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Salisbury Steak

5 from 9 votes
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updated: 05/23/25

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy

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.

side view of a Salisbury steak recipe in a pan with gravy, garnished with parsley

If your only memory of Salisbury Steak is bad school lunches and terrible TV dinners, you absolutely need to try this recipe.

This amazing recipe for Salisbury steak starts with perfectly seasoning the meat to make delicious salisbury steak patties. 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.

Reader Review

Absolutely delicious comfort food. Very easy to follow recipe. We will be making it again! Thank you.

How to Make Salisbury Steak

Step 1: 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.

meat and spices combined in a bowl to make salisbury steak

Step 2: Make the Steaks

Divide the meat into four and create four oval patties that are about 1/2 and inch thick.

meat formed into a patty to make salisbury steak

Step 3: Brown the Steaks

In a skillet with hot oil, brown the ground beef patties 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 hamburger patties and set them aside.

four salisbury steak patties being browned in a skillet

Step 4: 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.

mushrooms and onions in a skillet to start a mushroom gravy for salisbury steak

Step 5: 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.

adding beef broth to a skillet to finish off mushroom gravy

Step 6: Finish off the Steaks

Add the steaks to the simmering gravy and cook for five minutes. Serve and enjoy.

steak being added to gravy to finish cooking

Making a Roux for Salisbury Steaks

When you are making a gravy, an essential part of a homemade salisbury steak recipe, you need to start by making a roux. A roux is the combination of all purpose flour and a fat to thicken a sauce. The flour coats the fat keeping it evenly suspended when you add in liquid. There are two tips that will help:

  • Scrape up the browned bits. The browned bits from browning the meat is called the fond. There is a lot of flavor in it that we want to scrape up to incorporate into the gravy.
  • Add the beef stock slowly. 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. It should only take about a minute.

How to Serve Salisbury Steaks

As you see pictured here, these amazing Salisbury steaks are perfect over mashed potatoes. They are also incredible over a bed of homemade egg noodles. If you want to keep things a little bit lighter or lower in carbs, consider serving them over our mashed cauliflower.

overhead of a skillet full of Salisbury steak

Variations

  • Use a leaner meat. While we prefer these with 85/15 meat, you can definitely make them with ground turkey or lean ground beef. Keep in mind that leaner meat will result in a drier patty.
  • Make an all onion gravy. If mushrooms aren’t your thing, leave them out. You can simply skip them without making any other changes to the recipe. Just cook the onions for 5 to 7 minutes without adding the mushrooms.
  • Stick with plain breadcrumbs. I love them with the Italian breadcrumbs, but if you are looking for more of the original taste, use plain breadcrumbs.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

Leftovers of this delicious dish should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. You could also freeze the leftovers.

When reheating, add the Salisbury steak and the gravy to a small skillet over low heat, covered, until it is warmed through. If you are reheating frozen leftovers, let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.

overhead of a plate of homemade Salisbury steak on a bed of mashed potatoes

What to Serve with Salisbury Steak

As mentioned above, this is wonderful over creamy 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.

side view of a Salisbury steak recipe in a pan with gravy, garnished with parsley
5 from 9 votes

Salisbury Steak

Serves: 4 servings
(tap # to scale)
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
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.

Ingredients

Salisbury Steak

  • 1 pound ground beef 85/15 works best (453.6 grams)
  • 1/2 small yellow onion grated fine
  • 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs see note 1 and 2 (56 grams)
  • 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, see note 3 (113.4 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour see note 2
  • 3 cups beef broth (680.3 grams)
  • 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.
    1 pound ground beef, 1/2 small yellow onion, 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, 1 large egg, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard, 1/2 teaspoon ground 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.
    1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 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.
    1 tablespoon unsalted butter, 1/2 small yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, dash ground black pepper, 4 ounces white button mushrooms
  • Add the flour to the pan and toss the mushrooms in it. Slowly add in the beef broth, 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.
    2 tablespoons all purpose flour, 3 cups beef broth, 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 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.

Notes

  1. While many recipes call for plain bread crumbs, the added flavor of Italian seasoned bread crumbs is amazing in this recipe. 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.
  2. To make this recipe low carb and gluten free, replace the breadcrumbs with ground pork rinds and the flour in the roux with almond flour.
  3. If you are not a fan of mushrooms, they can simply be omitted from the recipe without making any other changes. You will just cook the onions for 5 to 7 minutes without adding the mushrooms.
Serving: 1steak with gravy Calories: 474kcal (24%) Carbohydrates: 20g (7%) Protein: 27g (54%) Fat: 32g (49%) Saturated Fat: 12g (75%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g Monounsaturated Fat: 14g Trans Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 129mg (43%) Sodium: 1657mg (72%) Potassium: 674mg (19%) Fiber: 2g (8%) Sugar: 4g (4%) Vitamin A: 185IU (4%) Vitamin C: 5mg (6%) Calcium: 90mg (9%) Iron: 4mg (22%)
Author: Lisa Longley
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
side view of a Salisbury steak recipe in a pan with gravy, garnished with parsley

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Salisbury Steak

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Hi! I'm Lisa Longley, and I am committed to giving you simple dinner ideas and recipes that are easy to make; recipes that will fill your home with joy. I am the owner and author of SimpleJoy.com and I'm so glad that you are here.

Reader Interactions

    5 from 9 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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  1. Greg Denard says

    5 stars
    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

  2. Carl Pirro says

    Thank you Lisa, love Salisbury steak, will be making this recipe.

    • Lisa Longley says

      I hope you enjoy it!

  3. Carla says

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious comfort food. Very easy to follow recipe. We will be making it again! Thank you.

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad you liked it, Carla!

  4. Alicia says

    5 stars
    Hello, my husband and I tried your recipe today. We added 1 packet of brown gravy mix to the meat mixture. Was so delicious 😋

  5. Diane says

    5 stars
    My family loves this recipe. The problems I have is 1. Gravy too thin, added 5 1/2 T still not enough 2. my meat patties fell apart
    Will continue to make

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m glad you love this! I haven’t had either of the problems you are commenting on, but some possible solutions. For the gravy, make sure you are adding the stock really slowly after the flour. You want to start with just a tablespoon or two at first, adding more once what you have previously added has been whisked in. The whole thing will take less than two minutes, but that slow start to the adding is important. For the beef patties, make sure that your breadcrumbs aren’t packed, so that you don’t have too much. Also make sure not to overcook them in step three. I hope that helps!

  6. Brooks says

    5 stars
    I made this last night (09 March 2025) and it was fabulous. I sub’d ground turkey in for the ground beef and there was no notable difference. Great recipe as is!

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad you liked it!

  7. Diane says

    5 stars
    My family loves this. I make 8 patties instead of 4. Also I add more flour (about 1/4 Cup +3 Tbls) to make the gravy a little thicker.

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad you like it!

  8. Diane says

    5 stars
    My previous comment was for 8 servings not 4. Sorry

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