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!
We had this tonight, prepared as written only substituting Better Than Bouillon beef stock for the bouillon cube and shallots for the onions (because we had some). It was delicious – definitely a keeper!
So pleased to hear that Pat! N x ❤️
We LOVE this recipe! Saturday night is MEATBALL MANIA around our house, and we were getting kinda bored with the whole Italian thing so we decided to try this recipe! We opted to turn the patties into meatballs and let me tell you, they are epic! We have made these probably 10-15 times and the last time we only had some Shiitake mushrooms on hand, what a difference they made! As it stands this recipe is fantastic as is, but using Shiitake mushrooms kicks it up a bit!
If you decide to give making meatballs instead of the patties, you will get about 20 1.5″ meatballs. We never cook them all at once, so the remaining meatballs we freeze. We cooked some that were in the freezer for about a month and they were fantastic also! so they seem to freeze well!
Thanks for making meatball mania even more fun!
Love
Noah, Amanda, and Jason!
Made this tonight, it was really delicious! I added a swig of maple syrup and tamari to the sauce, loved the flavour! Also used cornstarch instead of flour in the sauce and oats instead of panko in the burgers to make it GF. Thanks for the great recipe!
Love hearing that Rachael!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know – N x ❤️
Hi Nagi, can i tizz this up using steak, not minced, if so what cut would be the best. We have had this recipe as it is and love it. I dont have a slow cooker.
Hi Jill! You sure can, but it would be easier for you to use the Chicken with Mushroom Gravy recipe and swap the chicken fro steak. I am loving porterhouse at the moment! https://salesdock.info/chicken-with-mushroom-gravy/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I made this last night and it was Excellent ! very easy, didn’t take to long to make the the Flavor is Just the best like my mamma, I did use wholewheat panko & did not use beef bouillon cube but did use all broth no water. I did mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, spinach salad
That’s so great to hear Lucky! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x ❤️
This tastes amazing but I must have messed up somewhere! As the steaks were cooking in the gravy they were falling apart in chunks, what could I have done wrong?
Hi Rachel ,sorry to hear that, did you use egg? That holds them together 🙂
O.M.G. This recipe absolutely DESTROYS all others — I am in awe! Thank you for sharing. The world can be a better place with good Salisbury Steak recipes!
That’s terrific to hear Don! So glad you enjoyed this, thank you for letting me know! N x
I made this exactly how you said. Delicious. I love Pinterest! I sent a picture to my daughter at work! She’s drooling from the Pic. Thanks
That’s great to hear Vanessa, thanks for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️
This was so yummy – especially the gravy! Kids loved it too. We had it with roasted potatoes and peas on the side. Looking forward to having this again.
Are there steps you can make a day ahead? Would love to make this for a weeknight dinner, but I have limited time. So any day before prep advice would be helpful. 🙂
You could form the patties ahead, or even cook the whole thing ahead then plonk them back into the gravy to reheat!! N xx
I tried this today, followed instructions, and wow! It is delicious!! This is the Salisbury Steak recipe that everyone should follow! Seriously!
That’s so terrific Kimmy! Thanks for letting me know! N xx ❤️
Can you re-post the nutrition for this dish? I could not find it.
Thank you
Done! Sorry I accidentally deleted it 🙂
I made this recipe for the first time. it was delicious. i did have a problem with the gravy being too runny. i even thickened it with an xtra slurry of flour and water. is there a reason for the cup of water? the next time I will leave that out . even so, myself and my husband really enjoyed it.
Hi Barb! The reason is because it allows for extra time for the salisbury steak to finish cooking before the gravy reduces to become too thick. 🙂 So glad you enjoyed it though! N xx
Nagi,
Thanks so much for sharing your salisbury steak recipe! It is wonderful! My husband & I loved it also. It’s a real keeper recipe. And I want to give thanks for your beautiful generous heart too! Your providing nutrition for the homeless man is an outstanding gift of compassion… I just know you are blessed in return. Thanks again.
Thank you so much for the lovely message Karin! Truthfully though, he is a valuable member of our community, he looks after the dog park so well and we, our community, looks after him! ❤️
This recipe is sooo flavour-full. I loved it. I decided to use my own previously frozen/fresh bread crumbs, Because they were previously frozen I increased it to 1/2 cup. Turned out fantastic with some tweeking. What a great recipe!
I was wondering if I could feature this recipes ingredients on my website with a link to this page? I’m looking to expand “my favourite recipes” section. I will feature my own “I made it” pic. Thanks
That’s great to hear Tanya! I’d love to see you sharing this recipe 🙂 N x
made it for the family for dinner tonight. All loved it – and my daughter had seconds (a very rare occasion). My son commented how he likes Salisbury steaks! Will be making this more often. Kudos to your culinary talent and your kindness.
I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this Vernon!! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. N x ❤️
My husband said this was the best Salisbury steak he’s ever eaten! He got sick from over-eating.
That’s fantastic to hear Melissa! Thanks for leaving a review! N x ❤️
Made it tonight and it was delicious! Served with potatoes and green beans from our garden. My husband and son loved it! It did make a lot of gravy so there is enough left over to use in another dish. Thanks for the recipe.
That’s great to hear Vikki! Thanks for leaving a review! N x
Yummy, Thank you. I’m really glad I tried it!
Thank you for the review Angel, it’s so terrific to hear you enjoyed this! N xx
I made this following the recipe exactly and it was amazing! My boyfriend said this is probably the most delicious meal I have ever made (I cook dinner 4 or 5 nights a week). I love to try new recipes and I will check out your other dishes. Thank you so much for sharing this!
That’s high praise Tirzah! SO pleased he enjoyed it so much! N xx