What Is Salisbury Steak? (2024)

A classic comfort food, Salisbury steak is a dish that most people relate to school lunches or disposable aluminum trays. However, homemade Salisbury steak is a dinner much more delicious than what you remember. Keep reading to learn more about what is Salisbury steak and how to recreate this nostalgic dish at home.

What Is Salisbury Steak? (1)

What is Salisbury Steak?

A cross between meatloaf and a hamburger, Salisbury steak is made from seasoned ground beef patties served with a simple mushroom and onion gravy.

This hamburger steak dish was named after Dr. James Henry Salisbury, a doctor who studied nutrition in the 19th century and was a big proponent of minced beef as a health food, according to Smithsonian magazine. This sounds intriguing until you learn what foods the good doctor did not consider healthy: fresh fruits and vegetables.

What's the difference between Salisbury steak and meatloaf?

Meatloaf is a seasoned meat mixture formed into a loaf—a loaf of meat, if you will—and baked in a loaf pan in the oven. Salisbury steak is sometimes similarly seasoned but formed into patties and browned in a skillet on the stovetop. Salisbury steak is also typically served with gravy, often a mushroom-based gravy. Some meatloaf recipes call for gravy or mushroom sauce, but meatloaf is more commonly prepared with a semi-sweet ketchup or tomato-sauce based glaze.

How do you make Salisbury steak from scratch?

Naturally, there are many variations on this general hamburger steak theme, but Salisbury steak is usually made with lean ground beef mixed with seasonings, bread crumbs, and dry onion soup mix.

See how to make a simple Salisbury Steak with Mushrooms:

Lean ground beef is often used since you don't want excessive fat drippings for this flavorful dish, but some recipes suggest substitutions like ground turkey or pork.

The ground meat is then formed into patties, browned in a skillet, and simmered in a mushroom gravy—made either from scratch with beef stock and fresh mushrooms or with cream of mushroom soup.

Find your new favorite version from one of our top-rated Salisbury steak recipes, featuring a variety of seasoning options and cooking methods, from skillet to slow cooker, oven-baked to Instant Pot.

What goes well with Salisbury steak?

A classic match for Salisbury steak is mashed potatoes and gravy with sauteed green beans, carrots, simply roasted broccoli, or corn to round out the meal. Buttered noodles, white rice, macaroni and cheese, and tatter tots are other common side dishes.

Is Salisbury steak healthy?

What Is Salisbury Steak? (2)

Although Salisbury steak might not qualify as a "health food," substituting lean ground turkey for ground beef, sauteeing your mushrooms and onions in olive oil, and making your own gravy using homemade stock makes it healthier by degrees.

Check out our complete collection of Salisbury Steak Recipes.

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What Is Salisbury Steak? (2024)

FAQs

What Is Salisbury Steak? ›

Salisbury steak and hamburger steak are pretty much the same dish. Ground beef is seasoned—quite generously—and formed into oval-shaped patties. It's cooked and served with a beef-forward onion gravy. Recipes vary a bit, but essentially Salisbury steak and “hamburger steak” are the same basic thing.

What is Salisbury steak made of? ›

Salisbury steak needs a few ingredients to make it a true Salisbury steak: ground beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, and spices, especially salt and pepper. The eggs and breadcrumbs work together to bind the meat together, preventing it from falling apart while cooking. Mushroom and onion gravy tops the finished meat.

What is Salisbury steak TV dinner made of? ›

directions. In a large bowl, mix together 3-5 Tbsp of the soup with the ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, and garlic and onion powders. Shape into patties. In a large frying pan, brown patties on both sides.

Is Salisbury steak just a hamburger patty? ›

Salisbury steak features a blend of ground beef, breadcrumbs, and seasonings, cooked with a rich brown gravy. Hamburger steak, on the other hand, is a simpler patty made from ground beef, seasoned with salt, pepper, and spices, often served with various toppings.

What does Salisbury mean in steak? ›

noun. Salis·​bury steak ˈsȯlz-ˌber-ē- ˈsalz-, -b(ə-)rē- : ground beef mixed with egg, milk, bread crumbs, and seasonings and formed into a large patty and cooked.

Why do people eat Salisbury steak? ›

Best known in our time as a staple of TV dinners and bargain buffets, the Salisbury Steak actually has its beginnings as a proposed cure for digestive illness during the Civil War.

What is banquet Salisbury steak made of? ›

Banquet: "Mechanically separated chicken, pork, beef, water, rehydrated onions, textured soy flour (soy flour, caramel color) bread crumbs (bleached wheat flour enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid ..."

How to make Salisbury steak that tastes like TV dinner? ›

Ingredients
  1. 2 lbs of Lean Ground Beef.
  2. 1/3 cup of Panko Bread Crumbs.
  3. 2 Tbsp Chili sauce.
  4. 1 Tbsp Ground Stone Mustard.
  5. ½ tsp Salt and Pepper.
  6. 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
  7. Couple splashes of Beef Broth (you'll use some of the beef broth for the gravy)
  8. Olive Oil.

What is in the IHOP Salisbury steak? ›

Sirloin Salisbury Steak: Chopped sirloin steak with freshly sautéed mushrooms and onions and beef gravy.

Is Stouffer's Salisbury steak real meat? ›

100% fresh ground beef cooked in-house.

What cut of the cow is Salisbury steak? ›

Salisbury steak is a dish originating in the United States and made from a blend of ground beef and other ingredients, being considered a version of Hamburg steak.

What's the difference between Swiss steak and Salisbury steak? ›

What Is the Difference Between Salisbury Steak and Swiss Steak? A Salisbury steak is made from ground beef that's formed into a patty, and Swiss steak is actually steak. Additionally, Salisbury steak usually has a gravy that consists of beef broth, and Swiss steak is known for being cooked with tomatoes and onions.

What's the difference between cube steak and Salisbury steak? ›

Although both recipes have "steak" in their names, only cube steak qualifies as the usual definition of steak — an actual slice of meat. The steak in a Salisbury recipe is formed from ground beef instead, which is seasoned, seared, and shaped into a steak-like patty.

Is a Salisbury steak healthy? ›

But if made with quality ingredients, and served with a flour free gravy (a mushroom gravy is common) and a side of mashed cauliflower, it can still be part of a healthy meat based, low carb, low-starch diet.

Why does my Salisbury steak fall apart? ›

Salisbury Steaks require egg and breadcrumbs to bind the ingredients together. If you don' have enough of either ingredient compared to the ratio of meat and liquid, the patties can fall apart.

Why is my Salisbury steak pink? ›

Ground beef can be pink inside after it is safely cooked. The pink color can be due to a reaction between the oven heat and myoglobin, which causes a red or pink color. It can also occur when vegetables containing nitrites are cooked along with the meat.

What is school Salisbury steak made of? ›

Salisbury Steak is lean ground turkey and beef combined with fresh vegetables and crushed tomatoes and spices, and then baked. 1 steak provides 1.75 oz equivalent meat.

What is the difference between Swiss steak and Salisbury steak? ›

What Is the Difference Between Salisbury Steak and Swiss Steak? A Salisbury steak is made from ground beef that's formed into a patty, and Swiss steak is actually steak. Additionally, Salisbury steak usually has a gravy that consists of beef broth, and Swiss steak is known for being cooked with tomatoes and onions.

What is the difference between country style steak and Salisbury steak? ›

What's more, country-fried steak is breaded and fried, whereas Salisbury steak is just pan-fried in a little oil. Breading and frying a cube steak locks in the flavor. It's the best comfort food and a popular Southern-style breakfast, usually served with eggs and biscuits.

What's the difference between chopped steak and Salisbury steak? ›

Salisbury steak is essentially a chopped steak with a few extra ingredients mixed in with the ground meat and then is served with pan gravy. Since its birth during the civil war era by Dr. James Henry Salisbury, it has evolved by adding different ingredients to the chopped beef and the sauce.

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