I stole this recipe for Amish Country Poor Man’s Hamburger Steaks from 12tomatoes.com who stole it from sweetlittlebluebird.com. This recipe is an Amish version of Salisbury steaks. Ground beef is mixed with crushed saltine crackers, milk and seasonings. Patties are formed and dredged in flour before being seared in a skillet. The browned patties are transferred to a baking dish. Mushroom gravy is made with cream of mushroom soup, milk and parsley. After pouring the gravy over the meat, the pan is covered and finishes baking in the oven.
Did you know? No one knows who exactly first created ground beef, but one popular theory traces the origins back to the days when Mongol horsemen were busy invading everywhere. These horse-bound warriors would ride with raw meat beneath their saddles. The movement of the horse would tenderize the meat; the men would be able to eat without having to dismount. This was the precursor to steak tartar.⁴ (see more trivia in the Trivia tab)
Crush saltine crackers to get 1 ½ cups. You will need a little over 1 sleeve of crackers.
In a large bowl, combine 2 lbs ground beef, crushed saltines, 1 cup milk, ½ tsp Italian seasoning,½ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ¼ tsp cayenne, and season with salt and pepper.
Combine meat mixture with hands or two forks; gently form into even-sized patties.
Dredge patties in a bowl that has 1 cup of flour in it.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and once very hot, sear patties on both sides until golden brown (will not be fully cooked).
I sauté some fresh mushrooms in the skillet after browning the beef patties.
Transfer the browned patties to a greased baking dish and add the mushrooms on top.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, 1 ½ cups whole milk and 1 ½ tbsp fresh parsley.
Pour gravy over beef patties.
Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 F or until cooked through.
Amish Country Poor Man's Hamburger Steaks
Ingredients
- 2 lb ground beef
- 1 ½ cups saltine crackers crushed (1 sleeve crackers roughly)
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- Flour
- Salt / Pepper
Gravy
- 2 cans (10.75 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 F, grease 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together condensed soup, milk and parsley. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine ground beef, crushed saltines, milk, Italian seasoning, garlic and onion powders, cayenne, and season with salt and pepper.
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Combine meat mixture with hands or two forks; gently form into even-sized patties. Dredge patties in bowl that has 1 cup of flour in it.
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Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and once very hot, sear patties on both sides until golden brown (will not be fully cooked).
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Transfer to a greased baking dish, then top with gravy and cover with foil.
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Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until cooked through.
Recipe Notes
You don’t need 1 cup of flour to dredge the patties; I threw most of it away. Start with ¼ cup then add more if needed. I added ½ tsp Montreal steak seasoning to the meat mixture. Measure a ½ cup of meat to form patties, I did this and my yield was 8 patties for 2 lbs of meat. My gravy never thickened, maybe because I did not use whole milk. It still tasted good, but was very thin. If you don’t have whole milk, try cutting the milk back to 1 ¼ cups or 1 cup for thicker gravy.