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!)
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!
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.
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.
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:
- Freeze the uncooked steaks and then thaw and follow the rest of the recipe as listed.
- 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
Salisbury Steak
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!
I will be making this again! So tasty and my picky family loved it. I subbed half of the ground beef for lean ground turkey and it was still tender and tasted more like beef 😋
Can you use breadcrumbs instead of potato chips? If so, how much? Thank you!!
My family loves this! I do make it a little different though. I add dash and kinders steak blend, a spoonful of minced garlic and Italian bread crumbs along with the chips. I make the patties then flip them in flour and fry them, I then make a thicker gravy and bake them almost like baked steak.
Definitely will be making this my wife has become very dairy intolerant and it be a good meal after a long day as a home health Nurse. No I am not a kept husband I retired from California Department of Corrections after nearly 28 years so I take care of her now.
Do you measure the 1 cup chips before smashed or after smashed?
After
Thank you!!! Made this and we loved it. Even had to share out the recipe. I think this is better than my Alton Brown cubed steak go to recipe. Faster, easier, dare I say tastier. I did add a bit of onion salt it that’s cause I add that and garlic powder to everything. 😄
My grandson said it was the best food he has ever had. I cook for him every night; every kind of food. I agree, it was delicious! Hands down, this was excellent! I will make this again, and again. Perfect…no adjustments.
O K.. There was only one WORD say. WOW. Now that make my night. Thank youLorrie
Just made this for a hearty comforting Halloween dinner. It was absolutely delicious plus quick, easy and inexpensive. My family is full and happy.
Great recipe! Makes the house smell so good and oh so yummy!
Salisbury steak. This recipe is easy and full of flavor. My guys loved it.
Thanks for the recipe! The potato chips really added to the flavor 😋
I love making food that’s easy quick and inexpensive but tastes amazing thank you very much for posting this. I’m a big fan
Very good! It’s definitely a new favorite. I added slice baby bella mushrooms only because they needed to get gone.
What if you don’t have dry mustard?
You can just leave it out or try a little squirt of prepared mustard, if you’d like. This is kind of like meatloaf, just experiment and see if you’d like to try something else next time!
Easy, affordable and very good.
I made this for supper and it was really good. It’ll definitely be on the menu again.
This was delicious!! I added sliced mushrooms just because I love em
The Stay At Home Chef Rachel just shared the same recipe yesterday identical poor man Salisbury steak as her recipe, so whose recipe is this really???
She shared my recipe on her page. It is my image, linked to this blog. I’m sorry that was hard for you to understand.
Next time if you try to snitch, you might wanna research first, so you don’t sound like a Karen!
I’m Not much of a cook so I appreciate your extra tips on how to make this fantastic just enough info to make it perfect thanks again
This looks so good and seems easy! Think I’ll try this soon.