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!
Delicious Salisbury Steak recipe.
This one’s a keeper! Followed recipe as writen.
My mom made this dish often. Back then, it was a great, tasty, way to stretch meat.
Until now, given the name Salisbury, I thought it originated from Britain. Nope, it’s an American invention, named after a US Physician. The Brits can’t get a break when it comes to good food.
I was looking for a relatively quick Salisbury Steak recipe (as opposed to one I saw the other day that called for chilling the raw loaf overnight, then slicing and frying). My son had only ever had the frozen dinner variety at his grandparents’ house. This was a hit! I used Coleman’s dry mustard in the meat mixture (the ketchup surprised me but I used it), home-ground whole wheat breadcrumbs, and chopped the half onion very fine in a small food processor (since I had it out for the bread crumbs anyway). I didn’t add mustard to the gravy. I used Better than Bouillon beef and a small amount of their mushroom base in the gravy; none in the patties. This will now be on regular rotation in our house.
I had never made Salisbury steak before. I’ve only known the horrible tv dinner and worst yet, school lunch.
When I made this the first time, my family loved it! We aren’t mushrooms people, I just left them out. The gravy should be a food group, even without the mushrooms, it was fantastic. This is in the Sunday dinner rotation for sure!
Out of several dozen recipes that I have cooked upon coming across the ditch, this was the favourite from my brother-in-law. That surprised me, but ultimately, you do like what you like. What really impressed him was the mushroom sauce.
Making this was a two-pronged approach to utilising some aging mushrooms in the fridge plus a portion of beef mince that I got out of the freezer. It came down to the portion being roughly the right amount for eight servings.
Sooner or later, I knew I would introduce my nephew to American cuisine – I am on a mission to introduce him to (via my cooking) 100 different world cuisines by the time he is in year one. Your curry sausage recipe helped me show him Australian (and I am now up to 18 cuisines).
Nevertheless, this recipe was wholesome and pretty filling. All the layers of flavour with the different ingredients so their job so well; it prevented the patties from tasting too dry or too much like just beef – and I am guessing bathing in that roux sauce would also have helped.
As for the nieces, the reception was mixed – but we are talking finicky palates all-around. One gave a half-hearted try while the mother prepared a few other things to appease them.
Whatever the case, this recipe is one of those that becomes reliable and better than you think it will be. It also helps that I can extend my repertoire in the kitchen and know more and more styles. Never abandon the home-cooking field because you can stumble upon gems like this.
The best ever Salisbury Steak recipe. I’ve finally found it. Thank you!
Loved this recipe. Just made it tonight, and this is the best Salisbury Steak we’ve ever eaten. Didn’t have any issues with the steak breaking up, and the flavor was deeelicious! I did end up using home-made bread crumbs because we didn’t have Panko, and of course, probably used more mushrooms than called for, but overall stayed true to the recipe and it was great. Thanks!
This is my go-to recipe. So good!
I made this tonight and tripled the recipe, It was delicious with lots of flavour, I thickened the gravy up a tad and used more mushrooms. Would def recommend this recipe-I will be making it again!!
This was phenomenal. One thing I can’t stress enough…mix the love out of the meat mixture before forming it into the “steaks”. The more it’s mixed, the better they will stay together during cooking.
I have made it twice for company it was well liked both times
I should’ve read the comments first. Mine also broke up into bits and the strong dijon flavor is not what I expected for a salisbury steak, although it’s a fair dijon sauce for burgers. Will not try to make again.
Excellent recipes! My husband gave it 2 thumbs up!
Totally delicious! I didn’t have any mushrooms so I used green peppers and 1/2 chicken and beef stock. Totally worth it on a cold winter night. I totally will recommend this recipe to others
Yum yum yum!! Eating leftovers for lunch right now and is even better the next day somehow! Good recipe!
You knocked it out of the park as usual, Nagi. Very flavorful and hearty especially if served with mashed potatoes. You know when your mouth is watering as you’re cooking that it’s gonna be good.
This is excellent! We loved it! Thanks!
I’m making this for dinner tonight, it is a favorite at our house. I bought your book today! Happy Holidays and thanks for all your incredible recipes.
Have made this about three times and it is very delicious. Thank you for the recipe!
how much hamburg will i need to make 10 of then?
try looking at the top 1/3 of the page (just below the video), there’s a scale slider that you can use to adjust your serving portions
I would do 2 pounds. I made four big patties out of one pound. They were large so you can probably make 5 from one pound.
try math
Dear Nagi, I have made this so many times (exactly as written) and it’s one of my mom’s very favorites! I serve with buttered peas and mashed potatoes, and she always says it’s “perfect”, she especially loves the gravy. Thank you for this, and so many of your wonderful recipes, that help me prepare delicious “comfort food” for my mom. You are a gem. ♥️