This old-fashioned Salisbury steak recipe with onion gravy is a classic homemade comfort food. It's easy to make from scratch in 40 minutes using ground beef and common pantry ingredients. With tender beef patties and rich brown gravy with onions or mushrooms, just like grandma used to make.
🐄Ingredients
Ground beef
Pantry ingredients—garlic powder, onion powder, Panko breadcrumbs, ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce
For the gravy—flour, beef broth, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, black pepper, plus onion or mushrooms if using
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐄Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Make Salisbury Steak—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- 🤔Make it right the first time.
- 🐄Meat patty options and variations
- 🥣Gravy options and variations
- 📋Comfort food recipes
- ⬇️How to make Salisbury Steak for two
- 🍴How to serve Salisbury steak
- ❄️How to store leftover Salisbury steak
- ❓FAQs
- 📖 Recipe
Featured Comment by Andrina
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Thanks for sharing this recipe! I made both the patties and gravy just as listed, and everything turned out PERFECT!"
Salisbury steak is a classic American comfort food recipe with tender, seasoned ground beef patties simmered in rich brown mushroom or onion gravy served with mashed potatoes or noodles. Unlike the TV dinners of the 1950s, this Salisbury steak recipe has lots of juicy meat and rich onion gravy.
My wife requested this recipe—we both had the same vision. We reviewed many salisbury steak recipes and filled them in with our memories. Please enjoy the best Salisbury steak recipe with these easy and quick instructions.
👨🍳How to Make Salisbury Steak—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. If making onion gravy, trim an onion into full and half rings.
2. Caramelize the onion or saute the mushrooms for your gravy. Set aside in a bowl.
3. Mix ground beef, Panko breadcrumbs, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder.
4. Make patties of equal size with an indent in the middle to prevent puffing.
5. Fry the patties in oil over medium-high heat until an internal temperature of 160°—about 15-20 minutes. While they cook, make a slurry of flour and beef broth for the gravy.
6. Remove the Salisbury steak to a plate and tent with foil. Pour out most of the liquid in the pan, add some beef broth, and bring it to a light boil over medium heat.
7. Slowly add a flour-broth mixture while continuing to whisk. Add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
8. Whisk until nicely thickened—a few minutes. If using the caramelized onions or mushrooms, add them to the gravy and mix well.
9. Add the steaks back into the mixture and simmer for a few minutes until everything is hot.
10. Serve mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
🤔Make it right the first time.
Do not make your patties over ⅓ pound. They will be too thick to cook well on the stovetop.
Add a dimple about quarter size ¼-inch deep on one-sided of the pattie. This will prevent the patties from puffing during cooking which may lead to over cooking the outside and increase the cooking time of the patties.
Do not use high heat to cook the steak patties. The outside will be done before the center is safe to eat.
If your Salisbury steak patties tend to fall apart, add an egg to the mixture.
Do not add raw onion or mushrooms to the gravy—they should be cooked first.
🐄Meat patty options and variations
Ground beef is most commonly used. The standard 80/20 ground meat is fine, but you can also use leaner ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken. If you use poultry, it should be cooked to 165°.
🥣Gravy options and variations
Brown gravy is easy to make from scratch 👍, or you can use gravy mix 👎 if you wish. I suggest using a flour slurry, but you can also use cornstarch. See How to Make Gravy for more information.
The ketchup helps flavor the entire dish. And the Worcestershire sauce will enhance the flavor of the beef. Both are optional but suggested.
When browning the onions or mushrooms, cook them to a darker brown for a more caramelized flavor.
📋Comfort food recipes
You may also like these comfort food recipes with gravy, like Pot Roast with Gravy, Oven Fried Chicken with Gravy, Beef Tips and Gravy, and Fried Pork Chops with Gravy. Or try my Old Fashioned Meatloaf for Two or 30-Minute Chicken Fried Cube Steak with Gravy.
Baked Meatloaf Burger Patties
Meatloaf Burger Patties make a perfect single serving of meatloaf or serve as juicy, flavorful meatloaf burgers. It's easy to cook these meatloaf patties in the oven, on the grill, or fried on the stovetop.
⬇️How to make Salisbury Steak for two
This is an easy recipe to cut in half. The full recipe makes about 4 servings, so a half recipe is two servings.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings from 4 to 2
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- Cook for the same amount of time.
🍴How to serve Salisbury steak
Salisbury steak with gravy is usually served over or next to a starch. Mashed potatoes are the most common, but pasta, like egg noodles, is also an excellent combination. Rice, like oven-baked rice, is a third option.
I like to combine this with a vegetable that compliments this old-fashioned dish—roasted asparagus, broccoli, sauteed green beans, or corn are my choices.
❄️How to store leftover Salisbury steak
Salisbury steak with gravy is best stored in the refrigerator, sealed in an airtight container, for 4 days. To freeze, seal the leftovers airtight in the freezer for 4 months.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator if frozen. Reheat in the microwave, on the stovetop, or in an air fryer.
❓FAQs
Yes, but please don't. It is easy to use, but gravy made with cornstarch can turn jello-like when refrigerated.
The recipe uses a straightforward slurry method to make gravy at home. Flour is whisked into a liquid and dissolved completely, which is then slowly added to a boiling fluid, usually a broth with meat drippings, while mixing continuously. After a few minutes, it will thicken into gravy.
Please see How to Easily Make Gravy from Scratch for more details on doing the gravy with the slurry method.
No. Swiss steak is made with real steak, but usually a tougher cut like round or sirloin, then braised in liquid to tenderize.
Salisbury steak is made with ground meat, similar to meatloaf, but is fried and served with gravy. Some Salisbury steaks contain eggs, but not all.
The term hamburger steak is sometimes used for Salisbury steak, but incorrectly. It will not have starch as bread crumbs added. Hamburger steak is usually just a big hamburger with a basic seasoning of salt and pepper.
Salisbury steak is made with ground beef, not cube steak. If you want a similar recipe with cube steak, try Chicken Fried Steak.
📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Salisbury Steak Recipe
Video Slideshow
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Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ⅓ cup Panko bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons ketchup
- 1 teaspoon mustard - regular yellow or dijon
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder - optional, use if not doing onion in gravy
Gravy
- 1 onion - optional if not using mushrooms
- ½ cup sliced mushrooms - optional if not using onion
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 2 cups beef broth
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon ketchup
- ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- If you want caramelized onions or mushrooms in your gravy, start by thin-slicing a small onion or about 5 oz of mushrooms.
- Cook with 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat until nicely brown onions or cooked mushrooms. The onion takes about 7-8 minutes, or saute the mushrooms until tender. Set aside in a bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 pound of ground beef with ⅓ cup Panko breadcrumbs, 2 teaspoons ketchup, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder. If not doing the onion gravy, add ½ teaspoon onion powder.
- Divide the hamburger mixture into 3-4 equal portions. Add a quarter-size ¼-inch deep indent in the middle of one side to prevent puffing up of the patties and make cooking evener.
- Place steak patties in a large frying pan with a teaspoon of oil over medium-high heat. Flip about every 5-6 minutes until an internal temperature of 160°. It takes about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness, the pan, and the burners.
- Remove the Salisbury steak to a plate and lightly tent with foil. Whisk 4 tablespoons flour with 1 cup beef broth.
- Pour out most of the liquid, leaving about 3-4 tablespoons. Add 1 cup beef broth and bring to a light boil over medium heat. Slowly add the flour-broth mixture while continuing to whisk. Add 1 teaspoon of ketchup and ½ teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Whisk until nicely thickened, a few minutes. If using the caramelized onions or mushrooms, add them to the gravy and mix well.
- Add the steak back into the mixture and simmer for a few minutes until everything is hot.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Use the ground meat you like. Make the patties ¼ to ⅓ pound. ½ pound will not cook well on the stovetop. If you use ground poultry, cook to 165° for safety.
- Don't chop the onion. Cut into rings and cut the larger ones in half.
- You can easily use mushrooms in place of or in addition to the onions in the gravy. They will cook faster than the onion. Do not add either to the gravy raw.
- Use the depression in the center of the patties. This will help prevent them from puffing up during cooking and ensure that they cook more evenly.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally published September 25, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
KL Dallas says
I love the crunch of the patty and in general its quick and and easy but tasted more like a hamburger with onion gravy and too much of the condiments. I would cut the mustard and ketchup down or out and replace with some herbs/spices as those just seemed to overwhelm the flavor of both the meat and the gravy.
Will try again with some modifications.
Cc Mattice says
Delicious! I used frozen mushroms with fresh onions. Cooked them at the same time, and followed everything else in the recipe. Again, delicious!
Shelly F. says
This recipe sounds delicious. Is there a way to make this using cube steaks?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Shelly,
Welcome to the blog.
Most, not all, of the flavor is mixed into the meat. So just browning cube steak will be a bit under seasoned. If you want to use cube steak, see my https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/30-minute-chicken-fried-steak-with-gravy/ and you can caramelize some onions to add.
Dan
Shelley says
When I want salisbury steak, I dont want anything that’s fancy. I want it just like this. Just the way they made it in the “old days”. It meets the expectations exactly !!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Shelley,
Welcome to the blog. I think you got what I was aiming to do.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
U fixed says
THANK YOU FOR FIXING THE RECIPE
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Yep. It was near the top of the rewrite list anyway. Thanks for saying something. I just did the whole thing... And this comment will disappear tomorrow since it will not help readers making the recipe. But I wanted to reply.
Dan
Carol says
I just made this and it's wonderful...the gravy consistency was amazing. Only thing i changed was i added some more ketchup and then a little mustard to the gravy because It was too bland and I can't add salt, which is exactly what it needed as your recipe suggests lol So the extra ketchup and mustard made it taste yummy without the salt added. Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm saving it on my computer and I'll definitely make it again.
Britt says
I have enjoyed your recipes for several years, rate most of them A or A+, and have recommended your site to many friends. I must have “goofed” on this one as it was rather disappointing.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Britt,
Welcome to the blog.
Do you mind elaborating on what was wrong? Taste, texture, instructions? Did you change or substitute anything.
dan
Britt says
Did everything as written. Used ground chuck. Did not add mushrooms. I plan to try it again as ALL of your items have been great.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Britt,
That is exactly how I usually make this recipe. My only thought is some ground chuck varies—it seems drier. If it was falling apart, add an egg to the mix.
Keep me informed.
Dan
Ralph says
Looks and sounds delicious. However as with a lot of your recipes we will not be able to partake of it as per your directions as my wife is celiac.
We are going to give it a try using King Arthur's Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour.
Celesti says
Made your Homemade Salisbury Steak for supper tonight. Your recipe was delicious and it's a winner with my family. The photos and detailed explanations were easy to follow and the end result was spot on. I followed the advice from one of your reviewers regarding adding the extra Worcestershire sauce in the raw meat mixture and on using 3 tbsp of flour in the gravy. Also, I added the onions into my gravy mixture. Thanks for sharing your recipes..
Tonya Eaton says
Made this for dinner my family loved it. I used more beef broth than the recipe called for and added mushrooms and onions. I will be making this again.
Sharon says
Do I use ground mustard or prepared mustard?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Sharon,
Prepared yellow mustard.
Dan
Anne says
This was an easily prepared and economical dish. The meat patties were certainly moist and fluffy in texture. I did saute some onions and mushrooms for use in the gravy. Unfortunately, the gravy was a little pasty tasting and lacked significant flavor or essence. I did double the Worcestershire and ketchup, plus adding onion and garlic powder with a little Emeril's Essence (in hopes of adding some zip). When I make this again, I probably will use beef Bouillion, consomme, or French onion soup for the liquid and triple the Worcestershire and ketchup. Thank you for another great recipe to add to my collection.
My husband and I do enjoy the pictures of your "furry family".
Terri says
This was fantastic! Great recipe! I’ve saved it and will make it again. Thanks.
Dea says
Made this as directed tonight for dinner. Served it over mashed potatoes with a side of green beans! It was delicious!!! Hubby was glad he was actually home on time for dinner!! Your recipes never fail to please!! Thanks again!!
Andrina says
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I made both the patties and gravy just as listed and everything turned out PERFECT!
Samantha Stone says
I used the progresso Italian bread crumbs and found it very delicious.