This chopped steak with mushroom gravy is surprisingly easy to make. It starts with a flavorful cut of grass-fed steak that you’ll quickly sauté in a hot skillet before smothering the tender pieces with a homemade mushroom and onion gravy. Yum!
Chopped steak is a wonderful dish to make when you have a more economical and less marbled cut of beef, such as skirt, flank or sirloin tip.
My chopped steak recipe also works really well with cubed steak. These leaner cuts of beef benefit from a quick sauté in a hot skillet and a rich gravy.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Grass-Fed Steak (Skirt, Flank or Sirloin Tip)
I’m cooking with a beautiful grass-fed skirt steak from a cattle farm here in southwest Florida. Their beef is grass-fed and finished, raised on pasture and stays out of the conventional factory farming ecosystem.
I purchase this grass-fed beef from the farmers market. If you need help finding grass-fed and pasture raised beef, check out my detailed article that covers 6 ways to find 100% grass-fed beef.
Beef Gravy
You can make a simple beef gravy in under 10 minutes using low-sodium beef broth and a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. I show you how to do it in my post about how to make gravy.
Mushrooms and Onion
For the mushroom gravy you’ll need 8 ounces of cremini mushrooms (aka Baby Bella) and half a medium yellow onion. For this dish I prefer cremini mushrooms over regular white button mushrooms. Cremini mushrooms have more flavor and their firmness holds up well when cooking.
How to Make Chopped Steak with Mushroom Gravy
1. Prepare and cook the mushrooms and onion
Cut half a medium yellow onion into small pieces.
Gently rinse, then slice the mushrooms. Medium and large mushrooms should be cut in half then sliced.
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
When the oil is warm, add the onions and cook until they have started to get soft.
At this point, add the cut mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry them together with the onion. If the pan is dry, add a half teaspoon of oil.
2. Make the mushroom gravy
While the mushrooms and onions are cooking, gently warm 2 cups of beef gravy in a small pot.
Add the cooked mushrooms and onions to the gravy and stir well to incorporate.
Reduce the heat to very low while you prepare the steak.
2. Season and chop the steak
If you’re making chopped steak with skirt steak, and your butcher hasn’t already, remove the membrane first. There will also be a good bit of surface fat visible. I like to leave most of it for flavor and moisture.
Pat both sides of the steak dry with a paper towel. Then season each side with 2 pinches of coarse kosher salt and 5 twists of a pepper mill.
Next, slice the length of your skirt, flank or sirloin tip steak into shorter 2-inch wide sections like this:
Your steak is now ready to chop into pieces. It’s important to cut steak against (perpendicular to) the grain of the muscle. This breaks up the muscle fibers (the grain) and results in a more tender meat.
The muscle fibers in a skirt steak are easy to notice and they run top to bottom in the photo above.
Always chop your steak against the grain of the muscle!
Slice each section against the grain to create pieces of tender chopped steak. Like this:
Repeat the process of slicing each section against the grain into half-inch pieces.
4. Sauté the chopped steak
Heat a large frying pan or wok to medium high. Add a teaspoon of oil. When it’s hot, quickly add the pieces of chopped steak and stir briskly and frequently while they sauté.
The chopped steak will be ready in 5 to 10 minutes depending on how well done you like it. For this chopped steak recipe I prefer the steak medium well. If I were grilling, my choice is always medium rare.
5. Smother with mushroom and onion gravy
When the chopped steak is done cooking, pour the mushroom gravy over top in the frying pan and stir to combine. Let the steak and gravy simmer together for just a couple minutes and it’s ready to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
What cuts of beef can I use to make this chopped steak recipe?
Recipes like this one that involve a quick sauté over high heat and a gravy are best-suited for inexpensive cuts of meat that have less marbling. You can make chopped steak with flank steak, skirt steak, sirloin tip or cubed steak.
What’s the difference between chopped steak and cubed steak?
Chopped steak is any steak that you’ve chopped into pieces. Cubed steak (or cube steak) is steak that has been run through a mechanical tenderizer by the butcher. Cubed steak is made from an inexpensive, firm cut of beef.
I know it sounds like cubed steak is steak that is pre-cut into cubes. But it isn’t.
If you’re making this chopped steak recipe with cubed steak, you’ll still need to chop it into pieces.
Can I make steak with mushroom gravy with cubed steak?
Absolutely yes you can make this recipe with cubed steak and I have! One of the local cattle farmers that I buy grass-fed beef from sells delicious cubed steak and I’ve made it with this same mushroom gravy a number of times. It’s delicious!
What to Serve with Chopped Steak
Chopped steak with mushroom gravy is delicious served over roasted potatoes. The gravy also pairs well with mashed potatoes if you prefer.
For a side of vegetables I recommend my sautéed green beans or honey-roasted carrots.
Sautéed Green Beans with Garlic
A quick side dish that you can whip up and serve with chopped steak. They’re crunchy, garlicky and so easy to make. Once you have sautéed green beans, you’ll never go back to boiled.
Honey-roasted carrots are easy to make, impressive to serve and done in less than 30 minutes. They go well with chopped steak.
Chopped Steak with Mushroom Gravy (Skirt or Flank)
Ingredients
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms
- 1/2 medium yellow onion
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 cups beef gravy (see notes for the recipe)
- 1 lb grass-fed steak (skirt, flank, sirloin tip or cubed)
- 4 pinches coarse kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Cut half a medium yellow onion into small pieces.
- Gently rinse, then slice the mushrooms. Medium and large mushrooms should be cut in half then sliced.
- Heat a teaspoon of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add the onions and cook until they have started to get soft.
- At this point, add the cut mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry them together with the onion. If the pan is dry, add a half teaspoon of oil.
- While the mushrooms and onions are cooking, gently warm 2 cups of beef gravy in a small pot. Add the cooked mushrooms and onions to the gravy and stir well to incorporate. Reduce the heat to very low while you prepare the steak.
- Slice the steak against the grain into 2-inch by half-inch pieces. How to cut steak against the grain.
- Heat a large frying pan or wok to medium high. Add a teaspoon of oil. When it’s hot, quickly add the pieces of chopped steak and stir briskly and frequently while they sauté.
- When the chopped steak is done cooking, pour the mushroom gravy over top in the frying pan and stir to combine. Let the steak and gravy simmer together for just a few minutes and it’s ready to serve.
Notes
- Prep time refers to slicing the onion and mushrooms and chopping the steak.
- Cook time: If you sauté the steak at the same time as the mushrooms and onions, you’ll shave 10 minutes off the listed cook time.
Leave a Reply