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!
I have tried many of your recipes. They are great, easy to follow and cheap to make. Thanks
That’s so great to hear Charles, thanks so much!
This truly is the BEST Salisbury steak I have ever had. I love that it is simple but packs in the flavor. It is just as good the day after. This recipe is highly recommend for foodies and picky eater alike. I look forward to trying many more of your recipes. I understand your travels have influenced your recipes and provided you with authentic flavors that I cant wait to try. Say hi to Dozer for me!
That’s so great to heat – thanks so much Stephanie!
I tried your Salisbury steak recipe tonight. It was really tasty. My gravy was quite thin so I gradually added more flour and it came out very well. My mom and husband ❤️ it too. Looking forward to making more of your dishes soon.
I have to tell you that I make this recipe regularly now. It is so flavorful. I can’t believe how much flavor the gravy and patties have. My husband asked me to pack up the leftovers so he could bring it work so his mates could taste it. Awesome.
Wahoo! That’s great to hear Emily!
Such a delicious recipe (again!). Elevates mince to nice enough to serve at a dinner party. There’s only two of us but I made the above quantity Salisbury Steak mix and froze half for next time. I know it serves 5 but we like our food and it was only a quarter of a portion more for each of us. Easy to make and delicious to eat. I’ve never tried one of your recipes Nagi and not like it. This is unheard of, I’ve got loads of cookery books and I may end up using one or two of the recipes but there’s always one I try that is truly horrible. I love your website (and Dozer) and wish I’d found it earlier. Thanks and keep the recipes coming.
Oh thank you SO much Gabriella, that’s so nice to hear ❤️
Can I use an OXO cube for the Bouillon?
Hi Gillian – yes that’s the exact one I use 🙂
The sauce is a little bit runny, so I am going to simmer for another 15-20 mins to reduce it, ok?
I hope you love it Raelene!
In the final stages of cooking right now and it looks and smells yummy!! So easy to prepare, thanks!!
This was sooo good!! My family loved it. Very flavorful!
Thanks so much for letting me know Karen!
The Salisbury steak recipe is amazing. I can’t keep my steaks from falling apart as they cook though. What am i doing wrong?
Hi Tyrone, they are quite soft, however if they are falling apart, you may need to add slightly more panko to keep them together – N x
Wonderful recipe as usual!
Thanks so much Adele – N x
Hi Nagi, fantastic website and the food is soooooo delist,
Can I ask a little favour please, with me being in the uk we work with either pounds and ounces or grams and kilos, would it be possible to put those measures on your recipes too? Lazy I know but many thanks in advance x
Hi Jeff! I’m usually pretty good with that – are the weights I’ve put in this recipe not enough? 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, yes they are😘 it’s just when I see the word “cup” in a measurement I just go all hot and cold and it puts me off trying the recipe. I’m just a lazy so and so I suppose. Thanks for replying by the way. Did the ham, cheese and egg wrap for lunch and my partner thought it was fantastic.X
Made this last night….perfect! Made to recipe except used 1/2 the amount of water. I had it ready too early for dinner so left the steaks in the gravy and turned the gas down to low, turned the gas off and back on a couple of times until ready to serve. Was worried that the steaks would fall apart or be over cooked but it was absolutely delicious and the steaks were soft and full of flavour! Thanks for the recipe 🙏🏻
I’m so glad you loved it Trish!!
Made this for supper last night with mash potatoes, mint green peas and sweet carrots. Absolutely divine! Thank you for your inspiration Nagi!
Sounds divine Desiree!!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I have tried Salisbury steak before but the patties always turned out to firm for my liking. These are perfect. I will try a few more of your recipes
Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it Petra, thanks so much for letting me know!
Sorry to keep commenting on some of your older recipes, but I just found your site. How do you keep up with all of it? Am loving your recipes. This was wonderful. I cook for two and am freezing the left overs. I noticed comments that some were having fall apart patties. Mine did not completely fall apart. two broke in half while the other three remained whole. Nagi, in the US ground beef is sold in differing degrees of leanness. I used 85 % lean. Could this have something to do with the problem of falling apart. I also used 1/3 cup of regular bread crumbs. Didn’t matter. Every last little bit was delicious.
Hi Nancy, sorry some fell apart on you – they are quite soft patties and need to be treated with a bit of care. The fattiness of the beef definitely plays a part in how the patties hold together!
I made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! I didn’t see where to add the water, and I didn’t end up using it. The only thing I struggled with was when adding the flour, it seemed like the mushrooms kind of ended up in a ball in the middle of the pan, so that felt a little weird. I thought the gravy would be lumpy, but it wasn’t. I needed a bigger skillet, but I made it work!
Hi Teresa, the water goes in at step 5. I’m so glad you loved it though!!
This was really REALLY good. I had to make some changes based on what I had or actually what I didn’t have. .I didn’t have exactly what was called for in the recipe but made due with what was on hand and I will definitely keep this in rotation and in my recipe book. My husband liked it a lot. I don’t cook with onions bc husband doesn’t like them but used all onion powder. Used the beef bouillon cubes with water instead of broth bc I didn’t have any beef broth and used stone ground mustard instead of Dijon..again didn’t have any and it turned out great. Had no leftovers… thank you for such an amazing recipe….
So good! I tend to be lazy and just make beef patties in canned gravy – but never again. This is easy and very very good.
Never again!!! I’m so glad you love it Heather!
Hi Carol – sorry to hear you had problems with this. Did you use beef? Did it have the consistency of normal beef mince / ground beef, like pictured in the video? That’s the only thing I can think could have gone wrong if it was mushy – that’s an odd texture for cooked patties like this to end up like. 🙂 N x