This keto chicken fried steak is fried to golden perfection and topped with creamy white gravy. Whether you eat it for breakfast or dinner, it's classic southern comfort food that is sure to become a family favorite!
If you're not using pre-crushed pork rinds: Add the pork rinds to the bowl of a food processor and process until very finely crushed. Depending on the size of your food processor you might need to process them in batches. Alternatively, place the pork rinds in a large resealable baggie, leaving it slightly vented, and crush them with a rolling pin or mallet until very finely ground. Set aside.
Pat the cube steaks dry with a paper towel, removing as much moisture as possible. Season both sides with one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of pepper. Set aside.
In a shallow bowl, add the blanched almond flour. In a separate shallow bowl, combine the crushed pork rinds, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, one teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of ground black pepper. In a third shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and heavy whipping cream. Set the bowls aside.
Dredge the cube steaks in the almond flour mixture, then dredge in the egg/cream mixture, letting excess drip off, and then in the pork rind mixture.
Place the breaded cube steaks on a sheet pan or metal rack and press any of the remaining pork rinds into the cube steaks, making sure that the entire steak is completely coated.
Preheat oven to 225 to 250 F
Heat the avocado oil in a medium/large heavy skillet or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. How much oil you need depends on the size of your skillet. You want it to be about ¼-inch deep.
Test the oil by dropping in a bit of almond flour. The oil should sizzle and bubble but not go crazy and pop everywhere. Look for the oil to be glistening but not smoking - about 330-350 degrees F.
Place two steaks into the pan at a time and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Do not flip more than once and do not fry more than two steaks at a time or the breading may fall off.
Remove steaks from the pan and drain them on a paper-towel-lined plate. Place in the preheated oven to stay warm. Repeat with remaining steaks
Reserve the drippings for gravy: Do NOT scrape the skillet. Then, pour out the grease into a mug (or whatever you prefer), and add about 3 Tablespoons of drippings back to the skillet to make the gravy.
Prepare the white gravy as directed. Serve hot over the chicken fried steaks.
Notes
Nutrition info is calculated using ½ cup of avocado oil since not all the oil is used when frying.
Be sure to crush the pork rinds very finely or they will have trouble sticking to the steaks. Or if you're looking to save time and energy, pre-crushed pork rind breadcrumbs are now readily available!
A heavy skillet works best. I prefer to use a cast-iron skillet but any heavy-bottomed skillet will work.
If the cube steaks are sold in large pieces, to get four servings, you may need to cut them in half before preparing.
The oil is only good for 4 steaks, if making more than 4 steaks, you'll need to start with fresh oil.