Growing up, we always loved Mama’s hamburger steak recipe with fried onions. There was nothing like coming home and smelling the onions bubbling in the pan with the generous hamburger steak patties and knowing we were in for a hearty and delicious supper.
This hamburger steak recipe is one of my favorite family-friendly weeknight dinners. Why? Well, it’s simple, budget-friendly, and uses the family favorite, ground beef. You know, in the age where we have entire networks devoted to nothing but food, we have surprisingly few TV peeps using ground beef. This is all good and well, of course, but sometimes I think the food channels have greatly overestimated our grocery budgets! So this is why I try to bring you ground beef recipes every so often because I know how much I rely on it in budget-friendly main courses. If you also want more options, check out these posts: 20 ground beef recipes and 30 family favorites that use ground beef. That’ll keep you busy!
Now, these hamburger steaks are prepped, cooked, and ready to eat in a little over 30 minutes. How good does that sound? Pair yours with some simple mashed potatoes, gravy, or a side dish like potato salad. The choice is yours!
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground beef (or chuck, or lean ground beef)
- All-purpose flour (but self-rising will work just as well for this. Almond or coconut flour is an option too if you are gluten-free. Almond flour is especially good if you are watching your carbs).
- Beef broth (or water as a substitute)
- A sweet onion (such as Vidalia)
If you like, you can also season your ground beef with some seasoned salt, , , or whatever else you’re in the mood for.
How to Make Hamburger Steak Recipe
Shape your hamburger patties into doughnut shapes.
Help your hamburger steaks cook evenly with this technique
The reason we shape them into doughnut shapes (which you don’t have to do, of course) is that it helps the hamburger meat to cook more evenly and as they cook and shrink up that hole gets filled up anyway.
Take your hamburger patties and dip each side in the flour. Toss with flour to coat. The flour acts as a binder but also gives a crispier version of the burger when done.
Add those patties to a large skillet that is on medium heat.
NOTE: You may want to add a tablespoon or two of oil to the skillet and let it heat beforehand if you have a really low-fat ground beef (such as lean ground beef or ground chuck) or if your nonstick skillet isn’t quite as nonstick as it used to be.
Let those brown for a few minutes on each side.
Then add your sliced onions to the pan. Cook those until they start getting a bit soft and brown on the edges.
At this point, you can drain off and discard the grease if you like.
Now pour in your beef broth (or water). I’m only using about a cup here.
Cover and let cook for another ten minutes or so, until your patties are cooked completely through and no longer pink in the center.
When your hamburger steaks are done they’ll look something like this picture above.
Now, I like to scoop out my hamburger steaks and then get my onions out with a slotted spoon to serve.
Storage
- If you don’t eat all your hamburger steaks, go right ahead and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Then when you go to reheat, you can either warm them up in the microwave or even in a skillet on the stove. Just know that overheating can cause the burgers to dry out a bit.
- You can also store the hamburger steaks in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months.
Recipe FAQs
What is a hamburger steak?
A hamburger steak is a hamburger patty that gets dredged in flour and then pan-fried. You will find it creates a light crust on the burger, that I then pair with sauteed onions. This is such an easy and delicious dinner great for any night of the week.
What is the difference between hamburger steak and Salisbury steak?
The two names are basically interchangeable, but a traditional Salisbury steak recipe will include something to bind the together, like bread crumbs, egg, , and seasoning. They’re also typically served with fried onions and brown or mushroom .
What can I serve with these hamburger steaks?
Not sure what to serve with your hamburger steaks? One of my favorites way to serve this hamburger steak recipe is over mashed potatoes with brown or onion gravy and some steamed vegetables. Southern comfort food at its best! Other options include tossing in some sliced mushrooms with the onions or serving it alongside side dishes like egg noodles, coleslaw, and potato salad.
Can I make ground turkey burgers instead of ground beef?
Go right ahead and use ground turkey to make this hamburger steak recipe instead of beef. You might need to add a little olive oil into the pan to help prevent the burgers from burning, as turkey is a lot leaner meat than beef. Other ground meat options include ground chicken, ground pork, or a combination of beef and pork.
How do you make gluten-free hamburger steaks?
Simply use almond or coconut flour and you instantly have gluten-free hamburger steaks. Serve with a side of mashed potatoes, which are also gluten-free.
Looking for more easy ground beef recipes? Check out:
Stuffed Peppers With Ground Turkey or Beef
Cheesy Beef & Bean Burritos (Freezer recipe!)
Uptown Beef Patties with Ketchup Gravy
Ingredients
- ground beef can use lean, ground chuck, etc
- 1 cup beef broth
- all-purpose flour
- Vidalia or other sweet onion sliced
Instructions
- Heat one or two tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet. Press ground beef into doughnut-shaped patties (the hole in the center will allow it to cook more evenly and will fill in as they shrink during cooking). Dip each patty into flour on both sides and place in the hot skillet over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes on each side, until browned.ground beef, all-purpose flour
- Scoot patties to one side and add onions to the skillet. Stir and cook for a few minutes until lightly browned.Vidalia or other sweet onion
- Pour in 1 cup beef broth and cover. Allow to cook until meat is no longer pink in the center, or about ten minutes.1 cup beef broth
Video
Nutrition
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I make these too, only a little differently. I season my meat with a packet of dry onion soup mix, skip the flour, and instead of beef broth I add a can of cream of mushroom soup and a soup can full of water. It’s good every time!
That sounds good too.
I like to put chopped onions in the meat, salt, pepper, then after cooking it, take it out, add flour enough to absorb the oil. Stir to brown some, add onions and saute, then add water or broth to desired thickness, put meat back in, simmer a few minutes.
I can smell those onions simmering with the hamburger steaks. Now, wouldn’t a side of hot garlic mashed potatoes be comforting beside those srumptious patties? This is a dish my husband loves, along with some homemade buttermilk biscuits. Yum, Yum!!
I absolutely LOVE hamburger steaks!!! My dad was the cook in our house, and he always sprinkled salt in the skillet before cooking hamburger…he said it prevented grease splatters. I still do this.
I’ve never done the “donut” hole in the meat, and seen several chefs do it, but always seem to forget about it until it’s already cooking. LOL. I’m definitely going to try this recipe!
We put a different spin on these – We pat out the hamburger meat into a circle and spread mustard over it – Fill it with sauteed onions, mushroom, bell pepper, and fold into a half circle and seal the edges. Pan fry in a skillet with butter and worchestershire. Serve with cast iron skillet soft potaoes and homemade biscuits.
YUMMY
I like to toss the onions in seasoned flour. That way, you can get a good gravy going!
Yummy. I would probably whisk a little flour in my pan before the broth and make some gravy to serve over my patties with some white rice…pure comfort food. I love that Teaspoon got to go to the Royal wedding. I see that the bridesmaids must have fallen head over heals in love with her. I was invited but my milliner didn’t get my hat ready in time. 🙂
Susan, I eat it with white rice too.
The second little girl looks a little jealous of Teaspoon probably because she was so cute with her little wave.
My mum ALWAYS makes meatballs like this and I love it! I love all those onions with the meat. Yum, yum, it’s the best!!!!
I love that photo of the wedding. I have to be honest, it makes me giggle everytime I see little Grace (she’s the second little girl in from the left next to Teaspoon) looking all scowly and upset. She stole the show for me! I think she just wanted to be home watching TV>
Not having a single onion in the house one evening, I substituted a can of French onion soup and added 1/2 can of baby portobello mushrooms – Better Half loves the steaks made this way so now it’s a go-to quick n easy supper, served with mashed potatoes and a salad. Yum! This recipe of yours was my thought-starter, so thank you Christy!