It’s hard to believe simple cube steak, mushrooms and a couple of basic ingredients can produce such a tasty meal. Again, your crock pot does most of the work.
An Unlikely Combination
First and foremost, if you dislike mushrooms, this is not your recipe!
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But if you do, and you like the crock pot variety of ranch mushrooms, stick around.
And if you like beef cube steak, then something wonderful is about to happen.
Cube Steak Is Marvelously Versatile
This is one beef selection I’m beginning to really love.
I grow to love it more because one of my local stores seems to always have last-day-of-sale coupon reductions on it. That being said, I pick it up every time I see a money-off coupon attached to the package.
One thing I also like to do is to get creative with an ingredient. Naturally, I love the classics like Onion Mushroom Cube Steak for this cut, but I wanted to try something a bit different with the new steaks I bought. At first I thought of doing a pepper steak and had almost decided that was the way I was going to use my newest batch of cube steak.
I am seeing many ways to use the steaks where you’d use any kind of sliced or cubed beef. The uses seem to be endless.
Mushrooms In The Crisper
I had planned to make those crock pot mushrooms the other day because I had some crimini mushrooms in the crisper that I wanted to use before I forgot them. Then I thought of the steaks. Figured it may not taste all that bad thrown in with the mushrooms.
And guess what? It was delicious!
I did dust the cube steaks with seasoned flour and brown them in a bit of oil. One other thing I think is important is deglazing the browning pan and using that liquid. It’s full of flavor so don’t let it go to waste!
Because all these wonderful flavors infuse into the meat and mushrooms, I found I didn’t need any gravy except the natural juices that accumulated at the bottom of the slow cooker. This is really easy, delicious and a keeper!
The Recipe
- 4-6 large beef cube steaks (about 2 lb total weight)
- 2 tbs olive or vegetable oil
- ½ cup water
- 10 oz whole crimini (baby bella) mushrooms (see NOTES)
- 1/4 cup ranch seasoning mix -OR- 1 envelope commercial ranch seasoning
- ½ cup butter, melted (see NOTES)
- 2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
- Seasoned Flour:
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- Mix seasoned flour ingredients and place them on a plate. Dredge the steaks.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil. Brown the cube steaks and place them in the bottom of a 5-7 quart slow cooker.
- Deglaze the pan with the ½ cup water. Pour this over the cube steaks in the slow cooker.
- Place the mushrooms on top of the steaks.
- Mix the ranch seasoning (link to homemade in ingredient list) with the melted butter and pour over the mushrooms. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
- Cover and cook on low 4-7 hours, high 3-5 hours. Check for doneness at the minimum time--all cookers cook differently and Ninja will cook in ⅔ of regular slow-cooker time.
I use unsalted butter and I also make my own ranch seasoning without the salt. The link to my favorite recipe is in the ingredient list.
Yum
What is ranch seasoning mix, and also commercial ranch seasoning? Do you mean the dry ranch salad dressing which comes in an envelope?
Yep, that’s it, but you might want to consider making a batch of homemade–it’s easier, tastes better and if you omit the salt, mixing it with other prepared mixes/soups won’t make the dish salty.