This hamburger steak recipe features flavorful beef patties with rich mushroom gravy on top. Make this hearty dinner from scratch in just 30 minutes!
Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy
This is a great, from-scratch recipe straight from one of mom’s archive recipe cards.
It creates a savory Salisbury steak dinner with an onion-mushroom gravy that is perfect served over fluffy mashed potatoes for comfort food goodness.
FUN FACT:
In case you are wondering how a hamburger steak recipe became known as Salisbury steak, we have Germany AND an American doctor to thank for it.
James Henry Salisbury, M.D. was a 19th century American doctor specializing in nutrition. Using the Hamburg steak as inspiration, he created the recipe to incorporate into his “Salisbury diet”
Hamburger steak recipe ingredients
One of the great things about this recipe is that other than lean ground beef for the steaks and fresh mushrooms for the gravy, the ingredients are budget-friendly. Inexpensive meals can be much more than simple pasta and rice dishes!
- lean ground beef
- white or yellow onion – substitute 1 tablespoon onion powder for the 1/4 cup diced in the patties.
- egg
- ketchup
- dijon mustard
- Worcestershire sauce
- bread crumbs – I use Panko to help bind the hamburger mixture, but plain bread crumbs will work too.
- Kosher or sea salt
- black pepper
- fresh parsley, for garnish
For the mushroom gravy
- bacon fat – If you aren’t saving your bacon grease, why not?! It makes a delicious cooking fat! If you don’t have any, you can use olive oil.
- white onion
- fresh mushrooms, sliced
- all-purpose flour
- beef broth or stock
Tips for making the best steak patties
- Don’t over mix the ingredients. Treat your ground beef gently; don’t play with it too much or you’ll end up with dry Salisbury steak.
- Allow for shrinkage. When you form the patties, keep in mind that they will shrink a little bit. Because of this, you’ll want to make them slightly larger than you think they should be.
Also, use your thumb or index finger to make a little indention in the middle of each hamburger steak. This will help them lay flat rather than rising up in the middle like regular hamburgers typically do.
- Preheat the pan well. To achieve a nice brown crust, allow the pan to get really hot before you add the hamburger steaks to it. Also, I recommend using a cast iron skillet if you have one. They retain heat much more than a standard stainless steel skillet does.
- Don’t move the steaks. After the steaks are in the pan, be sure to let them cook. Moving them around in the pan doesn’t help them cook any faster and you won’t have that beautiful brown color on them either.
What sides are good with hamburger steak?
Aside from the almost essential mashed potatoes, good starchy side dishes include classic potato salad, buttered noodles, or some white or brown rice.
Go big or go home and make some smoked potato salad; you can thank me later!
Don’t forget to add some healthy veggies to your plate. Yes, you do have some already… in the mushroom gravy. 😉
I recommend adding a serving of honey roasted carrots, broccoli, or some fresh green beans. Cowboy beans or baked beans with bacon would be delicious with this meal too!
Watch how to make hamburger steak and gravy below!
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Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs ground beef
- 1/4 cup onion diced (See Note 1)
- 1 large egg beaten
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard (separated)
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (separated)
- 1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp bacon fat or olive oil (separated)
- 1 large white onion sliced thin
- 8 oz mushrooms sliced
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- parsley to garnish chopped
Instructions
- In a bowl combine the ground beef, onion, egg, ketchup, one tablespoon of mustard, one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, Panko breadcrumbs and salt and pepper. Knead by hand until combined. Form into 4 oval patties to give them a "steak" appearance (See Note 2).
- Heat a cast iron pan or large skillet until very hot. Add 1 tablespoon of bacon fat or oil and then patties. Sear patties to a crispy brown, 3-5 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside on a paper towel lined plate and cover to keep warm or a casserole dish if serving later.
- Add the other tablespoon of bacon fat or oil to the pan and sauté the onion until golden brown over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, remaining tablespoon of mustard and Worcestershire sauce and cook for several minutes. Mushrooms will release water so cook mixture down for several minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle flour over all and stir, cooking for another minute. Slowly add the beef stock, stir to mix and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer for several minutes, sauce will thicken. Season to taste.
- Add the “steaks” back to the pan, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes to heat through. If in casserole dish to serve later: cover and cook 10 minutes in 350°F oven to heat through.
- Serve over mashed potatoes and pour mushroom onion gravy over each salisbury steak. Sprinkle with parsley to garnish.
Notes
- You can also substitute 1 tablespoon onion powder for the 1/4 cup diced in the patties.
- Also, use your thumb or index finger to make a little indention in the middle of each hamburger steak. This will help them lay flat rather than rising up in the middle like regular hamburgers typically do.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.
Nutrition
I haven’t had Salisbury steak in years…true comfort food.
Loved this! I have one question In your recipe it also calls for 1 sliced onion seperate from the 1/4 cup chopped.. where does the slice go?
So for this one you will be using 1/4 cup diced onions in the patties and the 1 onion sliced will be used for the sauce with the mushrooms. Does that makes sense? Let me know Stacie.
Yes it does now! I actually added chopped onions to sautee for gravy.. it still turned out good!
One of my family’s favorites!
This is really comforting!! Quickly became a favorite at my house!
It really is! You are going to love it!
Love this! I haven’t has salisbury steak in sooooo long! And the gravy? Amazing — all the mushrooms!
This looks so delicious! Can’t wait to make this! My family is going to love this recipe!
This hamburger steak is seriously making me hungry!