Sicilian Steak: Italian Dining at Home
Coated in Italian bread crumbs and sauteed in olive oil, Sicilian Steak is a tasty but simple entrée. You can even use bargain round steak!
When I look back at the fine dining in my youth, there are a couple of Italian restaurants that come to mind. There, amid the wine, pasta and glowing candles, a favorite entrée was Sicilian Steak, also known as Steak Siciliano.
Now a breaded steak may not sound like gourmet fare. But perfectly seasoned and cooked to perfection, it was a tender flavorful delight!
Now, this was long enough ago that I’m not sure what cut of steak was used. But given the quality of the establishment my guess is that it was tenderloin.
Alas, for home dining,… my annual quarter of grass-fed beef doesn’t even include tenderloin. So it was a happy discovery that round steak is delightful in this too!
Why You’ll Love This!
Tasty. What’s not to love about savory Italian bread crumbs surrounding tender steak, all sauteed in olive oil . Yum!
Easy. You simply bread the steak in beaten eggs and Italian bread crumbs, then sautee in a large skillet. How easy is that!
Frugal. This will turn less expensive cuts like round steak into a tasty entrée that’s actually worthy of fine dining!
What You’ll Need
Ingredient Notes
- Steak. I used round steak but see the discussion below for other options.
- Eggs. Eggs will help the breadcrumbs adhere.
- Italian breadcrumbs. These add great Italian flavor.
- Finely grated parmesan cheese. This adds more flavor.
- Garlic powder to taste (optional). If you’re a garlic lover, you can add extra to the breadcrumbs if you’d like.
- Salt, pepper. For flavor.
- Olive oil. For sauteeing the breaded steaks
Special Tools
- No special tools are needed.
Step by Step Directions
Mix breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese & extra garlic powder if using.
Season steaks with salt & pepper, then coat each piece of steak in breadcrumb mixture,
followed by beaten egg, then breadcrumbs again. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Sautee breaded steaks on both sides until golden, then continue cooking to the desired doneness—I recommend using an instant read thermometer to test.
Serve hot.
What cuts of beef can I use?
Ideally, you’ll want to use a boneless cut of steak, and one that can be well trimmed before you bread it. And while I love a good tenderloin, Sicilian Steak is so good, even with a cheaper cut like round steak, I think I’d save the tenderloin for other purposes!
Now once, in my student days, a friend even made this using the much more frugal ground round. And it was delicious! So if your budget is very tight, don’t let that stop you!
How to Serve
This dinner entrée is nice enough to serve to company, and quick enough for a weeknight meal! Consider adding a cooked vegetable, green salad and pasta in garlic butter!
Candles optional!
Leftovers
You’re not likely to have leftovers, but if you do, seal them up, refrigerate and eat within a couple days. Treat it like your restaurant doggy bag! And when it comes time to eat, leftover Sicilian Steak is delicious reheated or cold!
Tips & FAQs
You can use this recipe for Italian breadcrumbs to make your own, using bread and dried herbs. Or if you have plain breadcrumbs, you can just add the herbs to give them the perfect flavor for this.
If your cheese is shredded rather than finely grated, you can chop it finer in a blender or food processor so it will combine better with bread crumbs.
Mediterranean Recipes
- Kiftah bi Tahini from Pandemonium Noshery
- Lavash Bread with Spinach, Tomatoes, and Fontina from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Mujadara from Magical Ingredients
- Old Spaghetti Factory Garlic Mizithra from Palatable Pastime
- Sicilian Steak from Art of Natural Living
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Sicilian Steak
Ingredients
- 4 6-8 ounce pieces of steak trimmed of fat
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Extra garlic powder to taste optional
- Salt, pepper
- 2-3 Tablespoons Olive oil for sautéing
Instructions
- Mix breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese & extra garlic powder if using.
- Season steaks with salt & pepper, then coat each piece of steak in breadcrumb mixture, followed by beaten egg, then breadcrumbs again. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Sautee breaded steaks on both sides until golden, then continue cooking to the desired doneness—I recommend using an instant read thermometer to test.
- Serve hot.
MUST be served with Ammoglio Sauce!
I’ll have to look that up! Never, okay rarely, met a sauce I didn’t love!
This sounds simple to make and delicious.
You know, I am sure that most Sicilians didn’t use the tenderloin this way. The breading and frying was the way to use tougher meats (often pounded). I will definitely make this, Inger (sans garlic, of course) – and follow your lead on the steak choice!
Looks very tasty! That beef looks perfectly cooked as well
This sounds wonderful. Who knew that they bread steak in Italy!
And of course they add those yummy Italian herbs!
Ciao from Sicily!
I still love the pan sauteed calamari with a side of pasta.
I really do need to try that on the kids!
what a terrific crust! some things should never change. 🙂
I agree Grace!
I still make some of the recipes I learned back in my early days of marriage when we were trying to save money. It’s surprising how well they hold up!
Now that I have started re-doing some old classics, I am always surprised & happy about how good they are!
Ah, so this is what the breadcrumbs were for! I wouldn’t have guessed. Bravo! The steak looks scrumptious.
It was the first thing I thought of when I had breadcrumbs!
Sounds like it was a fun time. It looks delicious!
It was some nice family time!
Sounds great. I admire you for making such a fun meal at home.
Supper clubs remind me of growing up and dinners out with my family and grandparents. I should try this italian twist on steak and since I do not eat much red meat, I like the idea of using a thinner round steak.
I found that with the richness of the breading it seemed to go a lot further. I started with just over 8 oz per person and we had leftovers. Not that I’m complaining about leftover steak 😉
Hi Inger, we made this recipe last week. We had the butcher at Sendiks slice a filet for us to make it thinner. We both loved it and will be making it again!!
So glad you enjoyed it! Now I may need to go out and try it with the filet…
according to my husband, nothing is as staisfying as dining on a good juicy steak at the end of the day…lol. he would go crazy for this 😛
We found this a nice way to dress up part of the quarter of grass-fed beef from one of our local farmers!
Truly you have no need for restaurants, your own cooking is awesome 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Isn’t it nice to have both of those joys in life!
Now this is how you eat steak. I’m sure this smells like heaven.
Nothing like Italian cooking smells to create a certain ambiance!