Salisbury Steaks are a classic comfort food kind of dish! It’s kind of burger meets meatloaf submerged in a beefy sauce flavored with sweet, earthy caramelized onions and mushrooms. Hungry yet?
Quinoa, Beef, Turkey Mix – Great for Salisbury Steaks and Meatballs and Meatloaf too!
The meat mixture in this Salisbury Steak recipe is my new go-to meatball, Salisbury steak, meatloaf blend adapted from a barbecue meatball recipe by Kristin Porter of IowaGirlEats.com. I’ve tried gluten-free meatballs, Salisbury steaks, etc. a variety of ways. Store-bought dried GF bread crumbs don’t offer a whole lot texturally or nutritionally. I‘ve toasted GF bread and roughly ground it and that gives a better texture, but it’s kind of a waste of expensive GF bread and again doesn’t bring a whole lot in the nutrition department. I’ve tried rolled GF oats, both whole and ground to add some fiber – the result dry, boring meatballs.
This quinoa recipe is a winner on all fronts. The cooked quinoa is nice and fluffy, so it gives a nice springy texture. I like to use a blend of ground turkey and beef to lighten it up and give it a more complex flavor. Turkey can be a little dry, but the quinoa holds plenty of moisture, making this versatile meat-ball-steak-loaf blend (that’s a tasty mouthful!) not only gluten-free, but more moist and just plain better than even its gluten-ous counterparts – Yay! Want to know more about the health benefits of quinoa? Check out this link from The World’s Healthiest Foods.
Why not scale up the recipe and get 2 or 3 meals for the effort?
This recipe is written just for the Salisbury Steaks, but really I usually buy my ground turkey from Costco in a 4 pack of 1 ¾ lb packages. They’re not paying me for this mention, but they carry really lean ground turkey and I figure why bother with it if it’s not lean. I take one package of ground turkey and a couple pounds of ground beef (close enough to 4 lbs total) and I make a double batch of my meatball mix (essentially the same as this Salisbury Steak recipe, but a bit simpler to scale up). I roll a bunch of meatballs, cook them, use some, freeze some and leave enough meat mixture to do this Salisbury Steak recipe. If you’re going to go to the trouble, why not get more meals out of it? I love to cook, but I’ve got a lazy – oh no – efficient side, too!
Salisbury Steaks – The Method
Start by rinsing the quinoa really well in a strainer, moving it around with your hand, to remove the bitter saponins that coat the seeds. Then cook the quinoa and mix it with the meat, eggs and seasonings. You’re going to have to get in there with your hands for this. Get your oil hot, almost smoking in a large skillet. Form six equal-sized patties and cook them without moving them about 3 minutes per side until well browned.
Set the steaks aside on a plate.
Add another Tbsp oil to the pan and cook sliced onion and mushrooms. Scrape the pan as they start to cook with a wooden spatula to release the browned bits. You don’t want the heat real high here – they should give up their moisture and caramelize slowly.
Once the vegetables are lightly browned (about 15 minutes) add the wine and turn up the heat if necessary so it boils. Scrape the pan again with your wooden spatula to release the browned goodness into the sauce. Let the wine reduce by about half and then add the stock, and rest of ingredients and bring to a boil.
Add the patties back to the pan, reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Remove cover, turn up heat and boil until sauce is reduced and thickened a little, 5-10 minutes.
Allergen Options
This Salisbury Steak recipe can be made with tomato paste or if you’re allergic you can use my Notmato paste or I think an equal amount of Nomato brand sauce would work too. It does add some nice color and complexity to the sauce, but you could probably just leave it out too if that’s more convenient for you. If you’re tomato or nightshade intolerant, read your beef stock labels well. Many contain tomato and if they just list spices without saying what they are I would think paprika/peppers might be in there.
There are various ways to add some umami, that “fifth flavor” to this Salisbury steak recipe. I use fish sauce to avoid soy, but if that’s not a problem for you, you could substitute half as much of the more traditional Worcestershire sauce. Again if you’re nightshade sensitive, be aware that the spices in Worcestershire sauce may include peppers. If you’re allergic to fish, a little gluten-free soy sauce could be an option or if also soy allergic, ½ to 1 tsp chickpea miso could sub for each Tbsp fish sauce. Or just skip the fish sauce/substitutes if necessary. Between the wine, stock and caramelized vegetables there’s already a lot of flavor.
Serve these Salisbury Steaks over mashed cauliflower for a healthy, interesting twist on the traditional mashed potatoes.
Salisbury Steaks are often served with mashed potatoes, but I served them over creamy mashed cauliflower and they were wonderful! The advantages are lower carbs and calories, and a more interesting but still subtle flavor. If you’re nightshade sensitive this also keeps the meal nightshade free. Serve any kind of green vegetable on the side: green beans, peas, or some wilted greens for a well-rounded comfort-filled meal! This meal really took the chill off a recent rare snowbound night in the South!
- ½ cup quinoa
- 1 cup water
- ¾ pound lean ground turkey
- ¾ pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion, diced finely
- ¾ tsp dry mustard
- ¾ tsp Kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¾ tsp granulated garlic
- ¾ tsp dried oregano
- ¾ tsp dried basil
- 1 ½ Tbsp fish sauce (or substitutes discussed in the post)
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms (white mushrooms or baby bellas)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ⅔ cup red wine
- 20 oz gluten-free beef stock
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce (or substitutes discussed in the post)
- 6 Tbsp tomato paste or my Notmato paste or Nomato brand sauce
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Put quinoa in a strainer and rinse well with running water tossing it with your hand for a minute or so.
- Shake out excess water.
- Add quinoa and 1 cup water to a large saucepan.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, cover and simmer about 15 minutes until water is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy.
- Combine cooked quinoa and rest of steak ingredients except oil (ground turkey through eggs) in a large mixing bowl and using your hands mix well.
- Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Form meat mixture into 6 equal size patties and place in pan.
- Cook about 3 minutes until bottoms are browned.
- Turn and cook about an additional 3 minutes until other side is browned.
- Remove to a plate.
- Slice onions in half top to bottom, peel, lay flat on board on cut edge, and slice thinly crosswise.
- Cut slices in half so they’re not too long.
- Add 1 Tbsp oil to pan and onions and mushrooms.Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spatula until onions and mushrooms are lightly browned (about 15 minutes). As water releases from vegetables, scrape bottom of pan with spatula to release browned bits.
- Add wine and turn up heat.
- Stir, again scraping bottom of pan with spatula to release any browned bits and reduce by about half.
- Add stock, fish sauce, Notmato paste (or tomato or Nomato) and pepper.
- Bring to a boil.
- Add patties back to pan.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
- Uncover, turn up heat and simmer vigorously about 5-10 minutes until sauce reduces and thickens a little.
Pureed parsnips also make a wonderful substitute for whipped potatoes. I also use chopped or chunked parsnips as a substitute for potatoes in hash, soups and stews.
Great idea! Thanks!