I really love this meal’s everyday yet memorable vibe. The homemade, beefy Salisbury Steaks are so satisfying and flavorful and the gravy is deep, dark, and amazing. The mashed potatoes are so good that they almost steal the show. The beans and corn that round things out can be replaced with your veg of choice.

Social Learning

To taste test, once the meat mixture is ready to fry, you can place a grape-sized ball of it on a small plate and microwave until cooked through (about 15 seconds on high power). Taste, then adjust seasoning if desired.

If you’re going to cook this meal for friends, note that you can make the patties well ahead of time and have them resting in the fridge, in between layers of wax paper. Get everything set up well in advance: the Instant Pot on the counter with the steam trivet inside, a cutting board and knife nearby. You can start in on the potatoes 45 minutes before you expect the guests to arrive (T-45 minutes). If you’ve already trimmed and cut the beans well in advance, you can slide that dish into a preheated oven at T-30. Make your guests responsible for making and serving the cocktails, which will keep everyone occupied while you fry up the patties and make the gravy – neither or which takes a ton of attention or concentration.

Once the beans are finished roasting and you’ve turned off the oven, there will be plenty of residual heat in the oven to keep the beans warm on the lower rack, and the finished steaks warm on the upper rack.

The Food Processor

I’m usually on the fence about the food processor, and usually prefer to do things with a knife. However, I recently got a new processor after my last one gave up the ghost after about 30 years of light service. Lately I’ve been leaning toward using the processor, just because it’s shiny and new.

But my general perspective it still this: when you have to peel and cut stuff up before putting it into the processor, why don’t you just finish the job with the knife and cutting board, which you’re already using? The one good answer is that if there’s a massive amount of it, I think it’s worth using the processor. Or if the remaining work would be significantly laborious by hand, that’d make me want to use the processor, too. In the case of this shredded onion, I think you could do a quick and relatively painless job of it with a box grater. My food processor didn’t completely shred the onion. It left a few large pieces that I had to chop up.

The Backstory

Friend-Worthy

I guess I distinguish between guest-worthy, and friend-worthy. “Guests” and “friends” are the same people, let’s hope, so it’s only the level of fanciness that is different. “Cooking for guests” conjures up something on the elaborate side. I’d use the world “formal,” but I’ve set a formal table only maybe twice in my life. As much as I love formal dining, I just don’t have the bandwidth to meticulously think through a place setting at home. You’re probably wondering how I’m able to maintain my membership in the cultural elite without throwing formal dinner parties at home. I guess I score enough points in being able to play Chopin Etudes from memory on my seven-foot grand piano, which I keep on my yacht, which is currently docked in Monaco, while my private chef is sunbathing in between meals. But I digress.

By “fancy,” I mean that there’s an intention to impress, just not through formalities: a massive and sumptuous holiday feast, an elaborate romantic meal, the kind of picnic food you’d proudly take to Ravinia. I want the food to be lavish, exquisite, and astonishing.

When I think about “cooking for friends” on the other hand, I usually want more everyday fare … but I want it to be memorable. This Salisbury Steak recipe if perfect for that: it’s homey and unfancy, but in terms of quality, it’s notably delicious.

Frozen Dinners

When I was a kid, my mom used to buy frozen dinners, and Salisbury Steak was always my favorite. I shy away from processed foods these days – most of the time – and since I never see it on a restaurant menu, if I want a Salisbury Steak, I’m going to have to make it myself. Hence this from-scratch version.

Even though my memories of those frozen dinners are fond ones, this homemade version makes those memories seem distant and pale. The steaks’ texture is beautifully meaty, tender, and satisfying, like a really good burger. And the portions are quite large: you could probably make nine smaller steaks and they’d still be pretty reasonably-sized. But I love the six-pack version. The steaks have lots of flavor, and the gravy is outstanding. Together the steaks and gravy combine into something truly compelling, as they should for Salisbury Steak. It’s a homey, unfancy meal … but within that category, this version really rises to the top.

Adult Lunchbox

I wouldn’t bring this to work unless I was planning to reheat it there (which is something I generally avoid, because, as they say, “hell is other people,” and those people tend to gather in the lunchroom). It wouldn’t be good cold. But lets talk about reheating it anyway. You can gravy-up the steak and store it in a microwavable container, and it will reheat perfectly that way.

The potatoes are beautiful reheated, but it takes a bit of extra work. I’ll tell you what I’ve done, and I promise you that I’ll nail this down to a repeatable recipe at some point.

I store the leftover potatoes in a microwaveable container. When it comes time to reheat them, I crack open the lid to allow the potatoes to vent, and I reheat them on full power. A four-cup container takes three minutes to reheat. Then, I stir in some milk. How much, I can’t say, but not a little. I just keep stirring it in until the potatoes are the texture I’d like. They might’ve gone into the fridge at the perfect consistency, but they stiffen up in there overnight. If you find that you’ve added so much milk that you’ve cooled the potatoes down too much – which is quite likely … that’s how much milk you’ll need – just pop them back into the microwave.

What I’d like to do in the future is figure out just how much milk I have to add, and see if I can get the same result by pre-adding this milk before refrigerating the leftovers. In any case, the result is, to my way of thinking, outstanding. If you’ve ever had one of those Bob Evans pre-packaged mashed potato thingys, this is just as good or better.

Salisbury Steaks

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! unless otherwise credited. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. Thank you, Kesor. References: Amy + Jacky, Chicago Steak Company, Martha, NYT, Ramshackle Pantry, Serious Eats, The Salty Marshmallow. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #14 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs.

Keep up with us on Bloglovin’