Salisbury Steak is a comforting classic that is easy to make and even easier to love. Made from scratch with the perfect mushroom gravy, everyone will be begging for seconds.
Even if you think you don’t like Salisbury Steak, I urge you to try this recipe. You might be remembering bad school lunches and terrible TV dinners, but those Salisbury steak recipes don’t hold a candle to this.
This amazing Salisbury steak recipe starts with seasoning the meat in the most perfect way. From there, we use pan drippings to make a rich and delicious mushroom gravy. The end result is a homemade Salisbury steak that you will want to come back to over and over.
How to Make Salisbury Steak
This is a brief overview of how to make this recipe for Salisbury steak. For the full printable recipe with all the cooking times and measurements, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Mix the meat. In a medium sized bowl, combine ground beef, onion, Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, kosher salt, ground mustard, and black pepper.
- Make the steaks. Divide the meat into four and create four oval patties that are about 1/2 and inch thick.
- Brown the steaks. In a skillet with hot oil, brown the steaks for 2 minutes on each side. There is no need to cook them all the way through as they will finish cooking in the gravy at the end. Remove the steaks and set them aside.
- Start the mushroom gravy. Melt some butter in the hot skillet (no need to clean it), then sauté onions and garlic. After three minutes, add in the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.
- Finish the gravy. When the mushrooms are soft, add in flour to create a roux, and then scrape up the browned bits in the pan with some beef stock. Stir in ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- Finish off the steaks. Add the steaks to the simmering gravy and cook for five minutes. Serve and enjoy
Making a Roux for Salisbury Steaks
When you are making a gravy, you need to start by making a roux. A roux is the combination of all purpose flour and a fat (in this case oil) to thicken a sauce. The flour coats the fat keeping it evenly suspended when you add in liquid.
The liquid we are adding to the pan to create the gravy is beef stock. You want to remember two things as we add the stock.
- The first is that we want to scrape up the little browned bits from cooking the steaks and sautéing the vegetables. There is a lot of flavor there.
- The second thing to remember is to add the liquid slowly. I’m not talking spending five minutes adding the stock, but start by adding just a few tablespoons at a time and letting it absorb before you add more. It will be a gummy mess at first, and then it will result in the amazing smooth gravy you see here.
Using Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs
A lot of Salisbury steak recipes call for breadcrumbs, but not many call for adding Italian seasoned breadcrumbs. It may seem odd, as this is a truly American born dish. But! I would argue that the Italian seasoning is just one thing that sets our recipe apart. There is nothing worse than under-seasoned meat, and the Italian seasoning in the breadcrumbs here is perfection.
If you don’t have Italian seasoned breadcrumbs on hand, you can use 1/2 cup regular breadcrumbs and add 1/2 teaspoon of our Italian Seasoning.
How to Serve Salisbury Steaks
As you see pictured here, these amazing Salisbury steaks are perfect over mashed potatoes. If you want to keep things a little bit lighter or lower in carbs, consider serving them over our mashed cauliflower.
Mashed Cauliflower
Making this Dish Lower Carb
If you are counting carbs, you will notice that one portion of this recipe contains 20 grams of carbs. While it is totally possible to fit this meal into a low carb diet, it does take up a very large portion of your allotted amount for a day.
Here are a few ways to lower the carbs in this recipe:
- Replace the breadcrumbs with ground pork rinds. This is a great trick that many have used in things like meatballs and meatloaf and it will work here too. Don’t forget to add that 1/2 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning.
- Replace the flour in the gravy with almond flour. While this will result in a slightly less creamy gravy, it will work. I have used almond flour before in a roux and it behaves the same way as all purpose flour.
FAQ
A Salisbury steak contains breadcrumbs, egg, and seasonings. A hamburger steak (like you would use to make a hamburger) is just ground beef. Though, I would argue you will like your hamburger better with our hamburger seasoning.
Salisbury steak is made of ground beef. Though occasionally the store-bought versions will contain some pork.
Salisbury steak is named for James Henry Salisbury, a doctor who practiced in the late 1800s and was known for his focus on meat in a healthy diet.
What to Serve with Salisbury Steak
As mentioned above, this is wonderful over mashed potatoes and you can call it a meal right there. But if you want to add a side, here are a few suggestions.
If you make this easy Salisbury steak recipes or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I love hearing about how my recipes are bringing your family around the table.
Salisbury Steak
Ingredients
Salisbury Steak
- 1 pound ground beef (85/15)
- 1/2 small yellow onion grated fine
- 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (read how to make this recipe low carb or gluten free here: Low Carb Salisbury steak)
- 1 large egg whisked
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Gravy
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- dash ground black pepper
- 4 ounces white button mushrooms sliced
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the beef, grated onion, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, kosher salt, ground mustard, and black pepper.
- Divide the meat mixture into four equal patties that oval shaped and approximately 1/2 an inch thick. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the steaks and brown each side, about 2 minutes per side. No need to cook them all the way through. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
- Melt the butter in the skillet. Add in the onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the flour to the pan and toss the mushrooms in it. Slowly add in the beef stock, scraping up the browned bits as you slowly whisk it in to the skillet. Stir in the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Turn up the heat. Bring to a simmer, bring the heat back down, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the browned steaks (plus any liquid that has accumulated on the plate), and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the steaks are cooked through and the gravy has thickened.
Greg Denard says
Dang good wholesome comfort food recipe. Combined with mashed potatoes and early small English tiny peas and a pan of homemade biscuit and you’ve got a super good southern supper. Mmmmm
Carl Pirro says
Thank you Lisa, love Salisbury steak, will be making this recipe.
I hope you enjoy it!