Salisbury steak is a popular TV dinner, but the homemade version is even better, of course, and you can always double the batch and freeze it to use on a night when you're too busy to cook. A cross between meatloaf and burgers, which is served with a brown gravy, Salisbury steak uses relatively inexpensive ingredients, has plenty of deep savory flavor and has little in the way of chunks of green vegetables to scare away the picky eaters in your family. Serve it with rice or potatoes to make the most of every drop of gravy.

Total time: 40 minutes | Prep time: 20 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  
• 1/2 cup flavored bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons grated onion
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons cup sunflower, peanut or grapeseed oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons unbleached white flour
• 1 1/2 cups beef, chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon dried basil

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, grated onion, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire, mustard and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix well and then divide the mixture in 6 parts and shape each portion into a patty.
   
2. In a large skillet, heat the oil and cook the patties on medium heat, flipping them as necessary, until they're browned on the outside and fully cooked on the inside to a temperature of 165F, about 8 minutes. Remove the patties from the pan.
3. In the same pan, melt the butter on medium low heat. Add the flour and mix to form a paste. Add the stock, basil, remaining tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Serve the patties topped with the sauce.