A cross between a hamburger and a meatball, Salisbury steak is the staunch classic that we think is well deserving of a revival. A staple from the bygone era of box TV dinners in the living room and microwave dinners, this meal takes seasoned and browned ground beef patties and smothers them in a rich mushroom gravy. The result is a dinner that’s as heartwarming as an at-home Saturday movie night, but simple to make. Here are a few key points to pay attention to along the way to take the classic comfort food up a notch.
What People Are Saying:
“Soooo delicious. I made it twice already.” – SummeRose
“Incredible. Followed the recipe 100% and would not change a thing. Delicious dinner, paired with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli (and the leftover malbec).” – hea5700
How To Make Salisbury Steak
INGREDIENTS
- Egg: Size “large” is my go-to when developing recipes. This acts as the binder to help coat the ground beef.
- Bread Crumbs: Skip the ones with any extra seasoning—you won’t need it! Plain means you control the other flavors.
- Worcestershire Sauce: A must-have to get that traditional Salisbury steak taste. I went with 2 Tbsp., but feel free to adjust based on your own taste.
- Seasonings: Just a little bit of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper are needed to amp up the beef.
- Ground Beef: I don’t call for a particular fat percentage, and I don’t think a few percentage points make a difference here (you drain off the excess fat anyway). Feel free to use whatever you’ve got on hand or prefer.
- Crimini Mushrooms: I think crimini are the perfect mushrooms for gravy due to their size and texture. You can use your favorites, but keep in mind the cook times might be different.
- Onion: Please go for yellow here, as white will be too bland and red will have too much of a bite. Just one chopped up is all you need.
- Thyme: I think thyme matches the earthiness of this dish, but feel free to omit if you don’t like it or don’t have any readily available. Oregano, marjoram, or rosemary could be good substitutes.
- Red Wine: Red wine pairs beautifully with the mushrooms, onions, and thyme, adding an extra layer of acidity and richness to this gravy. That said, if you don’t have it or prefer not to use it, you can easily substitute it for water or an additional 1/3 c. chicken stock.
- Chicken Stock: Avoid beef-stock. Low-sodium or not, store-bought beef stock has a really intense, fake beef flavor that we just don’t love. Fortunately the beef fat, mushrooms, onion, and wine bring so much flavor to this gravy that low-sodium chicken broth can be easily subbed in—you’ll never know the difference.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
The first steps here are basically like making a meatloaf. Simply grab a bowl and mix up some egg, plain bread crumbs, Worcestershire (just don’t try to pronounce it), garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Plop in the ground beef and mix with your hands until it’s nice and tacky.
Time to cook! Well, sort of. Heat up some oil in a skillet. Pinch off a small piece of the beef mixture and cook it through. Give it a taste. If it needs more salt or pepper, season the remaining beef mixture. Form the perfectly seasoned beef mixture into 4 patties and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using your fingertips, dimple each patty 8 to 10 times.
Wipe out your large skillet, then heat up more oil. Cook the patties over medium heat until browned on one side. Flip ’em over and cook until the other side is browned too, 2 to 3 minutes should do it.
Drain off all but 3 Tbsp. fat from the skillet. Throw in the mushrooms, then pour in 1/4 c. water (more on that later). Cook until browned, then season with salt.
In the same skillet, melt some butter, then cook the onions until just softened, about 7ish minutes. Add the flour and tomato paste to thicken up the gravy. Pour in the wine to reduce the gravy. Whisk in the chicken stock and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the gravy is silky and nice and thickened, about 5ish minutes more.
Remove the thyme and return the mushrooms to the gravy. Top with the perfectly seasoned and cooked beef. Simmer, spooning that gorgeous gravy over, until the steaks are fully cooked through, another 5ish minutes more. Divide among plates with your favorite carby side!
Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.
Recipe Tips
- Test and taste your steak mixture: There’s nothing worse than a bland meat patty. While the seasonings in the steak and gravy can vary by recipe, common additions to both include onion, Worcestershire sauce, and some type of tomato product (we went with tomato paste here). The seasonings used for a Salisbury steak are also what separates it from a hamburger steak, so take care with them. Cooking a bit of the ground meat mixture and tasting it for seasoning might SEEM like a pain, but we promise it’s worth it to get it just right.
- Add water to the pan with the mushrooms: This seems to contradict everything we’ve ever heard about cooking mushrooms (mushrooms are already watery, and water is the enemy of caramelization, so why would we add more?). But when mushrooms hit a hot pan, the heat causes them to shrivel and shrink immediately. Adding water prevents this shock and actually speeds up the browning process. Provided the pan is large enough for the mushrooms to fit in a single layer, the water will evaporate evenly as they cook, resulting in plump, golden brown, perfectly crisp mushrooms.
Serving Ideas
One of the best parts of this classic dish is the mushroom gravy, so we love to pair this dinner with creamy mashed potatoes to soak up every last bite. Serve up some homemade potato rolls and peas and carrots, and you’ve got a delicious dinner on your hands that will put the freezer aisle to shame.
Storage
To make this simple meal even easier, Salisbury steaks can be made in advance and frozen. You can freeze the raw steaks if you like (freeze individually on a parchment-lined baking sheet until firm and then transfer to an airtight container), or you can freeze the fully cooked steaks with the gravy. Either way, they should stay good for up to 1 month.
