Poor Man’s Hamburger Steaks, also known as Hamburger Steaks – Budget friendly ground beef “steaks” are cooked in a fantastic gravy then served with mashed potatoes, egg noodles or rice. A comforting meal the whole family will love. Big taste on a tight budget!
Easy Poor Man’s Hamburger Steaks
An old-fashioned hamburger steak recipe. The “steak” patties are made with ground beef, cracker crumbs, milk and seasonings, baked in a delicious mushroom gravy. Down home comfort food the whole family will love, including the kids. Easy to make, so good. Fantastic served with mashed potatoes, veggies and a salad.
Original Post Date, August 8, 2016. Post updated, March 26, 2023.
READ GREAT REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO TRIED THIS RECIPE ON PINTEREST!
What You Need to Make Poor Man’s Hamburger Steaks (Full Recipe at Bottom of Post)
- ground beef
- saltine crackers
- milk
- Italian seasoning
- garlic powder
- salt
- pepper
- cayenne (a dash or more, depending on taste)
- flour (for dredging)
- condensed cream of mushroom soup (or make homemade)
- water
- fresh parsley
*The soups can be made from scratch. Links to recipes can be found in the Notes section in the full recipe at the bottom of this post.
How To Make Poor Man’s Hamburger Steaks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Make the Gravy: In a medium size bowl add the 3 cans of soup, milk, water, parsley and mix well – set aside.
Make Hamburger Steak Patties: In a large bowl, using your hands, mix ground beef, cracker crumbs, milk, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper until well blended. Gently form 8 to 10 large patties (don’t press too hard), making them all equal size.
Next, lightly dredge (coat) in flour and fry in a skillet with high sides on medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides – inside will still be uncooked.
Place patties in baking dish. If making more than 6 patties, layer them – see photo above. Pour gravy evenly over patties, bake covered with foil on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour or until the steak patties are well done, reaching a safe internal minimum temperature of 160 degrees f.
*If you are making more than 6 patties and need to layer them, turn the top layer of patties over one time, halfway through baking to insure even cooking.
Serve steaks with mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, rice, egg noodles, favorite veggies, salad. Be sure to spoon the gravy over potatoes, rice and/or noodles. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions For Hamburger Steaks
Lean ground beef is best for less greasy steaks. If using higher fat meat, pan fry them a little longer, then discard the fat.
Yes, you can substitute condensed cream of mushroom soup with homemade. Please see the Note Section in recipe card below for a great homemade recipe.
Yes. Covering is best to prevent splattering and a mess.
This recipe makes a good amount. Unless you are feeding six people, you will most likely have leftovers – but don’t worry, the leftovers are great! If you want to make less, you can easily cut this recipe in half.
My favorite way to serve hamburger steaks are with mashed potatoes. You can also serve with rice and egg noodles. Corn and green beans are favorite veggies with this meal. A garden salad makes a great side too.
PINNABLE IMAGE
Want More Easy Beef Recipes Like This One?
- Best Ever Beef Tips (Stove top Recipe)
- Easy Cheesy Beef Enchiladas
- No Peek Beef Tips (Slow Cooker or Oven)
- Favorite Pot Roast Made in the Crock Pot
- Best London Broil Marinade
- Queso Mac & Cheese with Taco Beef
Amish Country Poor Man’s Hamburger Steaks
Ingredients
Hamburger Steak Patties
- 2 ½ pounds ground beef (I use lean ground beef)
- 2 cups saltine cracker crumbs (approximately 1 1/2 sleeves of crackers – crushed)
- 1 ½ cups milk (I use 2 %)
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- dash cayenne pepper
- flour to dredge
Gravy
- 3 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup (10.75 ounces cans)
- 1 can milk (use soup can)
- 1 can water (use soup can)
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Make Gravy: In a medium size bowl add the 3 cans of soup, milk, water, parsley and mix well – set aside.
- Hamburger Steak Patties: In a large bowl, using your hands, mix ground beef, cracker crumbs, milk, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper until well blended. Gently form 8 to 10 large patties (don't press too hard), making them all equal size.
- Next, lightly dredge (coat) in flour and fry in a skillet with high sides on medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides – inside will still be uncooked.
- Place patties in baking dish. If making more than 6 patties, layer them. Pour gravy evenly over patties, bake covered with foil on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour or until the steak patties are well done, reaching a safe internal minimum temperature of 160 degrees f.
- *If you are making more than 6 patties and need to layer them, turn the top layer of patties over one time, halfway through baking to insure even cooking.
- Serve steaks with mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, rice, egg noodles, favorite veggies, salad. Be sure to spoon the gravy over potatoes, rice and/or noodles. Enjoy!
Notes
- If using high fat ground beef, pan fry them a little longer and discard the excess fat
- This recipe makes a good amount. Unless you are feeding six people, you will most likely have leftovers – but don’t worry, the leftovers are great! If you want to make less, you can easily cut this recipe in half.
- The two recipes I adapted this recipe from, one called for covering, the other did not. I opted to cover to prevent splattering.
- Lee Ann Miller’s recipe for Ohio’s Amish Recipes, Poor Man’s Steaks, calls for 1 small chopped onion or 1/3 cup chopped sweet onion, along with 1/2 cup chopped green onion. I did not add this to my steaks, my kids are not big fans of onions.
- If you love mushrooms, try adding a small can of sliced mushrooms (or use fresh) for even more mushroom flavor.
- The Pioneer Woman has a great Homemade Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe if you would like to make soup from scratch.
Trakila Tribble
I plan to try this!
Linda
How many does this recipe serve?
carol
we don't like mushrooms can i use cream of chicken insted
Anonymous
Instead of mushroom soup can I use cream of chicken soup? I don't like mushrooms
Anonymous
Great idea with the stove top. I do that with my meat loaf.
Anonymous
Very very good loved the gravy
Anonymous
I make this often in my crock pot. If the gravy isn't thick enough, just remove the meat with a slotted spoon and turn crockpot on high and thicken with cornstarch/water mixture. Then pour over meat. I've also used cream of celery instead of mushroom soup as sometimes you have to make do with what you have. It still tastes good. Instead of saltines, you could use Stovetop stuffing mix for the binder. It's worked for me, plus they're seasoned.
sheryl clevenger
if you pan fry meat first do you still have to cook for 1 hour
Trudie
Perhaps sauté minced mushrooms in margarine or a lactose free butter. Then make a white sauce with that, salt, pepper. I'm sure there are recipes for a lactose free cream of mushroom ��
Anonymous
Try oatmeal as the binder
Kdean116
Saundra M: try using Campbell's Cream of Celery. Flavor won't be the same, but should be good. Test the seasonings while cooking.
Anonymous
Allergic to ingredients in Saltines. Can you tell me why they are used so I can figure out a possible alternative? Salt? Thickener? Any ideas on a substitute? Thanks!
Anonymous
Alternative is bread crumbs. Has to act as a binder
Anonymous
My saltines were stale so used Italian bread crumbs.Should have added some dried onions.
Anonymous
I also like to put stove top dressing between the meat and gravy layer. That is make the stovetop by tge box directions
Anonymous
I also like to put stove top between the meat and gravy layer
Saundra McKenzie
My husband is allergic to mushrooms. Would any other kind of soup work?
marysweetlittlebluebird
Unknown – In my tips section I talked about how some people left comments on allrecipes stating their steaks and gravy turned out greasy and that is why I opted to use a leaner ground beef. In the future if you are using high fat ground beef, be sure to pan fry it a bit first and drain the excess grease. Other people like to "fry" the steaks in the oven a bit in the baking dish, drain the grease before adding the gravy. Sorry yours turned out greasy. I just updated the recipe and placed my tip along with the ingredients so people don't miss it if they don't happen to read my tips section.
Unknown
Mine came out watery and very greasy, nothing like the pictures. Not very good at all.
Anonymous
I think I might light to add mushrooms to the gravy just because we love mushrooms.
marysweetlittlebluebird
Hi Sylvia – I found this for you, it should be helpful in adapting this recipe for freeze. Copy and paste this link:
http://hubpages.com/food/Freezer-Recipe-for-Easy-Once-A-Month-Cooking-Amish-Steak
If you are not able to get the link, email me and I will send it to you. My email address is – sweetlittlebluebird@gmail.com
Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend.
Sylvia Mashaw
Good Morning Mary. Hope this finds you all doing well. I am use to cooking for a lot of people (my 3 sons and their friends) but I now live by myself and I want to be able to still cook the normal size meals but for just me it would be too much. With this recipe is there anything special you would have to do to freeze it? Thank you. Sylvia (Beulaville, NC)
Marsha Baker
Congrats on your feature at Weekend Potluck. Well deserved for sure…these look totally scrumptious and I can't wait to make them. I'm also making your baked beans recipe this weekend for a family reunion. So glad I can come here and know I can trust your awesome recipes. So glad you shared. XO
Anonymous
Made these this weekend. WOW!!! We loved them! Excellent recipe. I'll be making this one often I can tell! For a variation, I'm also going to use golden mushroom soup for the gravy instead of the cream of mushroom soup. I did add the onion (both the sweet and the green) – sooo delish. Thanks for sharing!
Lora Layne
I was just thinking the golden mushroom soup would be delicious. I use it in my pot roast recipe.
Marsha Baker
My oh my! Those do look so tasty. So glad you shared!
Really Patricia
Oh dear, my family & I are lactose intolerant. Any idea's without the milk?
Anonymous
Try using non dairy creamer either liquid original or powdered original mixed with water. If you use powdered just mix it in the measuring (soup) can with water until it looks like milk or mix in a little more for a creamier flavor/texture. I've never made this recipe but I use creamer a lot when making chowder or in gravies if I run out of milk or change my mind at the last minute to cream gravy. Hope that helps and it turns out OK.
Martia Mencer
I would probably use lactose-free milk, or find another type, i.e. Soy milk, almond milk, that doesn't have lactose in it.
Natalie @ NorthShore Days
Mary these sound amazing and bonus, I can get all the ingredients here in NZ!
Also – LOVE the new blog header too xx Nat