Poor Man Steak in the Slow Cooker 5-Ingredient. Add raw hamburger patties, 3 low-cost ingredients, and pour in cream of mushroom soup in slow cooker and make a simple budget meal that will be devoured sooner than any other meal…
It is the type of comfort food many of us in the Midwest grew up on: this low cooker 5 ingredient poor mans steak. Rather than searing or breading, you simply pile hamburger patties, stack them in the slow cooker then pour over the top pouring on the cream of mushroom soup with only three other pantry items.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- ground beef (80-85% lean) → 1 1/2 pounds
- condensed cream of mushroom soup → 1 can (10.5-ounces)
- dry onion soup mix → 1 (1-ounce) pkg.
- water → 1/2 cup
- black pepper → 1/4 teaspoon
Poor Man Steak in the Slow Cooker 5-Ingredient
Poor Man Steak in the Slow Cooker: Directions
- To prevent sticking, spay the inside of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick spray or a thin layer of oil.
- Season the ground beef in a medium bowl using the black pepper, and mix it lightly taking care not to over mix the meat.
- Cut the ground beef into 4 equal parts and roll each part into a flat even patty approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inch in thickness. This thickness is useful in ensuring that the patties go through cooking and remain tender.
- Place the raw hamburger patties in single layer on the lower section of the slow cooker. Not too bad as long as it is not stacking the edges but touching them.
- In another bowl, combine the condensed cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water and mix until it becomes mostly smooth and well mixed. It will be a thick mix rather than a broth more of a pourable gravy.
- Pour the cream of mushroom soup mixture regularly on the raw hamburger patties in the slow cooker by ensuring every patty is covered so that they braise in the sauce as they cook.
- Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours or HIGH 2 1/2 to 3 hours until the patties are cooked through (no pink in the center) and extremely tender. The sauce will have been slightly diluted and will have become a rich gravy.
- Taste the gravy and add more seasoning as necessary with a pinch of additional pepper or a small amount of salt, bearing in mind that there is already mix onion soup.
- Serve with the patties hot, pouring the mushroom-onion gravy over the top and all the starch or vegetables on the plate.
Variations & Tips
To make a slightly lighter one, substitute with 90 percent lean ground beef or combination of ground beef and ground turkey bearing in mind that a leaner mixture will not release a lot of fat in the gravy. Add more water to the recipe in place of 1/2 cup (to 3/4 cup), or add a second can of cream of mushroom soup to make a bigger recipe. To add more vegetables without making the recipe more complex, sprinkle 1 to 2 cups chopped mushrooms or thinly sliced onions underneath the patties and all around them before adding the soup mixture; the mushrooms or onions will be softened and mixed into the gravy. To make it more like a steakhouse, the soup mixture can have a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce added to it and then poured over the patties. In case you want a smoother gravy, you will have to take out the cooked patties at the end and mix the sauce directly in the slow cooker so that any pieces of the onion soup mix will be broken apart and put the patties back. Reheating Leftovers reheat well in a stovetop pan on low heat with a splash of water or broth to loosen the gravy and are therefore great as open-faced sandwiches with toast or biscuits the next day.