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Salisbury Steak is where rich flavours of meat, mushrooms, caramelized onions and butter, come together with beautiful aromas of fresh thyme and parsley to create something that makes you want more.

And because with this recipe it only takes 35 minutes to get dinner on the table, it will quickly become a staple in your weekly dinner rotation.

Ingredients for Salisbury Steak:

Ground rib-eye: I prefer this cut of meat for two reasons. One – it’s tender, which gives the patties a uniform texture, and two – it’s packed with flavour, which will infuse nicely into the gravy. This helps a lot when you have a quick recipe where you don’t have enough time to break down the flavours in order to create complexity.

Onions: this is the second most important ingredient. Thinly sliced or julienne. For this recipe, I like to take my time and caramelize the onions, to add an extra layer of richness and sweetness to the dish.

Mushrooms: I usually use cremini mushrooms, which are darker and have a deeper, earthier flavour. But you can use regular portobello mushrooms as well. Actually, that’s what I had in my pantry when I photographed this recipe, so I used that.

Beef Broth: you can make your own, or use store brought. If you don’t have beef broth, you can use vegetable broth or water. I don’t use stock cubes, but if that’s what you have and works for you, then great.

Butter: a higher percentage of fat is preferred, but not necessary. I always use unsalted butter, it makes it easy to control sodium levels.

Breadcrumbs: just regular, fine breadcrumbs. You can use toasted breadcrumbs for a deeper flavour.

Garlic: I use organic Spanish Roja for the pleasant aroma and stronger garlic-y flavour. You can use 1-3 cloves, depending on how much you like the taste of garlic.

Worcestershire sauce: adds a bit of tang and umami to the dish.

Aromatics: fresh thyme for the gravy and chop parsley to garnish

Other ingredients: a small shallot for the beef patties, flour to thicken the gravy, salt and pepper to taste

The Instructions:

Form the patties: in a bowl, thoroughly mix ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, finely diced (or grated) shallot, minced garlic, salt and pepper, then form into 5-6 equal sized patties.

Sear the patties in a hot pan sprayed with extra-virgin olive oil. Do this for one minute on each side or until they develop a golden crust, then take them out on a plate. The main idea is to just sear the patties on both sides and then finish cooking them in the gravy.

Caramelizing the onions: in the same pan where you cooked the meat, add a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, a tablespoon of unsalted butter and onions. Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally, until the onions develop that specific golden brown colour and start to look a little sticky. This will take about 10 minutes, but adding a teaspoon of sugar usually helps speed up the process.

Making the gravy: At this point add the mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce and minced garlic and continue cooking on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the flour and butter and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly, then slowly pour the broth. Simmer down until the gravy starts to thicken.

Final step: When the gravy starts to thicken, add salt, pepper and fresh thyme for the aromatics. Add the beef patties and continue cooking on low heat for 10 minutes checking every few minutes to make sure the gravy doesn’t become too thick (if it does, just add more liquid).

Serve on top of mash potatoes or steamed rice. It also goes well with vegetables like broccoli or asparagus, and it’s amazing as a leftover for lunch the next day.

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