Tired of the same old dinner options? Switch up your dinner routine with this recipe. It's perfect for those busy nights when you don’t have time to stand over a stove.
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- A budget-friendly, hearty dinner that'll feed the whole family
- Diner-style meal needs only a few staple ingredients til "order's up!"
- Easy to freeze for perfect comfort food whenever you need it
Crock pot Salisbury steak is one of my family's favorite recipes, and I love that it's so easy to make.
Plus, the flavorful beef patties and decadent mushroom gravy go great with rice, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes—whatever you have in your pantry!
No time for this recipe? Try this 30 minute Salisbury steak casserole instead!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, dry onion soup mix, and milk. Shape into patties.
- Dredge each of the hamburger patties in flour.
- Sear patties in a large skillet until brown. Place into the crock pot.
- Combine the soup, bouillon, and water and pour over the steaks. Toss in mushrooms (if using) and cook.
🎥 Video
Click on the image to watch me make this recipe from start to finish with extra tips! (Video opens in a new tab).
🥫 Storage
Classic comfort food is great, especially when you have leftovers! Thankfully, these hamburger steaks keep just as easily as they're made.
Store the leftovers in a glass or plastic storage container. Cover the dish (or dishes) tightly with a lid or plastic.
Then, refrigerate for up to three days. Feel free to reheat crockpot Salisbury steak in the microwave for a super quick, delicious meal.
Also, you can freeze Salisbury steaks for up to three months. Just be sure to seal them tightly in storage containers or freezer-safe bags.
📖 Variations
- This is one of my favorite ground beef recipes, but you can experiment with changing the meat mixture. Add some ground turkey, chicken, sausage, or pork to make the beef stretch.
- Alternatively, you can swap the ground beef patties with cubed steak.
- Have some meatballs to use up? You can use them in place of the steaks—no need to dredge or sear them, just toss and cook!
- Add fresh mushrooms if you like 'em.
- Or, stir some diced onion or minced garlic into the gravy ingredients before cooking.
- If you'd like, use a package of au jus mix instead of bouillon.
- Out of milk? Use unflavored non-dairy milk or beef broth in its place. However, I'd add a pat of butter or some oil to make up for the milk fat.
- You can easily replace the breadcrumbs with crushed crackers!
- Make gluten-free Salisbury steaks by swapping the breadcrumbs with crushed Chex cereal or another GF panko replacement.
- Make it in the oven! Prep the recipe as written, combining everything into a casserole dish. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes, or until the steaks reach 160 degrees F on a meat thermometer.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: For the most tender beef patties, don't overwork the ground beef mixture. Combine it gently with your hands until the ingredients come together.
- For quick cleanup, use food-safe gloves when working with beef. This way, you won't have to scrape under your fingernails for hours!
- This crockpot Salisbury steak recipe is best in a 4- or 6-quart oval-shaped slow cooker. The smaller ones can't fit all the goodness in.
- Feel free to stack the patties on top of each other in the slow cooker. Searing first prevents them from mushing into one giant patty!
- If you like to have a few big meals in the freezer at all times, double this slow cooker Salisbury steak recipe and freeze half in a large foil baking dish. Thaw and warm the next time you get a craving for comfort!
- On the other hand, you can make individual homemade freezer meals using meal prep containers. Add a steak, some potatoes or rice, and some cooked veggies to each container and freeze. Microwave from frozen to enjoy!
- You can also double or triple the patty ingredients and freeze those, uncooked, for another time.
👩🍳 FAQs
If you don't like mushrooms, feel free to swap the soup with cream of celery, instead. If your store is just out of regular mushroom soup, you can use golden mushroom soup. However, I'd avoid using cream of chicken, since this is a beef-based recipe.
You sure can! Prep all the ingredients and store in the fridge for up to two days. Then, carefully dump everything into the slow cooker and be on your merry way!
The keys are fat and moisture! That's why we add milk. Egg works as a good binder, too, if you're in a pinch. Also, searing the patties in a hot skillet helps them hold their shape during the slow cooking process.
Some people use the names interchangeably, but a true homestyle cook can tell you the difference between the classic recipes. Salisbury steaks are generally cooked in creamy gravy while hamburger steaks are not.
📚 Related recipes
- Slow-Cooker Steak Sandwiches are tender, juicy, and dripping (literally dripping) with flavorful au jus. Plus, the crockpot does all the work!
- A Southern classic smothered in rich gravy, Chicken Fried Steak is the kind of homestyle cooking that gathers everyone to the dinner table!
- Full of old-fashioned flavor but made in a fraction of the time, this Homemade Meatloaf is an easy beef recipe and so tasty after a long day.
🍽️ Serve with...
- Southern Green Beans are cooked with bacon and onions to give the easy veggie side a rich flavor!
- Nothing's better to serve for all that extra gravy than creamy, buttery Bob Evans Copycat Mashed Potatoes.
- You can't have a good steak dinner without some soft and tender Country-Style Whole Wheat Rolls!
- Southern Coconut Pie is the perfect, gooey, sweet ending to a hearty beef dinner.
🥄 Restless Chipotle recommends
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You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Large bowl
- Frying pan
- Slow Cooker
- Lean ground beef
- Dry onion soup mix
- Breadcrumbs
- Milk
- All-purpose flour
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Beef bouillon
- Oil
📞 The last word
I love diner food.
Maybe it's part of growing up in the 1960s but there's something about these classic comfort foods that soothes my soul like nothing else. And... it doesn't hurt that they're usually budget friendly.
Salisbury steaks, poor man's steaks, hamburger steaks... this recipe goes by many different names but once you learn to make it in the slow cooker you'll just call it "dinner".
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Crockpot Salisbury Steak
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef, 90/10 is best but use your favorite
- 1 ounce dry onion soup mix, 1 envelope
- ½ cup breadcrumbs, Panko, or dried/toasted
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 21.5 ounces cream of mushroom soup, 2-10.5 ounce cans, undiluted
- 1 tablespoon beef bouillon
- ½ cup water
- 1-½ tablespoons oil
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Instructions
- Add crumbs, soup mix, and milk to the ground beef.
- Mix well - you'll probably need to use your hands.
- Divide evenly into 8 parts. Form into patties about the size of your palm. Set aside.
- Mix the cream of mushroom soup, the bouillon, and the water until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in the frying pan or multi-cooker.
- Mix the flour and any seasoning you want to use for dredging. Dredge the patties in the flour covering both sides.
- Brown the patties on both sides. Add to slow cooker if you've used a frying pan.
- Pour soup mixture over the beef in the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 ½ to 5 hours.
Notes
- This recipe is best in a 4 or 6 quart slow cooker.
- Mix the ground beef with ground pork, ground turkey, or ground chicken if you like.
- If your family likes mushrooms definitely add as many as you'd like!
- Leftovers will be fine for 3 days or so when tightly covered and refrigerated.
- Serve leftovers over toast as a hot, open faced sandwich.
- You can use unflavored non-dairy milk or beef broth in place of the milk but add about a tablespoon of butter or oil to make up for the fat.
- Gluten free? Use crushed Chex instead of bread crumbs and a gluten free flour for dredging.
- As ALWAYS if you are on a special diet check your ingredients to make sure they don't contain dairy or gluten.
- Some people prefer using cubed steaks - that works, too!
- You can use ground turkey instead of beef.
- Use cracker crumbs instead of breadcrumbs.
- Not a fan of mushrooms? Use cream of celery soup instead.
- Use a package of au jus instead of the bouillon.
- Make this with meatballs - just add the meatballs right into the gravy no need to dredge or precook.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.Originally published May 26, 2020. Last updated March 28, 2023 for editorial improvements and better images.
Kerri
I love this! We ate the whole thing... the leftovers were just as good!
I browned the parties 1st and sautéed mushrooms and onions. Put it over white rice! Yummy! Thank you! Kerri
Etta Miller
What would be the best replacement for the cream of mushroom soup? We have a lot of folks that come into the VFW for our dinners but don't like mushrooms. I thought this would be a great dinner for them.
Marye
Cream of celery would probably be best.