A Simple, Flavorful Sunday Supper or Weeknight Dinner Meal – Slow Cooker Cube Steak
Seven pile out of the family van. All with hungry tummies. Four more family members are arriving in ten minutes.
What do I do?
We need to eat SOON!
Everyone’s getting cranky, including me!
It’s Sunday after church. But as I come in the door, a wonderful smell greets me.
Thank you, dear slow cooker, for doing all the work for our Sunday Supper!
It’s easy to feed a crowd on a budget with this Slow Cooker Cube Steak.
Plus, those meat and potato types really love this meal!
A perfect man-pleaser for Father’s Day too.
Or easy to make when you don’t want to turn on the oven or grill. (Hello, summer heat!)
Slow Cooker Cube Steak
Ingredients
- 2 lb. cube steak
- 2 - 10 oz. cans of cream of mushroom soup
- 1/2 packet french onion soup mix
- dinner rolls or garlic toast with salad or veggies side dish suggestions
Instructions
- Spoon half of cream of mushroom soup in the base of the slow cooker insert.
- Place the cube steak onto the soup.
- Sprinkle with french onion soup mix directly onto the cube steak, and then pour the remainder of cream of mushroom soup over the top, doing your best to cover it.
- Cook on low for 8 hours, or on high 5 to 6 hours.
- Serve Slow Cooker Cube Steak with homemade bread, veggies or a salad, and/or baked oven rice or caramelized onion mashed potatoes!
Timing tips: If I pull the cube steak from the freezer, I start cooking this the night before if we plan to eat it after church on Sundays. I turn it on low around 10 or 11 pm and it cooks overnight for about 12 hours. (Sometimes setting the slow cooker to turn to the warm setting the last hour).
Adaptations: You can adjust the timing and serve this as a weeknight dinner too. Just start in by 9 am in the morning, and it’s ready for dinner. A glorious weeknight treat!
Not feeding a crowd? We buy the large portion at the wholesale club. If you have less to cook just use one regular-sized can of cream of mushroom soup and a ¼ packet of French onion soup mix.
How about you? Do you make it a habit to invite folks over for a meal?
See all of the $5 Dinner Slow Cooker Recipes here!
Check out all the meal plans that Erin has created to help your life get a little easier!
angie says
never made this in slow cooker but this is one of our favorite recipes taught to me many years ago by my mother in law
Kristia@Family Balance Sheet says
I posted a slow cooker recipe also, but with chicken thighs and drumsticks that needed to get used up.
Thanks for the link-up.
Dana @ Budget Dietitian says
Perfect! I need to use up some chicken drumsticks! 🙂
Kim A. says
I still haven’t tried this! Do you buy your cube steak at Sam’s, too? I have never made anything with it!
Tricia H says
Angie – it is a wonderful recipe to pass down and share! Kristia – that’s smart 🙂 Kim – I do get my cube steak at Sam’s but you can get smaller portions for really cheap at your local grocery. Cube steak is another cheaper piece of meat that does so very well in the slow cooker. Let me know when you try it and how you like it!
Micha @ Cookin' Mimi says
Cube steaks and gravy are a favorite here. I normally cook mine like this recipe because I don’t have the best frying luck.
Alea says
This sounds delicious! I sure appreciate the slow cooker’s ability to tenderize inexpensive cuts of meat. Tasty sides to “stretch it for the masses” too.
Debbi Does Dinner Healthy says
Hi, sorry I didn’t link up a meal this time but I have a delicious garlic bread that I hope you like! I buy garlic in bulk so it’s not that expensive. Thanks for all the awesome meal ideas!
Marishannon says
I’ve never tried cube steak in the crockpot – I am going to have to do this!
Emily says
I’m assuming that cooking time on this is essentially 5 hours on high. This based on the “no later than 7am and cook on high till lunch”
Tricia H says
Yes Emily! Thanks. Hope you enjoyed it.
Jessica says
Oh my I will have to try this I totally botched the last cube steak I made and couldn’t find a recipe I liked. Thank you Thank you!
Angie W. says
Looking for som 5$ dinners and found this one! Woot! I think this would work great for next Sunday. Thanks Tricia!
Paula B says
Wow grate minds think alike this one my fav winter dishes, altho mine is little diff i add one smll tin of mush soup,one smll tin of tomato soup the french onion soup mix, and a heaped spoon of garlic and it is to die for XXX thank you for sharing this version will give it a try
Genevieve W says
Disappointed, after spending almost $5 just for the cubed steak, its been in the crock pot for less than 3 hours and they are like bricks, made the recipe exactly as directed 🙁
Tricia H says
Genevieve! I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out well. It’s the first I’ve heard! I usually let mine cook at least 5 hours. It does get more tender as it cooks. But sometimes it can be the cut of the meat.
Keely says
I use, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 soup can of water, and 1 packet liptons onion soup mix, per 2-3 lbs of cubed steak. I dredge mine is flour salt and pepper first and brown on each side. Then layer the steaks and soup mixture in crock pot. On low for 4-6 hrs. They are very tender!
Michelle says
So you can cook it on high for 5 hours- how long if you cook it on low (and it’s thawed)? Thank you for a new recipe that i plan to try this week for my family 🙂
Tricia H says
Michelle – It just seems to be best cooked longer. Thawed, on low, I’d still say anywhere from 6-8 hrs though you might be able to get away with 4-6 depending on how much you are cooking. For my size family, on a week day, I’d put it on at lunch time for it to be ready for supper. The slow cooking on low way is best. Hope that helps!
Kathy says
Do you brown the meat before putting in the crockpot?
Tricia says
No – no need to brown before putting it in the slow cooker!
kristin says
So no broth or water or liquid of sort??
Tricia says
None at all – the soup and the juices from the meat mix. And in fact – if you add water it will make the meat too tough.
Kim says
Sounds great, but my family dont like cream of mushrrom or the thought of mushrooms…What can I use instead??
Tricia H says
Kim – I’ve used cream of chicken in a pinch and it turns out just as well. I think any ‘cream of’ variety would still do well.
Michelle says
I made this for my family earlier this week and it was so good! My mom was staying a few nights with us and she kept raving about how i’ve become such a great cook and it was so quick,easy and afforable! Thank you so much! My kids have already been asking me when i’ll make it again!
kathy says
My husband doesn’t like cream of mushroom…could you substitute cream of chicken?
Tricia says
Yes! Kathy – I’ve done that before a couple of times when I went to the pantry and that’s all I found. I’ve also used cream of celery. It all turns out yummy.
Christine says
Can you post step-by-step instructions, Im learning to cook with a crockpot and I think I completely messed this up because there are not enough directions. Im hoping it turns out ok and if it doesnt Ill tell my husband to eat it anyway since it was his idea. Thanks
Tricia says
Christine – sorry for the confusion. This was written to time it for Sunday lunch for a large crowd. Here is a redo for about 4 servings:
cube steak – enough for 2-4 people
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 packet dry onion soup mix (the whole packet will make it too salty)
Directions: Spoon about half of cream of mushroom soup in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place cube steak in. Sprinkle with french onion soup mix and remainder of cream of mushroom soup.
If thawed, cook in slow cooker, on low for 6-8 hours. It is best the longer it is cooked. You can put it in the slow cooker frozen then cook it for 8-10 hours.
That’s my experience, over and over, for the best tasting cube steak! 🙂
Stephanie says
So if you are doing only 2-4 servings do you still use the family size can of soup or one small can?
Tricia says
Good question! I would say the small can.
Christine says
Does the soup need to be made or just take it out of the can? You dont get that direction. They way I did it ended up tasting fine, my husband had 2 helpings of everything and over ate. I am fairly new to cooking and I guess I need it spelled out, lol.
Danielle S. says
Christine, I am wondering the same thing with the soup :/ I just did everything as directed a few minutes ago- I’m hoping the directions meant “straight from the can”. If not, oops! It would be greatly appreciated if there was some clarification 🙂
Tricia says
Yes, straight from the can is great – and easy! I linked to Erin’s homemade white sauce for those with allergies or who wanted to make that portion from scratch. Thanks ladies.
Tracy says
Hey there,
Just found the website and recipe today. Just got everything into the slow cooker. I am excited! I just made my first white sauce. It came out perfect. My husband and son are not crazy about mushrooms. I also caramelized some onions to go in. Can’t wait until dinner tonight. I will let you know how it goes!
Tricia says
Tracy – I am all about tweaking a recipe to make it work best for my family. Sounds like your variation is just right. This is an all-time favorite of ours. Enjoy!
Tracy says
You can tell I have had a busy week, I”m just now getting back to let ya’ll know how the cube steak went. Absolutely DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!! The pot was empty when dinner was over, and I ashamed to say, here are only 3 of us!!!!!!
Tricia says
Awesome Tracy! I LOVE to hear it. No shame in enjoying it all 🙂
Angie W. says
One of my Faves for Sure!
sarah says
I also cook cube steak in the crockpot with homemade canned salsa…I can my salsa by just cutting up tomatoes, peppers,onions, garlic…whatever you want in a big stock pot and just let it cook down…then i just can it in quart jars…then you can open a jar and eat it with chips, you can add tomatoe past to thicken it up for other sauces for spaghetie, or over chicken or steak and bake away….I always made baked steak in the oven, but am gonna try this receipe in the crock pot…sounds very yummy and like you said, nice when you come home from church or work and food is almost ready….cook on!!!
Sara Sorensen says
In order to avoid all the salt in recipes calling for dry onion soup mix,
I use Mrs. Dash. Seems to add the same type of flavoring without the salt.
Kendra says
Looks awesome!
Kristina says
Delicious! Used beefy mushroom and golden mushroom soups, with 8 cube steaks…unfortunately they are 5 dollars a pound here. Still totally worth it. The gravy is delicious! Served over mashed potatoes
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Jessie says
Hi there! I would love to use this recipe this evening for dinner and post what I’ve made on my own blog. Would you mind if I posted your recipe as long as I give you credit throughout the post?
Lauren says
Just put this together for tonight’s dinner! Since my son is dairy-free, I found a great recipe online to substitute the cream of mush soup with: unsweetened reg almond milk/EB buttery spread/real diced mushrooms/salt, pepp, onion powder. Then I threw some real mushrooms over the cubed steak and added the onion soup mix. Smells heavenly! I’m from NY but live in the South so this is a southern staple my hubby grew up with…let’s just hope I do it justice! LOL!! Like a previous reviewer, I bought cubed steak at Walmart and mine was $10.66. I guess that’s alright because this meal will feed 4 of us. I’ll add wide egg noodles and a vegg for a side. Thanks for posting!!
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Meg Lee says
SO WISH I had read the comments before making this myself. I made a smaller batch (only 4 steaks), but decided to turn it on low at 10pm – by 7am it is already falling apart and yummilicious! Just wishing I had decided to wait until the morning to make it because now I’m afraid of over cooking it so I’ve taken it out and put it in the fridge for later. Also, the yummy smell was a HUGE distraction while trying to sleep last night.
For those that had asked for their non-mushroom lovers – I used a can of cream of celery and a can of cream of chicken with herbs. After I took the meat out I seasoned the sauce with pepper, garlic and oregano too. YUM!
Thanks for the share, just wish the timing had been better spelled out in the actual article. Ohwell. Next time I’ll know! And there will DEFINITELY be a next time!
Barb says
I make something similar but I add a couple of tablespoons of HP sauce. This adds a little kick.
Vanna says
Thank you for the easy and tasty recipe. I don’t like French onion so I did without that but my cubed steak turned out so tender! Will definitely make again
Annie says
I am making this today and with not paying attention I used the whole onion soup pack! I tried to get out what I thought was half AFTER I had already poured the cream of mushroom over it…but if it comes out to salty do you have any suggestions on what I could do to balance it out? Do you think adding potato cubes would work?
Tricia says
Annie – I like your idea of adding potato cubes! And I really think that it will all turn out well. You might could add more cream of mushroom soup if you are concerned. But I think it will be delicious – enjoy!
L mcintosh says
I noticed in the top picture the cube steak is brown does it get brown in the crock pot or can I fry it before putting in crock pot
Kevin Wren aka---Papa K says
So I had my eye on this recipe for a while and while I was at the grocery store today, I found marked-down packages of cube steak and a marked down bag of russet potatoes and said “today is the day”. I sprinkled a little salt and pepper between the two layers of steaks in the pot AND I cut some potatoes down to about the size of golf balls and put them in last on top of the meat and sprinkled some dehydrated minced onion on them. High for almost 6 hours, potatoes weren’t quite done, so I sprinkled some petite carrots on top of them and turned it to low for about 2 and a half more hours. BOOYAH BABY!!!
Donna says
This is one of my family’s favorite meals! I serve it over toast and there is NEVER any leftovers!
Kim says
I do this with a Chuck roast. Add potatoes and carrots and cook on low while I’m at work then come home and make biscuits. The biscuits are great with the extra gravy.
Deb Thompson says
Made this for hubby and I last night ……. DELISH!!!!!!!! I love, love, love my slow cooker & I give it a good workout at all times. Would this work with chicken, I wonder? The flavor & the gravy it made were fantastic! Thanks for the recipe! <3
Julie says
Can the Golden Mushroom Soup be used in place of the cream of mushroom soup.
Tricia says
Definitely!
Julia says
I am make my this tonight. I used 16 cubed steak because I have a big family. I used 2 small cans of cream of mushroom since it said use amount of steak you need. Do you think that will be enough or will I need one more can of cream of mushroom?
Whitney Fox says
Do you have the nutritional information for a serving of this? Not served on anything.
Jenn K says
Hi, Whitney! No, we do not provide nutritional information at this time. There are a number of free online nutritional calculators that you could Google and use if you so desire. 🙂
Carissa says
Mine are thawed. Can I put these on low for 8-9 hours? Will they be done?
Misty says
Could I use a ranch packet? Would that be good? My husband hates French onion…. just looking for an alternative…
Laura Ketchie says
Just wanted to drop in and say “thank you!” I’ve made this recipe several times for company now, and it never fails. It’s simple, tasty, and a crowd-pleaser.
Gigi says
About how many cube steaks do you use?
Frankie says
Would you use high or low setting if putting on in the morning thawed for a supper time dinner (6pm)?