This Poor Man’s Salisbury Steak is smothered in onion gravy and is ready in about 30 minutes! Serve with my favorite mashed potatoes and you have a meal that even the pickiest eaters will like! (If you want to get extra fancy, serve this Salisbury steak with my Restaurant Style Mashed Potatoes!)

Poor Man's Salisbury Steak

What is Salisbury Steak?

Salisbury Steaks are simple to make, relatively inexpensive, and loaded with flavor. It usually consists of a homemade hamburger patty smothered in a rich gravy. The consistency is more like a meatball than a hamburger though thanks to my secret ingredient, potato chips! And, it’s always the best when homemade!

Salisbury Steak Recipe

Ingredients & Substitutions

Ground Beef: We always used 70/30 ground beef growing up because it was the most inexpensive, but these days I like to use a leaner percentage like 90/10. I also like to take my ground beef out of the fridge about 30 minutes before preparing this so that the meat is not cold.

Potato Chips: A traditional Salisbury steak uses breadcrumbs, but we never seemed to have those on hand growing up so my mom would use crushed potato chips. I love the salty and crunchy component that the potato chips add to this recipe. It’s my “secret ingredient” and also where the name “Poor Man’s Salisbury Steak” comes into play. You could also use breadcrumbs if that is what you have on hand.

Gravy: One of my favorite components of this meal is the onion gravy. If you get to a point where the sauce seems TOO thick, you can add more broth to thin it out.

Easy Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy

How to Serve Salisbury Steak

The absolute best way to serve Salisbury steak is over mashed potatoes. I also add a vegetable side like garlic and parmesan roasted asparagus, green beans, or Brown Butter Brussels Sprouts.

Salisbury Steak

Can You Freeze Salisbury Steak?

This recipe freezes well, so you could absolutely make a double batch for later in the week. There are two methods for freezing:

  1. Freeze the uncooked steaks and then thaw and follow the rest of the recipe as listed.
  2. Freeze the cooked steaks in the gravy, and then defrost them in the fridge and simmer them in a pan until they are warmed through.

Dinner Ideas

4.99 from 64 votes

Salisbury Steak

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
This Poor Man's Salisbury Steak is smothered in onion gravy and is ready in about 30 minutes!

Ingredients

Hamburger Patties

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup potato chips, smashed
  • 2 teaspoons dry mustard
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Gravy

  • 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups beef broth, more if needed for thinning
  • 4 dashes Worcestershire
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

Hamburger Patties

  • Combine the ground beef, eggs, potato chips, dry mustard, garlic powder, and some salt and pepper.
  • Using your hands, mix all the ingredients until fully combined. Form into four hamburger patties.
  • In a 12-inch skillet with the butter and oil over medium-high heat, fry the patties on both sides until no longer pink in the middle. (about 5 minutes a side)
  • Remove patties from the skillet and pour off any excess grease.

Gravy

  • Reduce the heat to medium and add in the sliced onions. Stir and cook until golden brown and somewhat soft, about 3-5 minutes.
  • In a small bowl, combine the beef broth and the corn starch. Mix well.
  • Add the beef broth mixture and Worcestershire sauce to the onions and stir as the mixture comes to a low boil. The sauce will reduce and thicken.
  • If the sauce appears too thick, you can add more broth for thinning.
  • Return the cooked hamburger patties to the gravy. Spoon the gravy over the top and let them simmer and heat back up for a couple of minutes.

Video

Did you make this recipe?

You can tag me at @iamhomesteader.

DID YOU MAKE Salisbury Steak?

I want to hear about it!  Take a picture and tag me on Instagram or on Facebook.  I would love to see your finished product!  Make sure to tag me @iamhomesteader or hashtag #iamhomesteader, or both!

Share with your friends!

Categorized in: ,

Related Recipes

Meet Amanda Rettke

Reader Comments

    1. As I am sure you know, there are vast amounts of information on the details of Stonehenge – like who did it, why they did it, what it means, and what they were eating of course.

  1. 4 stars
    I use ground chuck, egg, DRY onion soup mix, 1 slice of bread soaked in milk. mix by hand and form into 4 equal sized oblong ovals Sprinkle w/paprika as a browning agent and brown in cast iron skillet. for gravy I use pkg dry onion soup When steaks are par mix, 1 pkg brown gravy mix and one can cream of mushroom soup. When steaks are partly done, remove from skillet. Add gravy ingredients and stir well with a whisk. Return steaks to gravy mixture and cover with water. Reduce heat till mixture begins to bubble. Let simmer till gravy becomes thickened and steaks are done, stirring with whisk occasionally. Serve with mashed potatoes and your familys’ favorite veggies. Mine loves crescent rolls as well.

    1. So you didn’t actually make this recipe at all, and instead you posted your own recipe. Thanks….

      1. This is the way I like to cook. Nothing is set in stone. While one recipe is delicious sometimes there always is another way for it to be good. Thank you for your input. You and the stay at home chefs Methods are excellent!

    2. So you just use a bunch of pre-made mixes and cans that are mostly preservatives. I would rather have a recipe without extra costly unhealthy mixes.

  2. I’m still unclear on the chip measurement. Do I measure one cup of whole potato chips then I crush them OR I crush the chips first to make one cup of smashed chips.

  3. I never made Salisbury steak before so I followed this recipe. I cannot believe that this recipe calls for 2 tsp. of garlic powder and 2 tsp. of dry mustard. I ruined a good pound of ground beef.

    1. Those are actually really average amounts for a recipe this size. Sorry you didn’t like it.

  4. 5 stars
    I made this today and it was delicious. I have Celiac Disease so using the crushed potato chips was great as they are Gluten Free. I also added a small can of mushrooms and also needed more cornstarch. I will make this again for sure. Thanks..

    1. Helen, I also have to avoid Gluten and wondered if you used a gluten free Worcestershire sauce. I live in Canada and have not been able to find a gluten free brand as of yet!
      Sure would like to make this recipe, It looks great!😊

  5. 5 stars
    This is a great recipe! My husband claims to not like onions so I use Durkee Fried onions in the meat instead of the potato chips so that I can still have the onion flavor…he loves it!

    1. lol I had to laugh “my husband claims he doesn’t like onions”… I did this for the first 30 years of my life!! Now I can’t make a dish unless it has onions in it. 🙂

  6. 5 stars
    I made this tonight (sorry no photo) & it was so delicious! I followed the recipe, but cooked the steak in a cast iron skillet. I also added mushrooms with the onions – excellent & tasty. I’m a picky eater & I found this delicious. I served it with roasted baby red potatoes (recipe from the Little Potato Company) with parsley, garlic & lemon!

      1. 5 stars
        I agree they are not the same at all. They taste completely different. I love the way people try a recipe and the just tear it apart. Then they say how good it was. Thank for your time and keep em coming. Steven

  7. Here’s one I always use that is good.
    THE VERY BEST SALISBURY STEAK
    Ingredients
    1 (10 1/2 ounce) can French onion soup
    1 1/2 lbs ground beef
    1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
    1 egg
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste
    1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
    1/4 cup ketchup
    1 -3 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, to taste
    1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
    1/4 cup water
    Directions
    In a large bowl, mix together 1/3 cup condensed French onion soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, salt and black pepper.
    Shape into 6 oval patties.
    In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown both sides of patties.
    Pour off excess fat.
    In a small bowl, blend flour and remaining soup until smooth.
    Mix in ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder.
    Pour over meat in skillet.
    Cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

    1. So you posted your recipe in place of hers? How about you start your own cooking page and keep your recipes there. This is so rude of you, yet your comment was approved, which says more about her than it does you!

  8. 5 stars
    Made this for dinner tonight and I only have one word… FABULOUS! I didn’t change a thing, and it came out delicious and so favorable! I made a double batch, so I did find I needed to add a bit more cornstarch, but that’s it. Make sure you let the gravy take its time and reduce, you will not regret it! Thank you for a recipe that I’ll be making for years to come!

  9. I am interested in a recipe for larger hamburger steaks with cooked onions on top, I want them to be moist and juicy, mine is too dry. Please help

    1. Use the recipe on the back of the Campbell ‘s beef gravy can It’s very good. I also like to add a squirt of ketchup and a sprinkle of Parmesan and Romano cheese. The powdered one from Sargento brand.

    2. I always spread the ground beef in a layer about 2 inches deep, then sprinkle the top lightly with soy sauce. Mix it in with you hands, then form patties. Add to a hot skillet and fry until nicely brown, turn, sprinkle with coarse ground pepper and continue cooking until cooked through. Add a bit of butter and cook just until the butter melts. Serve with the butter drizzled over.

    3. For hamburger steak/Salisbury steak, I always add egg and bread crumbs and cook them on a medium heat so that they do not cook to fast. If they are slightly pink in the middle, when you add them back to the gravy to simmer, it will cook them through. I am going to have try the chips in this recipe instead of the bread crumbs….sounds yummy!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating