eat the entire thing in about five minutes. But bite size is perfect!

    Also, I’m in complete agreement with you about the naming…we should propose changing its name to “fried steak” to the food naming committee. Because surely such a thing exists! xx

  4. omg. omg. yum.

    also, the point of drinking is to eat salty snacks, right? wait. maybe not.

  5. I am the same way; I never drink without a delicious nibble to go along with it. They each are part of the experience.

  6. My mouth is watering! These look delicious Steph.

  7. Um, yes, yes, to all of this!

  8. Jonathan Melendez says:

    Stephanie, we’re twins!!! It looks amazing! Awesome photographs….as always!!

  9. Abby says:

    These little bites are so cute, Steph! I just adore all your mini recipes. xoxo!

  10. Gaby says:

    I love that you added wine to the gravy! These bites look fantastic!

  11. Matt says:

    these look soooo good, I am afraid that if I cook them I wont be able to stop cooking them.

  12. Joe D says:

    Hi Steph – just cooked this recipe – HUGE HIT with the kids – BUT mine didn’t look as crispy as yours…its it dredge in flour, dip in egg, then back in flour? i only dredged in flour, then egg, and let rest on a baking sheet.

    thanks! joe d

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      oh my gosh, yes, flour, egg, then flour again! i’ve updated the recipe. thanks for letting me know! so happy your kids liked it anyway and hope you get a chance to make it again!

  13. Alexa Martin says:

    I am a fan of biscuits with sausage gravy, so I am totally in love with this appetizer (because biscuits are great, but often fried chicken > biscuits)! Also love the idea of using white wine to add another layer of flavor to the gray. Yum!

  14. The picture got me! They kind of look like walnuts, don’t they? Delicious, I must say.

  15. Chicken fried steak is one of my favorite meals. I will need to try these bites. They look fabulous and so does the gravy. Wine and gravy??? Yum!!!

  16. Reed says:

    This looks delicious im going to be using this in the future. P.S.
    LOVE THE VODKA

  17. AmyPete says:

    We raise our own beef so always looking for fun things to do with cube steak. I will say it took about 3 – 4 minutes to get to golden brown color and we thought it needed a bit more zip in flavor. May marinade the meat first and really increase the seasonings to 1 teaspoon instead of 1/8! Tasted good with BBQ sauce, and ranch. Was very easy. Just need to tweet for us

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

$(function(){ var trigger = $('.hamburger'), overlay = $('.overlay'), isClosed = false; trigger.click(function () { hamburger_cross(); }); function hamburger_cross() { if (isClosed == true) { overlay.hide(); trigger.removeClass('is-open'); trigger.addClass('is-closed'); isClosed = false; } else { overlay.show(); trigger.removeClass('is-closed'); trigger.addClass('is-open'); isClosed = true; } } $('[data-toggle="offcanvas"]').click(function () { $('#wrapper').toggleClass('toggled'); }); bindBehavior.subscribe(); });