Chicken Fried Hamburger with White Gravy is an inexpensive ground beef recipe that’s pure comfort food. Serve over mashed potatoes for a delicious southern meal.
Ground beef patties are dipped in buttermilk and dredged in a flour/cornmeal mixture seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.
The patties only need about 3 to 4 minutes to fry per side.
Recommended Equipment
A cast iron skillet is best for frying because it retains heat so well.
Easy White Gravy
After the hamburger steaks are cooked, use a third a cup of the oil, plus the browned bits to make a milk gravy. I like a thick gravy, but you can make a thinner gravy by adding more milk. Be sure to season well with salt and pepper.
Chicken Fried Hamburger Steak is very similar to Chicken Fried Steak made with cubed steak. The batter forms a nice, flavorful coating around the hamburger patty.
Make It Spicy
If you want to make this recipe spicy, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the gravy.
How To Serve Chicken Fried Hamburger with White Gravy
Serve with mashed potatoes and peas or green beans for a complete southern meal. Some Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins or Yeast Rolls are a great addition too..
Similar Recipes To Try
- Chicken Fried Steak Fingers
- Chicken Fried Steak
- Cubed Steak with Onion Gravy
- Chicken Fried Steak with Jalapeno Bacon Gravy
- Southern Fried Chicken Breasts with Cremini Sweet Onion Gravy
Chicken Fried Hamburger with White Gravy
Equipment
Ingredients
Dredge
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup yellow or white cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Chicken Fried Hamburger
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups buttermilk
- Vegetable oil, for frying
White Gravy
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for dredge in a shallow dish and mix well.
- Mix the 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper into ground beef. Divide ground beef into 8 equal pieces and flatten into 1/2-inch thick patties.
- Pour buttermilk into a shallow bowl.
- Dredge patties in dredge mixture, dip in buttermilk, and then dredge a second time, making sure they are coated well.
- Pour 1/2-inch of oil in a deep cast iron skillet (or another type of skillet). Heat oil to 350 degrees.
- Fry 4 pieces at a time, cooking for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
- Repeat with remaining 4 patties. If desired you can keep the first 4 warm in a 200 degree oven.
- To make gravy, pour excess oil out of the pan, leaving 1/3 cup of oil and the browned bits in the pan.
- Add flour and place over medium heat. Whisk for 1 minute.Whisk in milk, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook until thick and bubbly. If you want the gravy thinner, add a little more milk.
Notes
Want to Save This Recipe?
Recipe adapted from Taste of the South
Originally published August 29, 2018.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Man, novice cook here. He made it just how I like it. Thank you
Made this tonight!! What a hit!! I did make my patties pretty thin, so I cooked it about 2.5min on each side. I didn’t have butter milk but I found online you can use lemon juice with regular milk and it’s pretty much the same thing. The patties did fall apart (I made them thin) when I put them in the “buttermilk” but it was fine. Very flavorful recipe, thanks for sharing!!
This was delicious. I didn’t have buttermilk or milk. I quickly Google a substitute for buttermilk. Thank you internet : ). I used the last of my sourcream and used water to thin it out a bit (3/4cup sourcream to 1/3 cup water, add slowly to check consistency) Worked perfect and tasted great. The kids ate it all and thought it was a fancy meal ; ) . It’s going into my rotation. Paired it with mashed potatoes and corn. I didnt have $$ to go grocery shopping so used everything I had and worked out perfect. Thank you for sharing.
After dredging it’s best to let them sit for about 30 minutes. That way the coating doesn’t separate from the meat!,
If I have NO buttermilk what else can I substitute for it??
Thx a ton, want to make w/eggs this morning!!!
I made this tonight for my Bama boy husband and it was quite the hit! I received not one but two thumbs up along with 4 compliments and 3 “thank you, Baby”. I served it with mashed potatoes and instead of peas I had made some pea salad earlier in the day. Thanks for a great recipe that allowed me to make one husband very happy.
Exactly what country fried steak should be
My husband made this and
It turned out great!
Do you know if this recipe could be made ahead of time and refrigerated until frying?
This was an awesome new recipe for hamburger meat. Never better then anything country fried. I used a high walled shallow dish and only used about 3/4 cup buttermilk.
This is a new family favorite! I added a little more garlic, pepper and salt. I will be making this again.
Fix these hamburger steaks as directed…at the slotted time. And temp. Breading was semi burnt and meat was bloody . Had to cook the on the oven . Which dried them out. So disappointed, my family was so looking forward to this meal.
Don’t blame the recipe
Thanks for the comment. Thatn was a very nice way to say what I have thought for a long time
🤮🤮🤮
You gave this recipe one star and 3 🤮 emojis, but no explanations. It would be beneficial and cordial if you gave an explanation for this rating.
Thanks!
I agree that this recipe is delicious! My only complaint is that I ended up throwing out a LOT of the dredge mixture – and that was after using 1/3 cup of it plus the left over buttermilk to make the gravy. I think you could cut the dredge recipe in half and still have enough.
When ever I have leftover coating of any kind, I put in a ziplock bag, write on it what its for, put it in the freezer and use it again next time.
This is a terrible idea. That is a breeding ground for cross contamination. And very unsafe. It’s not worth the chance to save a few cents. Because flour and most spices can be bought cheaply.
I always mix the wet and dry ingredients to make a dough and fry little crunches.
Made this tonight and it was amazing. I didn’t have baking powder so I omitted it and it still turned out good. Will make again. Thank you for the recipe.
I shaped it into wieners and put on toasted hot dog buns topped with gravy.
I love your recipes but, can you include nutrition values? Hubby is on a strict low sodium And potassium diet.
I don’t think you need nutritional values to know this is NOT low sodium….
Made it just like you said and it was delicious. I used venison burger.
You can use any spices you want. I use Mrs. Dash garlic and herb (salt free). Delish !
What % of ground beef would someone recommend? TIA
I would suggest 80/20 but not above 90/10.
This is a keeper! So delicious!
This recipe is to die for! We gobbled it up!
I used Elk burger and it was incredible!
Ooooo mama, Elk burger patties you say??? Now that sounds down right delicious!