Simple Salisbury Steak

Salisbury Steak is a perfect weeknight recipe to serve the family. Plate up with mashed potatoes or tasty veggies for the best comfort food!

I’ve always loved this recipe for Simple Salisbury Steak. We’ve made this dish for dinner time-and-time again and loved it every time! Follow along with us to make this solid, standby dinner dish.

Why This Dish Works

• This is a classic comfort food.
• This is a quick and easy meal without a lot of prep work.
• It is simple to modify to meet your picky eaters tastes.
• We love that this recipe is fairly inexpensive to make.
• It’s a reader favorite. Since posted on my blog in 2015, it has been shared over 1.5 million times. The user ratings are REAL and not inflated. Be sure to look at the comments below and you will see additional helpful tips and suggestions.

Easy and delicious ground beef recipes are a must-have in your kitchen’s cookbook! Ground beef almost always seems to be marked-down or on sale at the local grocery and it can serve as the base to a number of delicious recipes. From soups to stews to a classic cheeseburger, there’s always a use for this versatile food! One of the tastiest and easiest recipes you can make with your meat is some Easy Salisbury Steak.

Our Salisbury Steak recipe blows the frozen and TV dinner varieties out of the water! They can’t compare to this easy stovetop version that needs only a little extra time. It’s also the perfect dinner dish for all the picky eaters in your family- we keep things simple but leave plenty of room to add in whatever you’d like! The gravy is easy to make too, using some convenient brown gravy packets. With all this in mind, you’ll love this recipe for Homemade Salisbury Steak!

Ingredients and Substitutions

We tried to keep our recipe simple for all the picky eaters you might be cooking for. There’s plenty of substitutes and modifications you can make that we’ll list here as well!

For our ground beef patties, you’ll need…

• Ground Beef – We prefer a lean ground beef for this recipe. It’ll help your patties hold together much better! If you have any dietary concerns, mixing or substituting the beef with ground turkey is fine.
• Bread Crumbs – We usually use breadcrumbs but we’ve seen all sorts of substitutes here! Experiment with rice, stovetop stuffing mix, crackers, or even oats.
• Ketchup
• Mustard – Dijon mustard is an interesting substitute to try here.
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Garlic Powder & Onion Powder
• Salt and Pepper

Our gravy, meanwhile, is going to use…

• Brown Gravy Mix Packets
• Ketchup
• Worcestershire

This Simple Salisbury Steak will make for a perfect weeknight recipe idea to serve the family. Add in some mashed potatoes and your favorite veggies for the ultimate comfort food. An easy meal idea that is inexpensive and tasty.

Prep: 8 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients 

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Patties

• ▢ 1 lb Lean Ground Beef
• ▢ 1/3 cup Bread Crumbs
• ▢ 2 tsp Ketchup
• ▢ 1 tsp Mustard
• ▢ 1 tsp Worcestershire
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
• ▢ Salt and Pepper, to taste

Gravy

• ▢ 2 packets Brown Gravy Mix
• ▢ 2 cup hot Water
• ▢ 1 tsp Ketchup
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Worcestershire

Instructions 

• Combine all pattie ingredients in a large bowl and massage with your hands until ingredients are incorporated.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Cook patties on both sides until no longer pink.
• Lower temperature to low.
• Whisk together gravy mix and water until well blended.
• Whisk in ketchup and Worcestershire and pour over patties in skillet.
• Allow to simmer until gravy warms and thickens.

Notes

For the best results use lean ground beef. Also, to make this recipe a bit more from scratch, consider making your own homemade beef gravy.

Nutrition

Calories: 200kcal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 26g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 70mg, Sodium: 217mg, Potassium: 422mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 13IU, Calcium: 30mg, Iron: 3mg

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Make the Patties and Gravy

We love this Easy Salisbury Steak recipe because it’s so easy to prep and make! To make some for yourself, here’s all you need to do:

1. We’ll start this recipe off my mixing up our meat and forming our patties from the mixture.
2. Cook in a large skillet over medium heat until browned on both sides.
3. Whisk together gravy ingredients until mixed.
4. Pour gravy into skillet over patties and cook until thickened.

We’ve also made a video for this recipe, which we’ve pasted just below! Check it out!

Pro Tips for Perfect Patties

• Use your hands – This is as easy as dropping all of our patty ingredients into a mixing bowl and mixing it all together with our hands. Don’t even try to stir with a spoon!
• Don’t worry about the shape – If they are oval patties or round, they taste the same.
• You can make the patties ahead – Form patties and place in an airtight container and place in freezer.
• Cook on both sides until all the pink is gone – if you want to be extra safe, probe your patties with a food thermometer to check for doneness at around 160 degrees.
• Garnish with freshly chopped parsley for a finished look.

Flavor Variations and Add-Ins

• You can top your steaks with all sorts of veggies. Caramelize some onions with your patties or saute some mushrooms to go with them! Some of our crew loves mushroom gravy.
• There are plenty of other additives you can add to the gravy as well! Try substituting one of your gravy packets out for your favorite soup mixes.

Storage, Freezing, and Reheating

Store cooled Salisbury steaks and gravy in an airtight container in the refrigerator within 2 hours of cooking. Cooked leftovers will keep 3–4 days in the fridge. For longer storage, freeze.

• Refrigeration: Place steaks and gravy together or store gravy separately to make reheating faster; use airtight containers or heavy-duty resealable bags.
• Freezing: Formed raw patties can be frozen for up to 3 months. Cooked steaks (with or without gravy) also freeze well for 2–3 months. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil or use vacuum-seal/freezer bags and label with the date.
• Thawing: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. For quicker thawing, use the microwave defrost setting or submerge a sealed bag in cold water (change water every 30 minutes) and cook immediately after.

Reheating: Reheat until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Good methods include:

• Stovetop: Place steaks and gravy in a skillet over medium-low heat, add a splash of water or broth if needed, cover, and heat 8–12 minutes, turning once, until steaming hot.
• Oven: Preheat to 350°F. Put steaks and gravy in an oven-safe dish, cover tightly with foil, and warm 20–25 minutes or until heated through.
• Microwave: Transfer to a microwave-safe dish, cover loosely, heat in 1–2 minute bursts, stirring or checking between intervals, until 165°F. Times vary by microwave and portion size.

Note: Do not refreeze previously frozen raw patties unless they have been cooked. If you thaw raw patties in the microwave or cold water, cook them immediately. For best texture, you can sear patties ahead and finish in the gravy when ready to serve.

Common Questions Answered

Why won’t the patties stay together?

There are many different reasons for steak patties not holding together or staying shaped perfectly. One reason would be the fat content of the ground beef used in the recipe. If you’re remaking this recipe and have noticed your patties tend to fall apart fairly easy, you might want to crack an egg into your meat mixture.

How many patties does this make?

Note that one pound of ground beef will make about 4 hamburger patties.

What is the difference between a Hamburger steak and a Salisbury steak?

Hamburger steak usually only contains salt and pepper, whereas Salisbury steak adds fillers.

What is the difference between Salisbury steak and Meatloaf?

The main difference is in the way it is shaped and cooked. Salisbury steak is formed into patties and cooked in a skillet. Meatloaf is formed into a loaf in a loaf pan and baked.