Salisbury Steak

Everyone needs a good Salisbury Steak recipe for their weekly dinner rotation! While it tastes like an absolute treat, this meal is made with a simple ground beef patty and a rich mushroom gravy. In this recipe you’ll find instructions on how to turn this into a freezer meal for your busiest nights.

Easy Salisbury Steak Recipe

If it’s doused in sauce, especially a sauce loaded with golden brown onions and mushrooms, I’ll be all over over it. This is the type of meal I just can’t get enough of! As an additional bonus, it’s a classic meat-and-potatoes style meal that my husband goes crazy for. Win win!

There are many ways you can zhuzh up your Salisbury steak. Adding mustard, hot sauce, fresh, herbs, etc. Today I have a classic and basic recipe that will be show stopping all on its own, but will give you tons of leeway to make changes here and there to make it perfect for your family.

For The Salisbury Steak

• Ground beef – I used extra lean ground beef. For a healthier Salisbury steak, sub the beef with ground chicken or ground turkey.
• Breadcrumbs – Any type will work.
• Egg – Use a large egg.
• Worcestershire – Use more or less as you prefer. This sauce will add a nice umami flavor to our meat patties. Feel free to sub with soy sauce.
• Seasoning salt and pepper – Season to taste.
• Olive oil – Sunflower, canola, safflower, or avocado oils will work instead.
• Butter – I used unsalted.

For The Gravy

• Onion – White or yellow will work best.
• Mushrooms – I used cremini, aka baby bellas. White button mushrooms can be used instead.
• Beef broth – Low sodium. If you only have chicken or veggie broth, that will work instead.
• Tomato paste – You can add more or less if you’d like. You can also sub this with ketchup.
• Soy sauce – Regular or low sodium.
• Worcestershire – Like for the meat patties, use more or less as you prefer.
• Cornstarch – This is what will thicken your gravy.
• Salt and pepper – Season to taste.

Make Salisbury Steak Patties

To make the meat patties, combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. You can use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix everything together, but I find that using my hands actually does the best of of incorporating all the ingredients together. Next you’ll want to divide the meat mixture in 6 equal pieces and shape each piece into an oval patty.

Cook The Meat Patties

Now that your hamburger patties are nicely formed we need to cook them. To do so, heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the patties to the skillet, and you’ll want to cook them for about 5 minutes per side until nice and browned. Transfer them to a plate.

To be fully cooked, the meat patties must have reached an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C) when checked with a digital cooking thermometer.

Caramelize The Onion

First, you’ll need to reduce the heat to medium then add the sliced onions to the skillet. You’ll want to cook these until they soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure the heat is not too high because they will burn quickly and we just want them to soften and turn brown but not burnt.

Incorporate Mushrooms

Now that the onions are nice and soft, you can add the sliced mushrooms to the skillet. You’ll want to cook them for around 3 minutes until they start to brown.

Finish Making The Gravy And Add Salisbury Steak

All we have left to do is to finish making the mushroom gravy. To do so, add the beef broth, tomato paste, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce to the skillet and stir well. Make a cornstarch slurry by whisking the cornstarch with a teaspoon of water then add it to the skillet. Stir the gravy well and cook until thickened, should take about 2 minutes.

Now you can add the meat patties back to the skillet and spoon gravy liberally over them. Keep the heat on for another 2 minutes, just to heat up the patties then garnish everything with some fresh parsley and serve.

What is Salisbury steak?

This classic dish, dating back to the late 1800s, adopted its name from James Salisbury. This American physician spent his career promoting a meat-centered diet and thus, the Salisbury steak was born.

At a time when ground meats were gaining popularity with their affordable prices, American families quickly found love for this recipe with its simple and delicious gravy.

Leftovers

Transfer leftover Salisbury steak to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Since the beef is fully cooked through and you don’t have to worry about over-cooking, you can reheat in the microwave at 20 second intervals until hot.

You can also reheat on the stovetop in a skillet over medium heat if you prefer. I suggest adding a splash of beef broth in the skillet so that the sauce doesn’t reduce too much as the steaks reheat.

Can I Freeze Salisbury Steak?

If you have leftovers and you’re hoping to extend their shelf life, transfer them to an airtight container. Make sure the steaks are fully cooled before freezing. Your Salisbury steak will last 2-3 months frozen. You can thaw your leftovers directly in the microwave, or let them thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating on the stovetop.

Make Ahead Tip

If you want to freeze your Salisbury steak as prep for future dinners, I suggest freezing the uncooked patties on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 2 hours. Transfer them to a large freezer bag or airtight container. Then, transfer the prepared gravy to a separate container.

To cook, let the patties and gravy thaw overnight in the fridge. Cook the patties as instructed in the recipes, add the gravy, and enjoy!

Other Delicious Saucy Recipes

• Salisbury Steak Meatballs
• Chicken and Mushrooms in Creamy Dill Sauce
• Meatballs with Mushroom Sauce
• Honey Garlic Chicken
• Stout Meatballs with BBQ Sauce
• French Onion Chicken Meatballs
• Sloppy Joes