Steak Fingers and Gravy – Dairy Queen Basket Remake
Is there any fast food meal more iconic than a steak finger basket meal from the Dairy Queen? I’m not kidding when I say that I love this meal. I can make it all day long if I have some steak fingers and some gravy.
I’m going to show you how to make these steak fingers at home so you don’t have to head over to the drive-up window the next time you get a hankering for some golden brown crispy steak fingers and some creamy gravy to dip them in.
Love me, Tender
The star of this show is the steak. We’re going to use some Certified Angus round that has been through the cuber a couple of times. You can always ask your butcher to tenderize the steaks for you. Now, if you really want to impress the family, you can also use a good NY Strip steak and tenderize it too.
Be sure your tenderized round steak is smooth with no gristle. There shouldn’t be any large white lines running through it which will cause the steak to be tough.
Sliced thin, each steak finger should have about an ounce and a half of meat in there.
Blowin’ in the Wind
Now for the dry ingredients – use a little more if you’re cooking in the backyard and the wind is blowing the flour away. To really up the flavor in these steak fingers I want you to grab some of our Original Seasoning and mix that in with the rest of the ingredients. You won’t be disappointed.
Don’t forget to pre-heat the deep fryer, Dutch oven, or whatever frying apparatus you’re going to use for this. We’ll just be doing a shallow fry today so go light on the oil, and set it at 350 degrees F. Put together the wet ingredients and get an assembly line set up so we can start to frying these babies up!
TIP: My easy sourdough starter also makes a great batter for steak fingers or any kind of meat.
Stuck on You
Now, in case y’all didn’t know this, I beat Bobby Flay at the chicken fried steak throwdown. And do you know how I did it? I double baptized the meat, because it gives it a better crust.
Toss the meat in with the dry ingredients. Use some tongs to dip the meat in the wet ingredients, then back in the dry, then back in the wet, then back in the dry.
Got it? Three dry, two wet. Dry, wet, dry, wet, dry.
After this, lay those steak fingers out on a wire rack.
TIP: Allow the battered up steak fingers to rest for a moment on a wire rack before frying so the batter will better adhere to the steak.
Fry these steak fingers up until golden brown. Watch the temperature of the grease to make sure it stays steady at about 350. The battered steak fingers will cool off the oil a little bit. We want that oil to get good and hot again before we add anything else so everything will fry evenly and crisp up golden brown.
Poor Man’s Gold
Now on to the perfect creamy gravy we are going to dip these steak fingers in. My beautiful wife Shannon sometimes gets a little intimidated by gravy, but it’s so easy and there’s no real set recipe so it is hard to get wrong.
Tip: Impress your Valentine by using heavy cream for the gravy instead of milk.
The best tool I’ve ever seen for gravy is the XO Spatula. It’s a holey spatula! Yes, the holes help you mash all the lumps out to make the smoothest, creamiest gravy you’ve ever seen. When you add the flour to the grease to make the roux, continually mash and stir so the roux doesn’t burn.
Add the milk, simmer until thick and the rest from here is gravy.
Thanks so much to Dairy Queen for the delicious steak finger basket. These homemade steak fingers are incredible but I’ll still get the DQ basket when I’m out on the road. Don’t forget to check out the video for more tips on how to prepare this delicious drive-up classic, and we will see you next week.
Steak Fingers - Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 3, 5 ounce cubed round steak
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch divided
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 ½ tablespoons Red River Ranch Seasoning see substitution below
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Cut the steak into about 1-inch strips and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, baking powder and Original seasoning.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and remaining 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.
- In a deep fryer or Dutch oven add about 3 inches of the oil and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Dredge the meat strips in the flour mixture and then dip in the buttermilk mixture to generously coat. Repeat back in the flour mixture, wet mixture and finish in the dry mixture. Set on a wire rack for at least 3 minutes to let the batter and flour dry which will help it stick to the meat.
- Fry the strips about 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown. Place them on a wire rack. Serve warm.
