Old Fashion Salisbury Steak with onion gravy will bring back great memories. A classic recipe that your grandmother would have made. Quick and easy comfort food that makes a great family dinner.
Introduction
Salisbury steak is a classic American dish with ground beef patties seasoned in various manors and served with brown gravy over mashed potatoes or noodles. Comfort food from out of the past.
This is another request by my wife, but this time, she even remembered the recipe she made, but details like exact measurements were missing. So after some searching, she found Simple Salisbury at Cincyshopper, which she based on Pioneer Woman’s Salisbury Steak Meatballs.
All the right ingredients but not quite there. The recipe called for gravy mix and no onions in the gravy, but I can fix that. A few more changes, and we both felt it was just right.
My Rating
A nice comfort food. A high 4 or a low 5. I was in the mode for a classic, so a 5. All with just one pan.
🐄Salisbury Steak
This is comfort food and not low fat diet food. I suggest using standard 80/20 ground beef. That is the standard for burgers and is an excellent choice here.
Since there is no egg or anything to be a hindrance to scaling this recipe, it is the ultimate adjustable recipe. Having said that, 1 pound of ground beef is about as small as I want to go.
One more point. Once the patties are formed, compress a quarter size around and just under ¼ inch deep area on one side. This will help prevent the patties from puffing up during cooking and will help more even cooking.
Some may call this hamburger steak, but since there is a filler, that is not correct.
♨️The Gravy
Begin by caramelizing some onion and just set aside. It will heat right back up when added back in the latter. You can skip the onion if you want. Do not add raw onion to the gravy and think you can cook it well.
You can use mushrooms in place of or in addition to the onions.
We made our gravy without mix using a slurry method with flour. Plus, I added the caramelized onion for flavor.
With all that onion in the gravy, I pulled the onion from the steaks. Please see How To Make Gravy at Home for more details on how to do the gravy
🌡️Temperature
165° absolute minimum for the internal temperature when cooking ground beef. No discussion allowed. I’m playing the Doctor's card here. You will not eat or serve ground beef that has not reached 165 degrees.
The most important step in this recipe is to cook the Salisbury Steak until done safely. Accurate thermometers are a must for accurate cooking and food safety. As they say, knowledge is power. A good thermometer will take you from just an OK to an excellent cook.
I love my Thermapen. A good thermometer, like the Thermapen, will outlast a cheaper thermometer many times over and save you lots of money and heartache with improperly prepared meat. Available in The Cooking for Two Shop.
📖Comfort Food Recipes
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Note while pictures are for five servings, the discussion, and the recipe is set for 3-4 servings. I adjusted.
If you want caramelized onions in your gravy, start by thin slicing a small onion. Cook with 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat until nicely brown. About 7-8 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.
Mix 1 pound ground beef with ⅓ cup bread crumbs, 2 teaspoons ketchup,1 teaspoon mustard and Worcestershire sauce, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder. If not doing the onions, then add ½ teaspoon onion powder.
Divide one pound of hamburger into 3-4 equal portions. A quarter size indent in the middle will help prevent puffing up of the patties and make cooking evener.
Place steak patties in a large frying pan with a teaspoon of oil over medium-high heat. Flip about every 5-6 minutes until an internal temperature of about 165°. About 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness, the pan, and your burners.
Whisk 4 tablespoons flour with 1 cup beef broth. Remove the Salisbury steak to a plate and lightly tent. Pour out most of the liquid, leaving about 3-4 tablespoons of liquid. Allow the pan to cool some. Add 1 cup beef broth and bring to a light boil over medium heat.
Slowly add the flour-broth mixture while continuing to whisk. Add 1 teaspoon ketchup and ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. Add salt to taste.
Whisk until nicely thickened, a few minutes. Add caramelized onions to the gravy and mix well if using.
Add steak back into the mixture, simmer a few minutes.
Serve with mashed potatoes or as you wish.
📖Full Recipe
Old Fashion Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ⅓ cup bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons ketchup
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder - optional, use if not doing onion in gravy
Gravy
- 1 onion - small
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 2 cups beef broth
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon ketchup
- ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- If you want caramelized onions in your gravy, start by thin slicing a small onion. Cook with 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat until nicely brown. About 7-8 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.
- Mix 1 pound ground beef with ⅓ cup bread crumbs, 2 teaspoons ketchup,1 teaspoon mustard and Worcestershire sauce, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder. If not doing the onions, then add ½ teaspoon onion powder.
- Divide one pound of hamburger mixture into 3-4 equal portions. A quarter size indent in the middle will help prevent puffing up of the patties and make cooking evener.
- Place steak patties in a large frying pan with a teaspoon of oil over medium-high heat. Flip about every 5-6 minutes until an internal temperature of about 165°. About 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness, the pan, and your burners.
- Whisk 4 tablespoons flour with 1 cup beef broth. Remove the Salisbury steak to a plate and lightly tent. Pour out most of the liquid, leaving about 3-4 tablespoons of liquid. Allow the pan to cool some. Add 1 cup beef broth and bring to a light boil over medium heat.
- Slowly add the flour-broth mixture while continuing to whisk. Add 1 teaspoon ketchup and ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. Add salt to taste.
- Whisk until nicely thickened, a few minutes. If using, add caramelized onions to the gravy and mix well.
- Add steak back into the mixture, simmer a few minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes or as you wish.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- I like my meat servings a bit bigger, so I use ⅓ pound of ground beef per serving. Doing ¼ pound per serving would be just fine and cook a little faster. Remember, there is filler in there, so they are bigger than that sounds.
- Don't chop the onion. Cut into rings and maybe cut the larger ones in half.
- You can easily use mushrooms in place of or in addition to the onions in the gravy.
- Use the depression in the center of the patties. It will help prevent them from puffing up during cooking, and they will cook more evenly.
- Be sure to cook the burger to 165° minimum.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally published September 25, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Terri
This was fantastic! Great recipe! I’ve saved it and will make it again. Thanks.
Dea
Made this as directed tonight for dinner. Served it over mashed potatoes with a side of green beans! It was delicious!!! Hubby was glad he was actually home on time for dinner!! Your recipes never fail to please!! Thanks again!!
Andrina
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I made both the patties and gravy just as listed and everything turned out PERFECT!
Samantha Stone
I used the progresso Italian bread crumbs and found it very delicious.
Samantha Stone
So I just made this for dinner. I followed the recipe exactly. I couldn't be happier with it. My husband and 2 year old liked it so much that I am adding it to our rotation of dinners :)
For sides we did homemade garlic mashed potatoes, sautéed onions, and corn with Mccormick brown gravy. Amazing dinner thank you!
Livia
I don’t have a comment, but a question. I have a lot of seasoned breadcrumbs. Can they be used? And if so, what other adjustments might need to be made? I’m concerned about textured and saltiness. Thank you.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Livia,
Welcome to the blog.
Generally the seasoning in the bread crumbs won't matter much. You could cut back the garlic powder a bit if they are heavy in taste. There is so much other taste going on here that the little flavor they add won't be noticeable I think.
Dan
tgobbi
The instructions are incomplete!
Under "gravy" the ingredients list "1 onion - small chopped" but nowhere is the cook told what to do with it.
Also, calling this a recipe for 2 is misleading. First, a pound of beef is excessive for 2 people. Second, if it's a recipe for 2 why call for making THREE patties? It doesn't make any sense.
Better testing and editing would help a lot.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Sorry to disappoint. I will give you that the word chopped should not have been there (removed). What to do with the onion is the first instruction. The size of the patties is discussed in the recipe card tip area. See https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/recipes-not-two-servings/ for more discussion.
Dan
Margie
Are you serious? How about seconds or leftovers? Save some money on buying lunch and enjoy it twice. Crazy...
aimeeeebeeee
I just made this last week for our senior center bi-weekly dinner. Everyone loved it! My boss and I loved it so much, she made it for dinner last night and I am making it tonight. I really like that everything is from scratch, no pre-packaged items to worry about! I am super happy I found it! Thank you so much!
Cheryl Willaman
can ground Turkey be used? that's what I am defrosting. or other recommended recipes? we don't like mushrooms but will do cooked onions.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Cheryl,
Welcome to the blog.
The ground turkey should be fine. You have the breadcrumbs in the recipe that will hold the moisture. Previously frozen ground turkey can be dry due to the loss of moisture but I think you will be fine. There is lots of taste in the seasoning so the taste profile should be good.
Dan
Kathy Atkins
I made this for dinner tonight and there were delicious. I made 14 servings and there is 2 left for the moment. I fed 9 people. Next time I will add more onions because we all like them. I will make this again. Makes me proud that I made this from scratch.I will be looking through your recipes for sure.
mes
OMGoodness....i literally just made this for dinner tonight & y'all..I gotta tell yall..I got soo excited when I took that first bite & I just couldn't hide it! Started doin my lil happy dance & stuff! Lol..Soo good. I did tweek the gravy a lil bit so instead of 4 Tbs I put 2 Tbs of flour & used Italian bread crumbs & used 2 tsp of "better than bouillon" roast beef base. Oh & I added about a Tbs of chopped garlic to my meat & no onion powder nor fresh onion. Very tasty..glad I picked this one to make. & Very easy to make..u have a fan for life my friend.😁 Good on ya.
Judy
Wow! Just made for dinner tonight... HUGE HIT. Thanks for keeping it simple!
DrDan
Hi Judy,
Welcome to the blog.
I do love this recipe.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Auntie OO
Great recipe!! I went off script a little. As I like mushrooms n mine. But this was a huge success. Thank you!!
DrDan
Hi Auntie,
Welcome to the blog.
Most of the model recipes used mushrooms but we have food allergies in the family and tend to not use mushrooms.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Sue
This is the second time I've made this recipe.
It is delicious both times
DrDan
Hi Sue,
Welcome to the blog.
I do love comfort foods.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Terry
Thank you for your attempt at an "Old Fashion Salisbury Steak" recipe. This recipe is just seasoned hamburger patties with gravy. The ingredient that stands Salisbury Steak out is the use of the spice thyme. Most recipes have an amount varying from 1/4 tsp to 1 tsp for between 1 lb and 1 and 1/2 lb of ground beef. I am astonished no one noticed the missing ingredient nor noticed the difference in flavor. Are there no supertasters here ?
Anna
For the most part, isn't the "spice(,) thyme" a seasoning? To add in the thyme, wouldn't it then be just seasoned hamburger patties with gravy? And for that matter, when was Salisbury Steak (Old Fashioned, Swanson's Hungry=Man TV dinner or otherwise) ever 'not' just seasoned hamburger (ground beef) patties? I am astonished and humored at the idea that one 'seasoning' merits a snarky comment and attempts to elevate a basic ground beef dish into a Chateaubriand status (supertasters?! ...lol).
I mean no disrespect to you, DrDan but that comment was just 'super-ridiculous'.
DrDan
Hi Anna,
Welcome to the blog.
Yep, just a fancied up burger with onion gravy. That is what my wife and I feel is Salisbury Steak. I still like this recipe and have repeated it a number of times.
I tend to just leave comments like Terry's out there hanging with no reply. It's an opinion but there is not much I can say. There is no cussing, I wasn't physically threatened (I have been over this recipe, seriously), there were no health implications or miss information. I think it just makes the commenter not look very good.
Thanks for the "defense" and have a great holiday.
Dan
Tanya
@ Terry, I have never seen Thyme used in a Salisbury steak recipe. And what is Salisbury steak other than Seasoned Hamburger Patties with Gravy. To be honest, I'm astonished at your attitude, lighten up! If you don't think the recipe sounds good then don't make it. Or make it, then in your review tell us that you added Thyme and how well it turned out.
Jackie
Dr. Dan, I love your recipes. We made your crock pot chili yesterday. My husband said it was definitely a 5. He said it was the best chili he has ever eaten. I am going to try your oven baked chicken wings next. He love chicken wings but mine have not been so good. I will let you know about yours. The Salisbury steak sounds delicious too. Thank you for sharing your wonderful food with us.
Jackie
DrDan
Hi Jackie,
Welcome to the site.
I do love that chili. Around here, I call it Wifo Chili since it is her favorite one out of all my chilies.
I think you will really like the chicken wings. It gets great reviews by most people.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Dan
Bobbie
I loved this recipe!! The texture of the patties was very light. I like that it didn't have a lot of filler or eggs. I love mushrooms with my Salisbury Steak, so I sauteed some in butter in a separate pan and added to the gravy along with the onions. The gravy was a little thicker than what I am used to, so I would cut the flour down next time. The addition of ketchup and Worcestershire really made for a tasty dish. Thanks so much this recipe. I is now my go to one now.
Tara
This is, hands down,the BEST salisbury steak recipe I have ever made. Great flavor,texture and checks all the boxes for true comfort food. It is so good, I called my Mom up and gave her your recipe. Well done!