In my home Gerald and I choose what were having for dinner and more times than not David will cook it for us. Including Grandma Dory’s Hamburger Steaks: The Onions Go Inside! Not on top which most restaurant’s do.

I’m excited to be sharing a little bit of down-home cooking, family history, and a whole lot of love with you. Sometimes the best meals aren’t the ones that come from a fancy cookbook. They’re the ones that come from somebody you love.

For today’s food post, I’m sharing a dinner that takes me straight back to my Grandma Dory’s kitchen: hamburger steaks, onions, potatoes, corn, and rolls which was Sunday dinner in our home more times than I can count. Especially when there was Fried Taters & Onions to go with it created by my Grandma Dorie in her cast iron skillet.

This was the kind of meal my grandmother would make for our family, and it was the kind of meal that could fill everybody up without costing a fortune. And this particular dinner was extra special because David made it for Gerald and I.

Even though he had worked extra hours that day and was tired, he came home and cooked dinner. I’ve taught him how to make my Grandma Dory’s hamburger steaks, and let me tell you… They were slap-yo-mama good. You should have been here! Even though he gripped about cutting up Onions he did three so we would have extra Onions that is love.

There are some foods that people can argue about forever. How do you make your chili? Do you put sugar in your cornbread? Always. Do you make mashed potatoes from scratch or use a shortcut? We do both how about you?

And apparently, there is another very important question: What makes a hamburger steak a REAL hamburger steak? Well, I’m going to tell you. The onions go inside. Not on top of the Hamburger Meat and no, not Cream Gravy only Brown Gravy always.

Every time we go to a restaurant and order hamburger steak, they bring out a hamburger patty with onions sitting on top. And I’m sorry, but that’s not how my Grandma Dory made them.

A true hamburger steak has finely chopped onions mixed right into the meat. You can put more onions on top if you want. But the onions belong inside the hamburger steak. That’s how I learned to make them, and that’s how we make them in our family. Otherwise she might come back and haunt us.

I learned to make hamburger steaks from my Grandma Dory. I can still remember her making them in her cast-iron skillet. She’d make the hamburger steaks, and there would be fried potatoes alongside them. With Onions no, one but my mom and I wanted leaving more for us which was amazing.

The hamburger steaks were mine and the fried potatoes and onions were my brother’s. Then we’d meet in the middle and share. And sometimes we would let my sister have some but not always.

Looking back, I think that’s probably one of the reasons my brother loves hamburger steaks as much as I do. Food has a way of becoming part of our family history without us even realizing it.

We aren’t just remembering what something tasted like. We’re remembering who made it. Now I thought I would share the recipe with you. We usually purchase 90% or 95% lean ground beef, especially when Kroger has it on sale.

Then we bring it home and add two eggs directly into the meat. No crackers. No breadcrumbs. No fancy fillers. We mix the eggs thoroughly into the hamburger meat and sometimes we add a little seasoning but not always.

Then we take one onion and chop it very finely. That onion goes directly into the hamburger mixture. We mix it all together and form the hamburger steaks. Meanwhile, David cuts up two more onions.

Those onions are sautéed separately and eventually go on top of the cooked hamburger steaks. So yes, we have onions inside and onions on top. Because that’s how Grandma Dory did it. And that’s how I like it.

Before I give you the recipe, there’s something you need to know. We don’t measure. There. I said it. We cook with a Smidgen of This, a Pinch of That, and a Whole Lot of Love. Is this how your parents and grandparents cooked? How about you?

If you’re looking for a recipe that says exactly 1/4 teaspoon of this, 1/2 teaspoon of that, and precisely 17 minutes in the skillet, you’re probably going to be disappointed. That’s not how cooking works in my family.

My Grandma Dory didn’t measure. My dad didn’t measure. I don’t measure. And now Charlie doesn’t measure either. And let me tell you… It drives David absolutely batty but that is okay because he still loves me.

That’s how the recipes were passed down to us. So when I tell you to season something, season it the way you like it. When I tell you to add butter, add enough to make you happy. When I tell you to cook the onions until they’re done, cook them until they’re tender, golden, and smell wonderful.

That’s the beauty of a family recipe. You don’t have to make it exactly like we do. Make it yours. Just remember the most important part of ours: The onions go inside! And remember the more Onions the better the Steak is.

But What About David and Charlie? Here’s where our family recipe gets funny. David and Charlie do not eat hamburger steaks with onions. Every time I make them, they get plain hamburger patties instead.

We’ll season their patties with something like Lawry’s Seasoning or Kinder’s Seasoning, depending on what we have. And more often than not, those hamburger patties become cheeseburgers. With light bread or White Bread.

Because who needs hamburger buns when you’ve got light bread? That’s another one of those little family things that probably wouldn’t make sense in a cookbook. But it makes perfect sense in our kitchen.

I’m over here making Grandma Dory’s hamburger steaks with onions mixed into the meat, and David and Charlie are eating cheeseburgers on slices of light bread. Everybody gets what they like. That’s how family dinners work around here.

This particular dinner means a little more to me because David cooked it. He had worked extra hours that day. He was tired. But he came home and made dinner for us anyway. I’ve taught him how to make Grandma Dory’s hamburger steaks, and he did a wonderful job.

They were slap-your-mama good. You should have been here! We served them with Owens frozen mashed potatoes from Kroger, which were on sale. Homemade mashed potatoes are my preference, but we didn’t have time to make them that night.

And I didn’t want instant potatoes. Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with instant mashed potatoes. If you make them right, they can taste just as good as homemade. Just ask Charlie who prefers Instant Potato’s to Homemade Potato’s. Crazy kid.

But this time, the frozen mashed potatoes were the shortcut that worked for us. We also had a can of cream-style corn mixed with a can of whole-kernel corn, with a little butter. I love combining the two because the cream-style corn gives it a creamy texture while the whole kernels give it more texture.

And we had leftover Sister Schubert’s rolls to finish everything off. It was simple. It was filling. And it tasted like home. The only thing missing was Grandma Dorie and my parents and Suzzane.

One of my favorite parts of this dinner was it lasted. The first day, I had a complete plate. The second day, I had a hamburger steak with the tiny bit of onions and potatoes that were left. The next day, I had another hamburger steak.

And Junior also got at least two meals from what we made, if not three. That’s what I mean when I talk about making food stretch. When you’re living on a budget, especially in a one-income family, you have to learn how to make your grocery dollars work for you.

One package of ground beef doesn’t have to mean one dinner. You can make enough for several meals. You can buy the meat when it’s on sale. Which this package of Hamburger Meat was in the clearance bin.

You can use inexpensive sides because the Potato’s was on sale. You can use leftovers. And you can still have a meal that feels like Sunday dinner. That’s how you make food last in our home.

Honestly, if you had put this meal in front of me on a Sunday afternoon when I was growing up, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. This is Sunday dinner. This is the kind of food my Grandma Dory would make for our family.

Hamburger steaks. Fried potatoes sometimes with Onions and sometimes with out depending on who was eating what. Corn, Black Eyed Peas or whatever sides we had in the cabinet.

On days when we was pressed on time we would have Mashed Potatoes and there may or may not have been sides with meal and sometimes Rolls and dessert and sometimes we didn’t have either but what we did have was a table full of family. And probably somebody reaching across the table asking for something.

That’s what makes this more than a recipe to me. It’s a memory. It’s my grandmother. It’s my brother. It’s David standing in the kitchen after working extra hours, making dinner because he knows how to make Grandma Dory’s steaks.

And it’s knowing that the food we ate that night wasn’t just filling our stomachs. It was carrying a little piece of my family’s history forward. Allowing me to share a piece of my childhood with Charlie.

Grandma Dory’s Hamburger Steak Recipe

If you’ve never made hamburger steaks with the onions inside, give our version a try. And remember, this is a family recipe. That means the measurements are more like suggestions. The only thing set in stone is you must cook with LOVE.

Ingredients

• 1 pound 90% or 95% lean ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1 medium onion, very finely chopped
• 2 additional onions, sliced for sautéing
• Lawry’s Seasoning or Kinder’s Seasoning, if desired
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• A little butter or cooking oil for sautéing the onions

Directions

1. Start with the hamburger meat. Place the ground beef in a large mixing bowl. Crack two eggs directly into the meat. Or one egg for less meat and a extra egg for more meat as we used 3 pounds of meat to make our hamburger steaks. Mix everything together thoroughly.

2. Add the onion. Finely chop one onion. Add it directly to the hamburger mixture and mix until the onion is evenly distributed throughout the meat. Remember: The onion goes inside!

3. Form the hamburger steaks. Shape the mixture into what ever size hamburger-steak patties you want. You want them hearty enough to hold together while cooking. We’ve made big hamburger steaks but also made sliders before when serving these at parties.

4. Cook the hamburger steaks. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Cook the hamburger steaks until browned and cooked through, turning as needed. Ground beef should reach an internal temperature of 160°F for food safety.

5. Cook the onions for the top. While the hamburger steaks are cooking, slice the other two onions. Add a little butter or cooking oil to a skillet and sauté the onions until they’re tender and browned to your liking.

6. Put it all together. Place the cooked hamburger steaks on a plate and spoon the sautéed onions over the top. Now you’ve got onions inside and onions on top. That’s a hamburger steak Grandma Dory would recognize and be proud to serve with her friends and family.

I wanted to let you know what we serve with our hamburger steaks because the sides can change depending on what we have, but some of our favorites include homemade mashed potatoes, frozen mashed potatoes when we’re short on time, fried potatoes, cream-style corn, whole-kernel corn, corn mixed together with butter, and dinner rolls.

And if David or Charlie are eating with us? They’re probably getting a seasoned hamburger patty turned into a cheeseburger on light bread. Because apparently, that’s how our family rolls and it keeps everyone happy and feed.

Maybe your family makes hamburger steaks a re completely differently because you use breadcrumbs and that is fine. Maybe you don’t use eggs. Maybe you put the onions only on top. That’s okay. Every family has its own version.

But if you want to try the Grandma Dory version, remember the most important rule: The onions go inside! And don’t worry if you don’t have measuring spoons nearby. Grab a smidgen. Add a pinch. Taste as you go. And don’t forget the most important ingredient: a whole lot of LOVE.

Because that’s how my Grandma Dory cooked. That’s how my dad cooked. That’s how I cook. And apparently, that’s how Charlie cooks now too. David may never get used to it. But I have a feeling he’ll survive because when someone loves you they deal with the things that drive them up a wall. Just ask Charlie.

You can make these Hamburger Steaks with the ingredients you like from adding Cheese and Mushrooms to the Meat to using Cream Gravy. As well as using side you prefer because there is nothing about this Down Home Cooking Recipe that is stuck in stone and that is what I like about my Grandma Dorie’s recipes.

Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates