Salisbury Steak is comfort food that can be whipped up pretty quickly. Especially if you checked out my post on How to make Burgers and already have these frozen in your freezer. Then it just comes down to the Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.

It is one of those dishes not requiring a full-length gravy. Where you need to Simmer the Stock for hours to develop flavor and texture. The Gravy in fact only requires a thickened Beef Sauce dominant in Onions & Mushrooms, which offers Umami. You don’t even have to create a roux.

Salisbury Steak Burger Patties

Make the Burger Patties the same way you normally would – see How to make Burgers.

Portion into 90 g Patties. Throw in whatever additional ingredients you want if making this fresh, or Sear previously made Burger Patties.

Salisbury Steak Sausage Patties

To achieve a bit sausage-like Patty. Add 1/4 tsp – 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda to 1 lb of Ground Beef and mix. This changes the PH level, yielding a Burger Patty much like a Sausage. Typically, found with Salisbury Steak.

If you want more of a Burger texture, then replace with 1/4 tsp of Baking Powder instead of Baking soda, just the same when preparing for burgers. The ones below were made with added Beef Suet for extra fat and beefy flavor.

Salisbury Steak Gravy

This Gravy is only comprised of a few simple ingredients.

When mixed together and tasted. It doesn’t taste like much, kind of on the weak side. But it intensifies when picking up the fond and while it reduces a bit when cooked. Resulting in a finished sauce that gets thickened up to the desired level of thickness through a slurry.

That’s the trick with this sauce. Allow it to reduce to intensify the flavors. This is done first with picking up the fond after the patties are seared and reduced even further when cooked in the oven. The final reduction happens right before you choose to thicken it with the slurry.

Onion

The Onion aspect comes from a single package of Onion Soup mix. This contains the Onion Flavor along with some beef flavor.

Mushroom

The Mushrooms comes from Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup. This also helps thicken the soup slightly and contains bits of mushrooms.

Salisbury Gravy Flavoring

Onion and Mushrooms are the Dominant flavorings for the Gravy. Two additional ingredients are added to elevate this gravy.

Seasoning Salisbury Steak Gravy

Montreal Steak Seasoning. I mean this is Salisbury Steak right. This has a nice balance of Flavors and just works with this dish.

Gravy Slurry

Use Cornstarch or Potato Starch instead of Flour for the Gravy.

Add as much or little to achieve the consistency desired.

Adjust the seasoning with Salt & Pepper, if needed.

How to Cook Salisbury Steak

Cook in the Oven or within the same pan on the Stove Top.

The burger patties you are just looking to sear. You don’t really need any seasoning for it, as the Sauce will contain enough Salt and Pepper, and other Flavors. You’re also not looking to cook it all the way through. Only Sear the Burger Patties.

Searing should release some fat in the Burgers and create a Fond on the Bottom of the Pan.

Pick the Fond up by adding the Sauce after the burgers are cooked. This will incorporate the fond into the gravy and add more flavor, which is exactly what you want.

The oven method is great when you are making up a bunch of these. Sear the Burgers up and Lay them into a large casserole dish to await the sauce before going into the oven.

If only making 1 or 2 you can just finish it in the same pan. Just remove the Patties after searing. Add the sauce, mix well. Add the Patties back in and simmer. Plate the Burgers and then thicken the sauce at the end to pour over the Patties.

Plate the hamburger Patties on top of Mashed Potatoes or with the mashed potatoes on the side. Serve it up with some Vegetables like corn or mixed vegetables.

Ideas with Salisbury Steak Recipe

Salisbury Meatballs

Shape the meat into meatballs and sear. Then cook along with the Sauce before thickening it into a Gravy.

Salisbury Baked Potato

Scoop out the mash from the baked Potato and Season any way you’d like. Cook the Ground Beef, breaking it up into medium chunks, and add the sauce. Simmer for a Bit before thickening. Fill the Baked Potato and Top with the Mash.

Salisbury Poutine

Cooked Ground Beef or Meatballs over Homemade Fries with the Gravy and Cheese. Use Shredded Mozzarella Cheese & Provolone at a ratio of 3:1.

Hot Salisbury Hamburger Sandwich

Use the Recipe below for a Hot Hamburger Sandwich. Just Place the Cooked Burger on 1 or 2 Slices of Butter Bread or Toast and Ladle Gravy over Top.