Cubed Steak Casserole, with Rice

We eat a lot of chicken. We love chicken, so that isn’t a problem – in and of itself – but, sometimes I want to mix it up. Out of that desire, came this cubed steak casserole.

I decided that I would lightly dredge the cubed steak in a flour, salt and pepper mixture and lightly brown them, prior to putting them in the casserole.

The other items for this dish were: onion, rice, a packet of brown gravy mix, a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of green beans.

Once the cubed steaks were all browned (no need to cook through, as it will finish in the oven), I layered them in the bottom of my dutch oven.

In the skillet that I browned the cubed steak, I added in my chopped onions and rice. I stirred the rice and onions around to toast the rice a bit and to start to soften the onion – and, perhaps more importantly, to get any of the deliciousness that was left behind from pan frying the cubed steaks.

After the rice was toasted and the onions were starting to soften, I added in the cream of mushroom soup, 2 1/2 cans of water (use your soup can to measure), the brown gravy mix, salt and pepper and then the green beans. I just made sure to stir it for a bit, to get it all mixed well.

Then I just poured the rice mixture over the cubed steak that was already in the dutch oven. And added some extra salt and pepper to the top.

I covered the dutch oven (with the lid, but foil would work, if you cover it tightly) and put it into a preheated 375 degree oven. I let it cook for 1 hour, covered the entire time.

A couple of Notes / Thoughts about this recipe:

• Getting an appropriate portion of meat to rice mixture was difficult with using my dutch oven (because some of the steaks overlapped) – so use a dish that will allow for the cubed steak to form a single layer.
• Along those lines – cut your cubed steak to a serving size (if the steaks are more than you’d normal eat at one serving) prior to browning – this will make it easier to serve.
• While I added salt to this recipe (both in the flour mixture on the steak and in the rice mixture), it needed more salt. I’m not sure why, because the broth from the rice mixture tasted delicious. This said, I’m writing the recipe up to use more salt than I used when I initially made this recipe. Adjust to your taste.
• I added the green beans to make it a ‘one pot’ dish, with veggies included. I didn’t think so, but one of my family mentioned that they felt the green beans ‘overwhelmed’ the taste – feel free to leave out and serve on the side.

Cubed Steak Casserole

4-6 cubed steaks
1/2 cup flour (for dredging cubed steak)
1 tbsp salt (for dredging cubed steak)
1 tsp pepper (for dredging cubed steak)
2 tbsp olive oil

2 1/2 cups rice
1 can cream of mushroom soup (+ 2 1/2 cans water)
1 packet of brown gravy mix
1 onion, chopped
1 can green beans (drained)
1 tbsp salt (I added 1/2, but it needed more – adjust as you see fit)
1 tsp black pepper

• Combine flour, 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp pepper in a large bowl
• Dredge the steaks in the flour mixture
• In a hot pan, add olive oil
• Brown the steaks on both side (no need to cook through)
• Layer cubed steak on bottom of baking dish
• In same skillet, add onions and rice – allow to cook until onion starts to soften
• Add in soup, water, gravy mix, green beans, salt and pepper
• Pour rice mixture over steaks
• Cover baking dish and cook for 1 hour in 375 degree oven