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For the love of southern cooking, this Southern-Style Hamburger Steaks with Onion and Mushroom Gravy is so dang good!!
If you’re not from the south, you’re probably thinking— errr, isn’t this Salisbury Steak?? No, it’s not; however it’s Salisbury Steaks’ southern cousin. The difference really isn’t much other than the fact that Salisbury Steaks have a bit more “fancy” ingredients in it like breadcrumbs, bell peppers, and more whereas a hamburger steak is just a simple beef patty smother in a fantastic onion gravy.
Growing up my grandmother, Nonnie, made hamburger steaks all the time. The gravy she whipped up was essentially made from a package of onion soup, a package of brown gravy mix, a lot of Worcestershire sauce, some beef broth and sautéed mushrooms and smothered over a skillet burger. Obviously it was delicious.
I’ve taken Nonnie’s recipe and modernized it a bit and made the gravy without all the packaged food and with only real, simple, and clean ingredients. It’s honestly just as savory and perhaps, more delicious. (Sorry, Nonnie. I still love your version!) I love how hearty and comforting this dish is and most importantly, so easy to make!
To serve, I highly recommend making a side of my Whole30 Mashed potatoes and any green goes great with these Southern-Style Hamburger Steaks with Onion and Mushroom Gravy! Enjoy!
Southern-Style Hamburger Steaks with Onion and Mushroom Gravy
Ingredients
For the Hamburger Steaks:
- 1.5 lbs ground beef (preferably 80/20)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
- black pepper
For the Mushroom and Onion Gravy:
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 2 cups yellow onion, thinly sliced about 1 large onion
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp cajun seasoning or more to taste
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1.5 cups baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced about 5 mushrooms
- 2 tsp arrowroot starch
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tsp yellow mustard
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley for serving
Instructions
For the Hamburger Steaks:
- Gently form ground beef into 4 even hamburger patties, being careful not to overwork the meat.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil. Immediately before cooking, generously season the patties with kosher salt and pepper on both sides.
- Cook burger on one side until a deep brown crust forms, about 3 minutes. Flip burgers and cook until burger is cooked to your desired doneness. I do mine for 3 to 4 more minutes for medium (pink in the center). Transfer cooked burgers to a plate and set aside.
For the Mushroom and Onion Gravy:
- Once the burgers are cooked, reduce heat in the same skillet to medium and add ghee to melt. Once ghee is melted, add onions and cook, stirring, until tender, about 4 minutes and scraping up any brown bits in the bottom of the skillet. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cajun seasoning and dried thyme.
- When the onions are very tender add the mushrooms and stir to combine and cook, stirring, for about 2 more minutes to develop some flavor on the mushrooms. Add arrowroot starch and stir until well-combined into the onion mixture. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the beef broth, coconut aminos, yellow mustard, apple cider vinegar and continue to cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and all flavors are combined, 4 to 5 more minutes.
- Return the hamburger steaks to the skillet and laddle gravy over the burgers. Top with parsley and serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it! Does this freeze well? Wondering if I could make ahead and freeze for my dad!
Hi!! yes this recipe is a great one to freeze!
This was a hit at our house! I substituted bone broth for the beef broth and it was great!
A perfect Sunday night supper! I also made the potatoes. Adding it to my go to list of cozy feel good meals.
Alex, this one is AMAZING!!! We are throwing out all other hamburger, mushroom gravy recipes and keeping this one for a lifetime! Kudos to you for recreating a southern fav!!
Amazing… Although I have yet to try one of your recipes that wasn’t!
Made this for dinner last night and my husband was surprised because it’s waaaaay out of my comfort zone for what I usually make. It was fantastic! We both loved it and my husband said we should def put it on the rotation. Thanks so much for this recipe!
OMG!! Made this for Sunday dinner yesterday and it was a hit! So delish! Absolutely loved the flavors!
I followed this recipe ingredient-wise. The only change I mad was to puree the gravy with an immersion blender to sort of hide the mushrooms and onions from my husband. The flavor was awesome and he kept saying how tasty it was. Thank you!
Great idea!!!
So excited to try this! The gravy looks so delicious, I doubled it!
This was seriously restaurant quality!!!!!! So dang good!!!!! Thanks, Alex!!
So glad you love it, Mary
Honey, I was born and raised in the South and if someone told me to use “ghee” instead of butter or coconut aminos and arrowroot starch to MY hamburger steak with onion/mushroom gravy, I’d just laugh them right out of my kitchen. Sounds like you’re from south New York City, ’cause this is sure not something you’d find in Texas! Interesting recipe, good ideas, but I substituted things we use in the south and got a much better texture and flavor. Nice try, but so not Southern.
I was also raised in the South 😉 And these ingredients I opted to swap are ingredients that I like to use now in my kitchen (to follow a mostly Whole30/paleo diet) and re-imagine the recipes that I, too, grew up eating in my own way! You certainly can make it the good-old fashioned way. Nothing wrong with that, but I personally love to make it this way and it tastes absolutely fantastic.
If you didn’t make this recipe as it was listed, don’t go out of your way to leave a snarky review. It’s obvious these ingredients were created for a healthier version of hamburger steak. I am very much from the south but have been making this version of her hamburger steak for awhile. It’s AMAZING!