Have you ever thought to yourself, “You know what I could really go for right now? A hamburger made like a meatloaf drowned in gravy.” If you have then you’ve come to the right place! If you haven’t, maybe you’re thinking about it now…
Others of you may recognize Salisbury steak from such places as school cafeteria hot lunch lines or the frozen food aisle of the grocery store packed as microwavable TV-Dinners. There is a possibility that I’m not selling this very well, but I assure you that it is delicious and there is a way to make this guilty pleasure meal using quality ingredients. This recipe more than successfully recreates Salisbury Steak at home while skipping the highly processed mystery meat and providing a delicious homemade alternative.
Fun fact according to Wikipedia: The term “Salisbury steak” has been in use in the United States since 1897. The dish is named after an American physician, James H. Salisbury (1823–1905).
So there you go! Doctor approved since 1897!
Salisbury Steak and Mushroom Gravy Recipe

Salisbury Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Veggies
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of 85/15 ground beef
Note: The leaner the beef, the firmer and potentially drier the patty.
- 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic power
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon of neutral oil (vegetable, canola, peanut, etc.)
- 1 medium size or 1/2 of a large sweet onion diced
- 8 ounces of sliced white mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 tablespoons of flour
Note: For a thicker gravy, use 2.5 tablespoons of flour.
- 2 cups beef broth
- Optional: 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Plastic wrap
- Large cast iron skillet or frying pan with sides
- Large plate or tray
- Spatula
- Cup, tablespoon, and teaspoon measurements
Directions
- In a large bowl add the 2 pounds of ground beef, 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic power, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
and 2 large eggs. Using your hands (feel free to wear food-safe gloves!) make a five-fingered claw and dig your fingers into the ingredients while twisting your wrist in a churning motion. This helps to mix everything together without packing the meat too densely. Continue doing this and folding the meat mixture over onto itself until everything is well incorporated. Then shape it into a rough ball.
- Cover the bowl and meat mixture with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for 1 to 4 hours before use. This helps the ingredients incorporate, but it also gives the salt a chance to work on the proteins in the meat and make sure it retains its moisture.
- Before cooking, dice a whole medium or half a large sweet onion and set it aside.
- If you need to slice the mushrooms, then wash and slice them before cooking as well.
- When ready, take the meat out of the refrigerator and form it into eight, flat (about a 1/4 inch), oval shaped patties with a slight indentation in the center (the indentation helps to keep the meat from contracting and making the patties thick in the center). I like to split the meat evenly in half and continue splitting each portion in half until I get 8 servings. This makes the patties more uniform in size rather than just grabbing a chunk, forming it, and hoping they all end up the same size.
- When the patties are formed, place a large cast iron skillet on the stove and set it to medium or medium-high heat and add two tablespoons of butter to the pan.
- When the butter is melted and bubbling, but not smoking, add four of the patties to the pan. Cook them for roughly 2 minutes per side or until they get a nice brown sear on them. The goal is not to cook the patties completely just yet, but rather to just sear them for texture, color, and flavor.
Note: It’s important not to add all of the patties if your pan can hold them. Crowding will cause the patties to steam rather than sear, so spacing is important.
- After cooking both sides of the four patties, set them aside on a large plate and repeat the process for the remaining four patties.
- With the patties removed from the heat, lower the temperature to medium-low heat and add the diced onions to the pan same pan used to sear the patties while stirring quickly. The onions will start to deglaze the nice browned bits in the pan. Once they just start to soften (a couple of minutes).
- Once the onions just start to soften (a couple of minutes), add in the 8 ounces of mushrooms and keep stirring occasionally to get some of the water out of the mushrooms.
- When the mushrooms have cooked down a little and taken on some color, add the two tablespoons of flour slowly to the pan while stirring all of the ingredients. The flour will act as a thickener for the gravy. Be sure to go slowly sprinkling the flour and coat all of the contents of the pan while stirring so that the flour doesn’t clump.
- Next, add in two cups of beef broth and the optional two tablespoons of soy sauce to the pan and stir until everything is mixed really well. If you skip the soy sauce, just add a 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the gravy. If the gravy seems too thick, you can add another 1/4 cup of beef broth.
- If your pan can handle it, place all eight of the patties into the large skillet. Nestle them in the gravy so that just the top surfaces are visible. Simmer the patties for 10 minutes on medium-low heat and then flip them over for another five minutes (15 minutes total). The gravy should be at a mild simmer, not boiling. Adjust the heat as necessary. If your pan isn’t large enough for all eight patties, they can be cooked in batches or the gravy can be split between two smaller pans.
- After simmering for 15 minutes, the Salisbury steak patties are ready to serve! They’re perfect with mashed potatoes and any kind of veggies. The gravy from the Salisbury Steaks tastes great on mashed potatoes and a bite of steak, potatoes, and gravy is pure high school cafeteria heaven!
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This looks delicious! Got to try this 😀
Thanks! Please let me know if you do!
Thanks! Please let me know if you do!
Those look like a real crowd pleaser. Nice instructions too.
Thanks! I chose to feed my wife and myself, but a crowd would definitely have been pleased.
Thanks! I chose to feed my wife and myself, but a crowd would definitely have been pleased.
Loved your good recipe 🙂
How did you know I was thinking about this
Because everyone is thinking about this! 😜
Because everyone is thinking about this! 😜