French Onion Salisbury Steak

Hamburger steak is usually just ground beef seasoned with salt and pepper. Salisbury steak mixes the beef with binders like egg and bread crumbs, plus aromatics and seasonings, and it’s served in a gravy or sauce. My version uses onion, garlic, parsley, egg, and bread crumbs in the patties and finishes them in a French onion sauce.

The dish takes its name from Dr. James H. Salisbury, a 19th-century American physician who served during the Civil War. He believed a diet built around chopped beef was the key to good health, and he recommended chopping the meat and patting it into cakes just firm enough to hold together during cooking.

Use an instant-read thermometer. Ground beef is safe to eat at 160°F. For patties, insert the thermometer through the side, into the thickest part, the center, for an accurate reading.

Tough patties usually come from overmixing the meat or overcooking it. Mix the patty ingredients just until evenly combined, and simmer the patties in the sauce only until they reach 160°F. Cooking them longer pushes out the fat and juices and leaves the beef dry.

Don’t skip the egg and bread crumbs, you need both to bind the patties. Shape the patties firmly enough to hold together without packing them down hard, and sear them before they go into the sauce. Searing gives them a browned crust so they keep their shape while they simmer. A wide spatula makes flipping easier, too.

Yes! Replace the 1/3 cup of red wine with an equal amount of beef stock. You’ll make the sauce exactly the same way, just with a little less depth and acidity. You can add 1 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to get some acidity and bump up the umami.

You can use some crushed crackers of a crumbled slice of bread. I actually like to soak my bread in some milk and then squeeze the milk out and crumble the bread into meat mixture. 1 2 oz. slice of bread should be enough.

Yes, a well-seasoned cast iron skillet is great for searing the patties. The wine and tomato paste are acidic, but the sauce simmers for a short time, which a seasoned pan handles well. Just move any leftovers into a storage container right away instead of leaving them in the skillet, and make sure the skillet is large and deep enough to hold all six patties and the sauce.

Yes, you can! 
It’s very easy to make this gluten free by substituting bread crumbs and flour for gluten free bread crumbs and gluten free all purpose flour. 
In the Salisbury Steaks, use gluten free bread crumbs inside the ground beef mix and use gluten free all purpose flour to dust the meat patties. 
In French Onion Sauce, use gluten free all purpose flour to thicken the sauce. You may need to use an extra tablespoon of gluten free flour, it depends on the brand you use. If you need to add more flour after the beef broth, make a roux. To make roux, mix flour and softened butter until it forms paste. Whisk the roux into the sauce to thicken it.

Yes. Use 93/7 ground turkey, NOT the extra-lean 99% lean kind, which tends to dry out. Turkey is leaner and milder than beef, so season the patties generously and keep a close eye on them while they simmer in the sauce. Ground turkey needs to reach 165°F internal temperature when done. If you love cooking with turkey, try my turkey meatloaf recipe too.