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!
Made this tonight it was very flavorful. The gravy was perfect with nice soft mash potatoes. Thanks
10/10. will make again and again.
Now a go-to in my kitchen. Ivan see my bride requesting it often. Made exactly as written except for the ‘shrooms; used an entire 8 oz box of mushrooms to prevent waste and we love mushrooms anyway.
what kind/brand of beef cube is so soft that you can just crumble it like that?
thank you.
Good flavor but the patties fall apart. The meat mixture is too wet. Will not make again
I made this tonight and it was amazing! Such great flavor. I didn’t have beef broth or bullion so I used Better Than Bullion and extra water. I served it with baked potatoes and veggies. The kids and the hubby also approved!
Made these for dinner with my 4 year old last night and made a big portion for the 5 of us to eat for more than one night and I must say, this is a keeper! Mainly stuck to the recipe to the letter except doubling the ingredients to make 13 patties and subbed the Ketchup for bbq since I thought we didn’t have Ketchup and I loved it. Saved in my favorites file forever! Grated onion is GENIUS! THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS RECIPE SO WE CAN BE THE STAR CHEFS TO OUR FAMILIES 💛
Made this today. I was so impressed that was so delicious. I love that I don’t taste the Worcestershire sauce as we don’t like it but wow came out moist and alot of flavor. I did exactly as the recipe no change or added anything. This is a keeper. Thank you for sharing yum
Making this and is looking/smelling/tastes fantastic. Made a few changes: caramelized whole onion (big one) added a whole head of garlic, sealed payties in air fryer, left put egg and panko from beef patties and flour from gravy (somehow it always tastes like flour when I add some and my family doesnt like it when broth its too thick) and tbh the “stew” is thick enough as it is without the flour… will finish with fresh parsley once it’s all done and planning to eat with rice
Made this last night and the flavors were delicious. My only complaint was that the patties were so soft that they would not stick together. I ended up with mostly crumbled hamburger in gravy (which was also delicious). Not sure whether I needed to have added more bread crumbs, or mix the meat longer. I thought I had massaged the heck out of it, but maybe not. I will be trying this again because, delicious, and also because I now have to conquer the ‘keep the patties from falling apart’ thing. 😀
Mine also fell apart, disappointed..
I agree, I would have preferred them firmer. Mine only barely stayed together and smooshed apart with my fork. Less breadcrumbs for sure next time. I might try just a quarter cup of panko. Maybe less onion too.
Hi Lynda, I found the best way to keep them intact was very gentle handling and turning each pattie only once in fry pan. Once fried, I gingerly place them in a casserole dish and finish in the oven. Much easier and allows a more hands-off approach 🇨🇦
What temp and how long in the oven? Mine fell apart too.
Making this (again) and just by tasting the gravy I can tell it’s going to be a huge winner. I didn’t have panko so had to use regular fine breadcrumbs but otherwise followed it to the letter.
The only bad part is that we take the meal to a friend’s place and share with them while we watch the rugby, and I always leave the leftovers for them. This time I’m not sure I want to! 😀
Turned them into menchi katsu with panko breadcrumbs and oh wow, a new level of hamburger. The flavour is more intense and the texture is so light and fluffy.
I made this today and it was the BEST Salisbury steak I’ve ever made! I used 5 shallots instead of the onion and grated half and finely chopped half. I also used 8 oz of mushrooms instead of 5 oz. I added some garlic powder to the meat and substituted the beef bouillon cube with 1 tsp of “Better Than Bouillon” roast beef flavour. I used regular canned beef broth (not low sodium) and didn’t add salt to the gravy, just coarse ground black pepper.
I having been making Salisbury steaks for many years, I use cream of mushroom soup for the gravy.
Made this last night as written. Wonderful retro meal. I loved the onion/panko method as well as finishing the cooking in the sauce. It made very tender, flavorful patties. Thank you!
Too few bread crumbs, should be illegal to fuck up meatballs this bad, genius.
Although the recipe was easy enough to follow, I mostly ended up with gravy with burger chunks in it. The patties absolutely fall apart. The Dijon taste isn’t what our house is used to, in a Salisbury steak. It’s not a bad taste, but it doesn’t taste like Salisbury steak. The mushroom and beef chunk gravy was good over potatoes, but just not what we wanted when we were craving Salisbury steak. The gravy took a long time to thicken, and the more I stirred it, the more the patties broke apart, no matter how gentle I tried to move a thin spoon around them. We ultimately ended up with more of a thicken soup than Salisbury steak and gravy.
This was a HIT with my picky, autistic 12 year old. Huzzah!
I called it “burgers in mushroom sauce” and he licked the plate clean. Thanks, Nagi!
I just tried this recipe tonight, I stuck to it pretty much, but eased up on the ingredient amounts for just a bit, and added a splash (or two?) of dry red wine. I’ll definitely do this again! Thanks!
This was a terrific recipe. I always liked Salisbury steak as a kid, but have never made it. This was better than I remembered. Made as is, except I omitted the beef bullion (I used more salt, pepper and a few dashes of liquid aminos), and only used 1 tsp dry mustard in the meat. I omitted mustard in the gravy. Will definitely make again.