Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Slow Cooker Cubed Steak with Mushroom Gravy and Mashed Potatoes

This is my third version of this recipe, and I think I got it to exactly the way I like it. There was a recipe in 2022 and another in 2017. 

So here goes. I liked using the cream of mushroom soup better.

Ingredients

2 lbs. of cubed steak

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of French onion soup

Water

1-2 cups of beef stock

1 package of mushrooms, sliced

Healthy smidge of Penzey's Beef Roast seasoning

Very healthy smidge of Penzey's Northwoods seasoning

Freshly cracked black pepper

Kosher salt to taste

Roughly 6-8 tablespoons of AP flour (depends on how thick you want the gravy)

Process

In the past when I worked with cubed steak, it was just too thick, so I trimmed off any excess fat and tenderized it even more with a mallet, so the steak was super thin and tenderized. 

In the slow cooker on low, add the cans of soup and cup of beef stock. I added some water to the can of cream of mushroom soup and poured it in. I added beef stock to the French onion soup can and pour it in. Add in the seasonings and add them throughout the process as needed. 

Whisk it all together and then place the cubed steak into the gravy. Cook on low for roughly eight hours. 

When it's around the last hour of cooking, make your mashed potatoes. And then put in your sliced mushrooms. Liberally apply cracked black pepper and salt as needed. 

As you're making the mashed potatoes, pull out the cubed steak. 

I ditched the corn starch in the previous version and just went old school with flour. Turn up the heat to high and add in two tablespoons of flour at a time and whisk vigorously. Add as much flour from time to time to get the thickness you like. 

Serve the steak and gravy over mashed potatoes.