French Onion Salisbury Steak

This is a wonderfully comforting dish of juicy Salisbury Steaks cooked in homemade French Onion sauce. The sauce is so flavorful from stewed onions in red wine, tomato paste, and beef stock. Serve it with mashes potatoes, vegetables, and dinner rolls.

FRENCH ONION SALISBURY STEAK

I found this wonderful recipe many years ago, in Cuisine at Home magazine. It intrigued me right away because we love Salisbury Steaks and this flavor combination with French Onion soup seemed perfect. I originally shared this recipe 9 years ago and it’s definitely time to update it.

Salisbury steak is a simple dish made out of ground beef and served with gravy. It’s always comforting and can even be made lighter by serving it with vegetables instead of mashed potatoes. French Onion sauce gives this dish a very special flavor that you won’t get with regular gravy. The combination of slightly sweetened onions stewed in red whine, tomato, and beef broth is heavenly. 

It’s pure comfort food if you serve it with mashed potatoes and dinner rolls. Just what you need on those cooler weekend nights. 

TIPS FOR MAKING FRENCH ONION SALISBURY STEAK

Make sure to use a large, deep pan that will hold the steaks and the sauce. Shallow pans will overflow, so give yourself enough space for stirring and cooking. 

Don’t use ground beef that is too lean of the steaks will be dry. To keep it juicy, use 85/15% meat to fat ratio. 

When searing the beef patties, don’t cook it all the way through. Set heat to medium-high and just sear for about 3 minutes on each side until browned. You don’t want to cook them all the way but finish cooking them in sauce. 

Use the same pan to make the sauce as the beef patties. Take out the patties but keep all the juices from searing the meat. It will incorporate into the sauce for extra flavor. 

Anytime you use wine in cooking, make sure to choose the wine you like to drink. Flavors of the wine will transfer to the sauce and you want to make sure it tastes good. 

Cook beef patties in the sauce just until it’s done. If you overcook it, ground beef becomes tough. You can cut into the thickest patty to check if it’s done inside. 

CAN I MAKE THIS RECIPE GLUTEN FREE?

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.

MORE BEEF RECIPES TO TRY

Mushroom and Onion Salisbury Steak

Amazing Meatloaf Recipe

How To Cook Steaks In The Oven

French Onion Beef Brisket

Chili Mac and Cheese

Cheesy Meatballs and Shells Casserole

If you made any of my recipes and shared them on Instagram, make sure to tag me @willcookforsmiles and #willcookforsmiles so I can see all the things you tried!

Connect with Will Cook For Smiles!

Be sure to click below and follow me on my social media, so you never miss a recipe.

Don’t forget to sign up for email, so you won’t miss any new recipes.

PIN THIS RECIPE

French Onion Salisbury Steak

Wonderfully comforting dish of juicy Salisbury Steaks cooked in homemade French Onion sauce.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin SaveSaved! Rate

Course: dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 458kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

Salisbury Steak:

• ▢ 1.5 lbs ground beef 85/15 meat to fat ratio
• ▢ 1/2 cup finely diced Vidalia onion
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves crushed and minced
• ▢ 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs
• ▢ cracked black pepper
• ▢ salt
• ▢ 1/2 cup all purpose flour for coating the steaks
• ▢ 2-3 tbsp canola oil for cooking

French Onion Sauce:

• ▢ 2 large Vidalia onion thinly sliced
• ▢ 2 tsp white granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves
• ▢ 2 tbsp tomato paste
• ▢ 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• ▢ 1/3 cup red wine
• ▢ 2 cups beef stock
• ▢ 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• ▢ salt

US Customary - Metric

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Salisbury Steaks:

• In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for steaks and mix very well.
• Place flour into a wide bowl. Separate ground beef mixture into six even balls and shape them into patties. Lightly coat each patty with flour. Place patties on a sheet of parchment paper.
• Preheat a large cooking pan, over medium-high heat, and add oil. Place patties into the skillet and sear for about 3 minutes on each side, until browned on the outside.
• Take all patties out of the pan and set aside. Leave all the juices from cooking the meat in the pan.

French Onion Sauce:

• Add a little more oil to the pan if needed. Lower the heat to medium-low.
• Add sliced onions to the pan and sprinkle with sugar. Saute until onions soften, stirring once in a while.
• Once onions begin to soften, add in garlic and saute until fragrant.
• Stir in tomato paste until onions are evenly coated. Sprinkle flour over the onions and stir well.
• Raise heat to medium. Pour in wine while slowly stirring the onions. Simmer for a minute or so and slowly pour in beef stock, while slowly stirring.
• Add salt and thyme and let it cook until sauce thickens.
• Add beef patties back into the pan. Coat the patties in sauce and let it cook until the just done on the inside.

Notes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.

Nutrition

Calories: 458kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 343mg | Potassium: 714mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 332IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 4mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles

Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on November 9, 2011. Updated October 12, 2019.