Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy is a comfort food favourite that’s easy to make. Juicy seasoned beef patties made with ground beef (mince) smothered in an outrageously delicious mushroom gravy, this Salisbury Steak recipe has been tried and loved by readers from all over the world. And now it’s your turn to experience it!
And next time – try Salisbury Steak Meatballs!
Salisbury steak
There’s a man who lives in his car at our local dog park. He’s a valuable member of our community – he knows all the locals, looks after the park like it’s his own backyard, has gun-barrel views over Sydney’s beautiful Pittwater waterways and he tells the worst jokes. 😂
Anyway, the story of this Salisbury Steak recipe is that I regularly take hot meals down to him, sometimes even fancy-sounding things like duck confit. As we approached Christmas one year, I asked him what, of all the meals I took to him that year, his favourite meals were.
And he said “Oh, those burgers with the mushroom gravy were spectacular!” So I made them again for him, then I published the recipe on my site the next day. 🙂
This was back in 2015, and that’s how this Salisbury Steak recipe came to be on my website!
How to make Salisbury Steak
Salisbury steak involves making seasoned beef patties using mince / ground beef, then making a mushroom gravy. In my recipe, there’s just two little things I do differently to the usual Salisbury Steak recipe that I think makes them even tastier:
Grate onion and soak the breadcrumbs in the juices – guaranteed to make the steaks softer and tastier, a tried, proven and much loved method that I use for my classic Italian Meatballs (plenty of reviews substantiating this!). Plus it’s much more efficient than cooking chopped onions (raw onion bits in steak is not nice), and you avoid the risk of the steaks falling apart if the onions aren’t chopped finely enough ; and
Sear beef patties briefly then finishing cooking IN the gravy: I like to sear them in a stinking hot skillet to brown the steaks so they are still raw on the inside, then finish cooking them in the gravy so the juices that seep while they are cooking flavours the gravy. Never waste free flavour! That’s my motto! Plus, the gravy infuses moisture in to the steaks. Double bonus!
What is the difference between a Salisbury Steak and Hamburger patties?
Great Hamburger patties are made with nothing more than good quality ground beef, salt and pepper. Whereas the ingredients in Salisbury Steak patties are more like meatballs – including breadcrumbs, onion and flavourings such as Worcestershire sauce.
Salisbury Steak is pretty much me on a plate. Wholesome, homely, down to earth good food that’s economical, packs a flavour punch but is not fiddly or time consuming to make. Hope you love it as much as I do! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Sometimes it helps to have a visual – so watch me make this Salisbury Steak!
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Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy
Ingredients
Salisbury Steak
- 1/2 onion (white, brown or yellow)
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (or 1/3 cup ordinary breadcrumbs)
- 1 lb/500g ground beef (mince)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 beef bouillon cube , crumbled
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tsp dijon mustard OR 2 tsp dry mustard powder
Gravy
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 onion , finely chopped
- 5 oz/150g mushrooms , sliced
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp flour (all purpose / plain)
- 2 cups beef broth / stock , low sodium
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Salisbury Steaks
- Onion grating – Place breadcrumbs in a bowl. Use a box grater and grate the onion over the breadcrumbs. Mix with fingers, leave to soak for a few minutes.
- Mix – Add remaining Salisbury Steak ingredients into the large bowl. Use your hands to mix until just combined. Mix well for a couple of minutes until the mixture becomes a bit "pasty" which will ensure your patties hold together well.
- Form patties – Divide into 5 and pat very firmly into oval patties around 3/4" / 1 2/3 cm thick.
Cooking and Gravy
- Brown patties – Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the steaks and cook the first side for 1 minute or until browned, then gently flip and brown the other side (they will still be raw inside). Remove onto plate.
- Cook aromatics – If skillet is looking dry, add a touch more oil. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook for 2 minute until onions are a bit translucent.
- Cook mushrooms – Add the mushrooms into the skillet and cook for 2 – 3 minutes until golden.
- Make gravy roux – Turn heat down to medium. Add butter. Once melted, add flour and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
- Gravy – Gradually add in beef broth, stirring as you go. Once mostly lump free, whisk in remaining Gravy ingredients.
- Finish cooking steaks – Add steaks along with the juices on the plate. Cook for 5 – 7 minutes, or until gravy is thickened, stirring occasionally around the steaks. If the gravy thickens too quickly, add more water.
- Season gravy – Remove steaks onto a plate. Taste gravy and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve salisbury steaks topped with the mushroom gravy – over mashed potato is ideal! Sprinkle with a bit of parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Every morning over the summer break. PS He’s leaping to catch sand. No interest in the usual toys!
Loved this! Made per the recipe as written. So good! This one is definitely a keeper. Thanks!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Sherry!!
Absolutely delicious.
My gravy was a little pale so I added a little dark soy as you have previously recommended. Worked a treat .
The rissoles were so moist and delicious.
That’s exactly what would have done Sue – I’m so glad you enjoyed them ❤️
This is the 2nd time I have made this, we love it the meat is so moist which sometimes rissoles/meatballs can be dry so this is perfect.
Anything in gravy is a good thing in my world Jacinta 😂
Hubby was bemoaning the fact that he hasn’t had good Salisbury steak for years… that changed this evening. Blew his socks off! Thank you for a wonderfully flavored recipe.
Wahoo!! That’s great to hear Darleen! N x
Hi Nagi,cooked it last night, got another winner,my son likes to have this beautiful dish every week.♥️ loved it Next will be your Butter Chicken, thank you
Excellent
I have made these several times. An absolute family favorite in our house! Soooo delicious!
Hi , I m sure this recioe is delicious !
How can I do it GF
Thank you
Hi Rita, use 1/3 cup gluten free breadcrumbs in the mince mixture and sub the regular flour for 1.5 tbls cornstarch in the gravy. Enjoy! N x
I’ve made this recipe several times now. I don’t use flour in the gravy, as I avoid the extra carbs due to diabetes. But use arrowroot as a thickener before adding the steaks back in to the pan and it’s fabulous.
Hi Nagi! Question for you… my son is allergic to egg, anything I can substitute for egg as a binder? Also in Canada we have extra lean ground beef/lean ground beef/ and normal… which should I use for this recipe??? I assume fat content will mater in this recipe
Hi Chelsea, I’d use the normal beef otherwise you may get dry patties. I imagine an egg substitute like a chia egg may work, but I haven’t tried so I can’t confirm unfortunately! N x
This is a fantastic recipe! Made it tonight over some mashed potatoes and your magic broccoli recipe. It was a great dinner. My steaks were SUPER wet though. I followed the recipe exactly and it was so wet it would not stick together in a patty (we ended up eating meatball sized chunks, but hubby was happy). Any idea what I might have done wrong?
Sounds tasty April – you may need to add a little more panko if you find they are too wet – the water content in mince differs between butchers/brands – N x
Absolutely delicious!!!
Hi Nagi – this sounds lovely.
Do you think the gravy and method of cooking would work with Ostrich steaks?
Hi Peter! I haven’t tried to be honest! Would love to know though – N x
Absolutely delicious!
As always, this is yummy! I felt like a legit chef every time I follow your recipes 😅 And best of all, my husband loved it! I don’t have dijon mustard but it still came out delicious! Thank you, Nagi!! 😘
Winner! I love hearing this Crissy!
Found this recipe entirely by accident, thought MMmmm seems a bit different, we had all the ingredients so told the wife I’m cooking today. ‘Twas a bit smokey and took a bit longer but 2 clean plates later I am told that gravy will go well with pork later in the week! Recipes straight to the top of my list. Now off to look at your others.
Delicious
Yet another amazing recipe! After being stuck in a rut of same old same old cooking I’ve tried new recipes from you numerous times over the last fortnight, every single one has been brilliant! My husband exclaimed “omg! Another favourite, cook this again” tonight when having your Salisbury steaks.
I’m also pleased to say that Christmas is consisting of all your recipes.
I love reading your posts that go along with the recipes, it makes everything so clear and easy to follow. Thank you for all your work 🙂 it’s made this one happy (and very full) household
Thank you SO much Athena, I truly enjoy hearing such awesome feedback!
My husband ,who has been ill for many months, finally got his appetite back by me using these recipes. I love them all. Thank you!
Sorry to hear he is unwell Terri, but I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes ❤️
Everytime I try to make this they fall apart and it looks like I’m making hamburger helper. I’m doing everything the way the recipe says. I dont know what I’m doing wrong.
Hi Kenna, sounds like your mince right be too wet, try adding a little more breadcrumbs – N x