Ree Drummond's Salisbury Steak Substitution Makes All The Difference

Although Salisbury steak may not conjure up the same ideas of luxury as a steak dinner in an upscale restaurant, the dish has made its own impact as comfort food. Unlike the steak you'd be served at a steakhouse, Salisbury steak is made up of ground beef and shaped into a large patty. Smithsonian Mag explains that Salisbury steak was named after and invented by Dr. James Henry Salisbury. Since then, the dish has evolved, and nowadays, Salisbury steak is usually topped with mushroom gravy.

Our simple Salisbury steak recipe is topped with mushrooms, however, the mushroom gravy isn't always a fan-favorite. Mushrooms can be a controversial ingredient because of the texture, and a Twitter user posted a poll asking whether they should sneak mushrooms into their Salisbury steak or leave them out since their partner hates mushrooms. Appalled at the idea of someone sneaking mushrooms onto your dinner plate Although adding mushrooms to the sauce narrowly won the poll, there's a better solution.

Instead of making mushroom gravy, try out Ree Drummond's Salisbury steak with no mushrooms in sight. Even if you love mushrooms, the dish will work in a pinch if you've eaten up all the mushrooms in your kitchen.

Although Ree Drummond's Salisbury steak follows the recipe most people know today, there's one major difference when it comes to the gravy (via Food Network). Instead of making a mushroom gravy, Drummond uses one thinly sliced onion. And for Kaitlyn Yarborough at Southern Living, this swap made all the difference. In her review of Drummond's recipe, Yarborough writes, her "dad wanted to slurp up every last drop of gravy on his plate. After I tried it for myself, I understood the sentiment." According to Yarborough, the onion gravy is flavorful without containing any rubbery or canned mushrooms.

Drummond demonstrates how she makes this Salisbury steak in a YouTube video for Food Network, and she also mentions that this topping is more of a sauce than a gravy, but the onions bring out the flavor of the beef patties. In the comments of the video, one person who tried the recipe said, "My kids would not fish the onions out of their meals. They gobble up everything."

If you're skeptical of a Salisbury steak without mushrooms, you don't have to skip them entirely. In the comments of Drummond's video, multiple people added mushrooms while cooking the onions and still had high praise for the dish. And if you can't get enough onions and mushrooms, try this onion gravy loco moco recipe, a Hawaiian dish that's quite similar to Salisbury steak but with the addition of rice and an egg.