Growing up in the Midwest, cube steak was a common staple in our house. As a child, I found the pulverized meat somewhat repulsive and hard to chew. The only way to get it down my throat was to mix it into a pile of mashed potatoes slathered in brown gravy.
As an adult, I found cube steak to be an affordable solution to steak. The only way I knew how to prepare the meat was to coat in flour and deep fry, turning it into chicken fried steak. Over the years, I’ve tried a variety of cube steak recipes and have found that round steak can be exceptionally tasty if properly prepared.
Marlboro Man’s Favorite Sandwich
If you love steak sandwiches, you must try the Marlboro Man’s Favorite Sandwich recipe presented at PioneerWoman.com. They call it the Marlboro Man for a reason. If eaten more than once or twice a year, this sandwich could potentially clog your arteries. But, is it ever good!
The recipe includes a lot of butter, along with sautéed onions, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Cube steaks are sliced against the grain, browned in butter, tossed with onions and sauces, and served on buttered and grilled deli rolls.
If you want to go all out in the grease department, serve with homemade potato chips. This meal takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and is certain to please the man of the house. Cost is about $2.00 per sandwich.
Grilled Cube Steaks and Peppers with Plank Potatoes
Summer is the perfect time to serve grilled cube steaks and peppers with plank potatoes recipe provided by Woman’s Day magazine. Cube steaks, peppers and potatoes marinate in a zesty combination of garlic, cumin and cider vinegar for at least an hour. I make this recipe the night before I plan to serve it to fully infuse the flavors.
Everything is cooked on the grill, making cleanup a breeze. The potatoes require about 20 minutes on the grill, while the peppers are grilled for 8 to 10 minutes, and cube steaks grilled for about 3 minutes per side.
With the high cost of peppers, grilled cube steak and peppers is a little more expensive than other recipes presented here, but is still highly affordable at about $4.00 per serving. Keep in mind this is a complete entrée and is quite filling. This meal has become one of my family’s favorite comfort foods.
Cube Steak Casserole
Casserole lovers will appreciate the simplicity of cube steak casserole recipe provided by The Serendipity Bistro. Cube steak is combined with dry onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, and rice than baked for one hour.
The original cube steak recipe called for dredging steaks in flour and browning in a skillet prior to placing in the casserole dish. I altered the recipe by grilling the steaks for three minutes per side, which provided a smoky flavor that my family enjoyed. Cube steak casserole takes about 15 minutes to prepare and one hour to bake. This is a hardy meal that can be made for about $2.00 per serving.
Italian Style Cube Steak Milanese
One of our favorite cube steak recipes is Cube Steak Milanese; an Italian-inspired recipe presented at FoodNetwork.com. This tasty dish combines cube steak coated in a breadcrumb and Parmesan cheese mixture. It is served over a bed of baby arugula with Roma tomatoes and fresh basil, but can also be added to pasta or rice. Cube Steak Milanese can be prepared in less than an hour and costs about $2.50 per serving.
Grilled Cube Steak Rollups
Try serving grilled cube steak rollups at your next party and watch everyone’s mouth drop when you tell them it is cube steak. These delicious morsels are great for entertaining, but chances are they will be gobbled up quickly, so make plenty.
Grilled cube steak rollups use four ingredients: cube steak, steak marinade, cream cheese and bacon. The original recipes calls for Moore’s marinade, but I substituted Dale’s low-sodium steak sauce.
Steaks are marinated for 10 to 15 minutes. A layer of cream cheese is applied, than steaks are rolled up and wrapped in bacon and grilled for 8 to 10 minutes. They can be served whole or cut into bite-size slices. When served as bite-size appetizers, cost is approximately 15 cents each, while a whole roll hovers around $1.50.
Sources:
Marlboro Man’s Favorite Sandwich – http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/marlboro_mans_f/
Woman’s Day Grilled Cube Steak and Peppers with Plank Potatoes – http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Grilled-Cube-Steaks-Peppers-with-Potato-Planks-Recipe
The Serendipity Bistro Cube Steak Casserole – http://www.theserendipitybistro.com/2008/12/cube-steak-casserole.html
Cube Steak Milanese from The Food Network – http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/eating-well/cube-steak-milanese-recipe/index.html
Grilled Cube Steak Rollups – http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Grilled-Cubed-Steak-Rollups-29255
