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The Pioneer Woman made a filling beef dish her grandmother used to prepare. Here’s how to make Ree Drummond’s Salisbury steak recipe.

Ree Drummond’s Salisbury steak

The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond smiles in a photograph taken on her Pawhuska, Oklahoma Ranch.
The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond | Discovery Press/Food Network

Drummond’s retro Salisbury steak was inspired by the recipes her grandmother used to make. She starts by making the meat mixture. The Salisbury steak mixture is made of ground beef, seasoned breadcrumbs, dry mustard, 1 tablespoon of French onion soup mix (she says this is a “good old ingredient from the ‘70s”), a spoonful of ketchup, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

Drummond says there is nothing “new or earthshattering about this combination.” It’s just “good ol’ Salisbury steak like the kind that you had at your grandmother’s house.”

Making the Salisbury steak

Although this dish is called Salisbury steak, they’re burgers formed to look like steaks, says Drummond during The Pioneer Woman show. Brown gravy is made to go over the top. Drummond says making Salisbury steak requires taking a piece of the burger meat and forming it into an oval shape so that it looks like a steak. For the next step, she instructs home cooks to use the side of their hand to create ridges in the meat. “That way, when it cooks, it kind of cooks like a steak,” says Drummond. “That’s what grandma used to do.”

Next, Drummond places the meat inside (ridge-side down) a pan with olive oil and butter. She cooks the side with the ridges first and then flips the meat over to cook the other side.

Making the gravy

Once the meat is done cooking, Drummond removes the pieces from the pan and adds flour to the remaining oil so she can make gravy. She whisks the mixture until it turns into a paste.

For the next step, Drummond turns down the flame and adds a quarter cup to ½ cup of sherry. She says this is an update to the old recipe her grandmother used to make. “Now when my grandma made Salisbury steak, she never used any sort of alcohol,” says Drummond. “It was definitely a kind of family-friendly middle America dish.”

Once the alcohol evaporates, Drummond turns the heat back on and pours in beef broth. She continues to whisk the mixture while pouring in the broth. She also adds some ketchup and the rest of the French onion soup powder mix to the sauce. Drummond cooks the mixture until it heats up and begins to bubble and thicken.

The finishing touches

The Pioneer Woman turns the heat down and places the meat back in the pan. Shen then spoons the gravy over the steaks. She says this is the “key” to making Salisbury steak. “Ideally, you add the steaks back into the gravy and let them kind of simmer for about 10 minutes and keep spooning the gravy over the steaks,” says Drummond. “Really amazing.”

Next, Drummond sprinkles in parsley. She says she doesn’t remember her grandmother sprinkling fresh parsley onto her Salisbury steaks, but she thinks she might have wanted to. “Salisbury steak the way my grandmother used to make them, plus a little bit of booze,” says Drummond. “Now that’s my kind of recipe update right there,” she jokes. You can find the complete ingredients list and directions here.

RELATED: ‘The Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond Peppercorn-Crusted Steak with Pimiento Creamed Spinach Recipe

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