Easy Slow Cooker Cube Steak

Tender slow cooker cube steak is a great dinner smothered with rich mushroom gravy and onions. Served with rice or noodles it’s a yummy family friendly meal. Once you fall in love with this, give our air fryer cube steak a whirl too.

Crock Pot Cubed Steak

Did your mom cook Crockpot steak too growing up too? Maybe because it was so cheap, or just because it was so good..we had this one pretty darned often.

Pure comfort food if you ask me, that is so tender you can cut it with a fork. When it comes to slow cooker beef recipe ideas we all love this is high on the list. Below is how to cook them thawed, we have another frozen cube steak recipe here if yours aren’t.

Let’s talk a little bit about slow cooking shall we?? First off I have a few different varieties and I love them all. Each one has an occasion to be used like….

1. This is my favorite 6 quart programmable one with a locking lid so it’s great for bringing to a potluck too.
2. If you just want to serve a few appetizers you should get this one that sit side by side one another.
3. I prefer not to use liners, but rather just spray olive oil inside before adding my food for easier cleanups.

Let me give you a peek of my pretty thang I bought recently. It goes with my kitchen so I can just leave it out on the countertop all the time. 😉

Crockpot Cube Steak Recipe

What is cube steak made of?

It is a cut of beef, usually top round or top sirloin. It’s tenderized and flattened by pounding with a meat tenderizer as you see here. You can also use an electric tenderizer.

The name refers to the shape of the indentations left by that process, called cubing.

• I’ve found it already pound out in the grocery store, but it just takes a few minutes to do yourself at home.
• Either way it comes out incredibly tender, especially if you make it in your slow cooker.

I bet once you too try it low and slow smothered in gravy you may never go back to any other method.

How do you tenderize cube steak?

If you want to tenderize and make cubed steak at home you’ll just need a metal meat tenderizer like you see here. Lay your meat on a cutting board and start pounding away.

Do you wash cube steak before cooking?

Just no! Do not rinse your raw beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, or veal before cooking. 

Slow cooker cube steak

1. Cube steak – usually top round or top sirloin pounded
2. Cream of mushroom soup
3. Can of cream of chicken soup
4. Onion
5. French onion soup mix packet
   1. some use a gravy packet instead but I feel this has more flavor
6. Beef broth
   1. or mix beef bouillon with water to make broth
7. Cornstarch to thicken sauce

You could slice mushrooms in half and add at the end once you pour .

Slow Cooker Cube Steak with Cream of Mushroom Soup

Unlike our steak in the Instant Pot, this meat is so tender when it’s done that you can cut it with the side of your fork! As for the seasonings you can add as many or few as you wish. I tend to under-season while cooking, and add to the top once it’s done.

Is Minute steak and cube steak the same thing?

While cube steak is sometimes referred to as minute steak, the latter is actually a different cut of meat.

Cube steak is cut from the round steak or chuck steak and then tenderized, while Minute steak is thinly cut from the sirloin or round steak and pounded as well.

• Sometimes people refer to them as the same, and honestly they are quite similar.

Take a peek at our cube steak and gravy recipe inside our Crockpot here.

It’s really all about layering and throwing it all in so it can cook all day by itself until you’re ready to eat. There is no need to brown or sear your meat beforehand but you can if you really want. It would have a slightly different color if you did.

Because this cut is supposed to be SUPER tender I don’t bother with the initial sear the way I might if I were making our Instant Pot cube steak recipe.

Crock pot Cubed Steak and Gravy

I’ve yet to make this in a large skillet over medium high heat until tender but I suppose you could. I imagine it wouldn’t turn out quite as tender as slow cooking but it’s an option if that’s all you have.

Cubed Steak in Crockpot Recipe

There is definitely a difference in how tender you can get a piece of beef cooked low and slow vs. on the stove. Especially larger cuts that have more connective tissue like our slow cooker flank steak, there just is no substitute for it cooking all day long.

What should you serve with cube steak?

Well the options are endless really but personally I always pair it with a side of egg noodles or potatoes of some kind. A side of vegetables are always a good addition too. 

Other slow cooker recipes to try next:

• Crockpot French onion soup is fantastic with some rolls too.
• Stuff slow cooker baked potatoes with our 5 ingredient chili some night. It’s a family favorite around here.
• Make sliders with this easy Crockpot BBQ beef recipe.

Want to cook steak some other way? Here’s how to make bacon wrapped air fryer steak, ribeye in air fryer and a look at our teriyaki air fryer cube steak too.