Country Fried Venison Recipe

I’m not going to lie, I never held a high opinion of country fried steak (aka chicken fried steak) until fairly recently. I think it was because the dishes I had eaten growing up were cooked to death, with extra heavy breading and white gravy that tasted like it came in a packet. It just tasted like fried flour with chewy meat holding it together. Luckily for me, I had the opportunity to try much better versions of this Southern classic over the years, and the dish has grown on me a lot. It’s such a different approach to how I generally cook red meats that it’s become a novel treat.

Traditionally, country fried steak is basically cubed beef steak (lean steak, mechanically tenderized) breaded and fried the same way you would chicken. Because of this cooking method, it's easy for the meat to be overcooked before the breading is crisp, which leads to a chewy eating experience. And while I generally like chewy foods, chewy well done red meat is not my thing.

What I do with my country fried steak is keep the breading thin, and the oil hot. This allows the breading to brown and get crispy fast while minimizing the amount of time the meat is swimming in hot oil. I fry these steaks at 375F and use extra fine rice flour which gets crispy faster than all purpose flour. The venison is still juicy when it comes out of the oil, and if you cut into it right away it might even have a touch of color to it, but it’ll settle into a well done color by the time it's cool enough to eat. That being said, it's best eaten hot.

I drain the oil from the pan, add some butter and flour to the drippings and make a white gravy, heavy on the black pepper. Serve with your favorite Southern fixins.

Country Fried Venison Steak Recipe

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs venison backstrap, trimmed of silverskin and connective tissue (top round and bottom round would also work well)

2 cups extra fine rice flour

2 eggs

1 cup milk

Method

Trim backstrap and cut across the grain into ½” thick medallions. Tenderize both sides of each medallion with the textured side of a meat mallet until approximately 3/16” thick. Tip: sandwich the meat between plastic wrap to avoid splatter and work from the center of each medallion outwards.

Put the rice flour in a mixing bowl and beat the eggs and milk in a separate bowl to make an egg wash.

Preheat ~¾” of frying oil in a heavy pan. Season the venison with salt and pepper, dredge in rice flour, shake off excess. Dip in egg wash, shake off excess and dredge in rice flour again.

Fry until just golden on the edges (~30-45 seconds), flip and cook for another 30-45 seconds. Make sure to not crowd the pan. Remove and allow to drain on a wire rack or paper towel lined plate, and avoid stacking them to keep them crispy. Work in small batches and allow the oil to come back up to temperature before starting another round.

When it’s done, I drain the oil from the pan, add equal parts butter and flour to the drippings and make a white gravy, heavy on the black pepper. Serve with your favorite Southern fixins.