Italian Chop Steaks with Marinara, Mozzarella and Red Lobster Biscuits
August 29, 2026
It’s part hamburger steak, part chicken parm energy and a very good reason not to make gravy two nights in a row.
The whole thing happens in one skillet in about twenty-five minutes. Brown the chop steaks, pour marinara around them, blanket them in mozzarella and Parmesan, put a lid on it until the cheese goes molten. Spaghetti and garlic bread do the rest, and both of those come out of a package.
It’s the kind of dinner that looks like a restaurant plate and costs about two dollars a person.
Chop Steak, Cube Steak, Hamburger Steak — They’re Not the Same Thing
People use these interchangeably at the counter all the time, and they’re three different products.
A chop steak is ground beef, formed into a steak shape. Same meat as a hamburger patty, shaped thicker and flatter, meant to be eaten with a fork instead of on a bun. Sometimes called a chopped steak or a hamburger steak.
A cube steak is a whole muscle (usually round) run through a mechanical tenderizer. It’s not ground at all. That’s the one for country-fried steak.
A hamburger steak usually means the same thing as a chop steak, though in some kitchens it comes with onions and gravy by definition.
The distinction matters here because ground beef and whole muscle cook completely differently. A chop steak has fat distributed all through it, so it browns beautifully and stays juicy, but it’s ground, which means it needs to reach 160°F all the way through, not the 145°F you’d use for a whole cut.
Our chop steaks are made from beef ground fresh in the shop, and they’re one of eight items in this week’s $59.99 Butcher Special.
Brown Them First. Don’t Drown Them.
The mistake with any skillet dinner that ends in red sauce is putting the sauce in too early.
Meat browns because of a chemical reaction that only happens on a dry surface above about 300°F. Add liquid and the surface temperature caps out at boiling, browning stops, and what you get is a steak that was gently poached in marinara. It’ll be fine. It won’t be good.
So: hot skillet, dry chop steaks, hard sear on both sides before any sauce goes near the pan. That crust is most of the flavor in the finished dish, and marinara can’t produce it.
Then pour the sauce around the steaks rather than over them, so the tops stay above the waterline. Cheese goes on top, lid goes on, and two or three minutes of trapped steam melts the mozzarella without turning the crust soggy.
One more thing: take the lid off the moment the cheese is melted. Every extra minute under a lid is steam condensing back onto the food.
Italian Chop Steaks with Marinara, Mozzarella and Red Lobster Biscuits
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4 to 5
You’ll Need
- 5 Lil Butcher Shoppe 4 oz. Chop Steaks
- 1 jar marinara sauce
- 1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 12 oz. spaghetti
- 1 package of Red Lobster Biscuits
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Salt and black pepper
Let’s Cook
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
- While the pasta cooks, season the chop steaks with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chop steaks and cook until browned on both sides and the centers reach 160°F.
- Pour about half of the marinara sauce around and over the chop steaks.
- Sprinkle each chop steak with mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover the skillet for a few minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Warm the remaining marinara sauce and toss it with the cooked spaghetti.
- Prepare the biscuits according to the package directions.
- Serve each cheesy Italian chop steak alongside a helping of spaghetti and a biscuit.
Ground Fresh, Every Day
The chop steaks come from the same beef we grind daily. The rest of the case is cut by hand in the same room:
- Fresh Ground Chuck
- Chop Steaks and Burger Patties
- Cube Steaks
- Fresh Hand-Cut Steaks and Rib Eyes
- USDA Prime Grade Rib Eyes
- Australian Wagyu — Tomahawks and T-Bones
- Filet Mignon
- Fresh Beef Roasts and Stew Meat
Five chop steaks come in the $59.99 Butcher Special along with cube steaks, a beef roast, ground beef, pork chops, chicken leg quarters, bacon and smoked sausage.
Tips from Behind the Counter
Don’t press the chop steaks down with a spatula. That’s rendered fat and juice leaving the meat and hitting the pan. It makes a satisfying hiss and a drier steak.
Salt the pasta water like you mean it. It’s the only chance you get to season the noodles themselves, and unsalted spaghetti under a good sauce still tastes flat.
Save a little pasta water. A splash of it stirred into the sauce helps it cling to the noodles instead of sliding off into a puddle.
Use whole-milk mozzarella if you have the option. Part-skim doesn’t melt as smoothly and can turn rubbery under a lid.
Reheat leftovers in a skillet with a lid, not the microwave. Two minutes and the cheese comes back.
Ways to Change It Up
- Add sautéed mushrooms, onions or bell peppers to the skillet before the sauce goes in.
- Slip a slice of provolone under the mozzarella for a deeper, sharper melt.
- Swap the spaghetti for penne or rotini and toss everything together into one skillet bake.
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the sauce for heat.
- Use our Mardi Gras Pasta Sauce instead of marinara if you want the Gulf Coast version of this dinner (see the Mardi Gras Pasta recipe).
One Stop for Tuesday Dinner in Hattiesburg
The chop steaks, the marinara, the cheese, the pasta and the bread all in one trip. Our shop at 1910 Broadway Drive is a butcher counter and a grocery, so the whole skillet comes from one building.
We’ve been family owned and operated in Hattiesburg since 1991. Along with the fresh meat counter, the case is full of homemade cooking that’s already done for you.
Want the specials before everybody else? Text Butcher to 601-281-6633 to join our VIP text program.
Hours: Monday–Tuesday and Thursday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Closed Wednesday and Sunday.
Phone: 601-261-2765
Address: 1910 Broadway Drive, Hattiesburg, MS 39401 — get directions or reach out
Outside the area? Our smoked sausage ships nationwide, and you can find us on the shelf at stores across Mississippi and the Gulf South.