Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich Recipe

Servings: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour minutes

for the bird sauce:
¾ cup|160 grams mayonnaise, preferably Duke’s
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons hot sauce, preferably Crystal
1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the coleslaw:
½ cup|113 grams mayonnaise, preferably Duke’s
¼ cup|60 ml white vinegar
½ head green cabbage, very thinly sliced (about 1 pound|455 grams)
¼ medium white onion, thinly sliced (about 2 ounces|55 grams)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the chicken-fried steak:
2 (1 ½-inch) thick New York strip steaks (about 1 pound|454 grams each)
2 cups|295 grams all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 ½ teaspoons granulated garlic
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chicken powder, plus more to taste
½ teaspoon onion powder
2 cups|500 ml buttermilk
canola oil, for frying

to serve:
1 loaf white bread, sliced into 8 (1-inch) thick pieces
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup|160 grams pepper jelly
3 dill pickles, sliced into rounds

1. Make the sauce: Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cover. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Make the coleslaw: Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cover. Refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Prepare the chicken-fried steak: Half the steak crosswise, then turn the meat on its side and thinly slice it into thirds. Using the pokey side of a meat tenderizer, beat the steaks into super flat pieces. It’s ok if they look all gnarly and stuff with holes. Don’t even worry about that. Set them aside on a plate and refrigerate while you heat your oil and prepare your dredge.
4. Heat 2-inches oil in a large saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°F. Mix the flour, salt, granulated garlic, paprika, black pepper, chicken powder, and onion powder together in a large bowl. Place the buttermilk in a separate large bowl. Working with one piece of meat at a time, dredge it in the flour mixture, then drop it in the buttermilk. Coat it completely, then drop it back into the dredge. Place on a plate and repeat with two more pieces of meat. Fry the steaks, flipping once, until golden on each side, 2 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack set over a baking sheet and season with the chicken powder. Repeat in batches of 3 until all your meat is fried. Keep warm.
5. Butter both sides of each piece of bread and toast in a large skillet over medium heat until golden on each side, 2 minutes. Don’t lay the bread flat on your work surface while you toast the rest! Stand it up and rest them against one another to form a teepee so that they don’t steam and go soggy!
6. To assemble your sandwich, spread pepper jelly on the bottom piece of bread and top with an even layer of the coleslaw. Top with a piece of steak and then some pickles. Spread an even layer of the bird sauce on the inside of the top piece of bread and smash down on the chicken before slicing in half and eating it!

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