Dump and Bake

Amish-Style Hamburger Steak Bake

Name: Amish-Style Hamburger Steak Bake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 pounds ground beef; 1 cup crushed saltine crackers, about 28 crackers; ½ cup milk; 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped; ½ teaspoon garlic powder; ½ teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon black pepper; 2 (10.5-ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup; 1 cup beef broth; nonstick cooking spray; mashed potatoes or cooked egg noodles, for serving

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Ground beef patties mixed with cracker crumbs and milk, baked in mushroom gravy until tender. Serve over mashed potatoes.

A computer-made picture of the finished dish, not a photo of this recipe.

Serves: 8
Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 350°F, 45 to 55 minutes
Pan: 9-by-13-inch baking dish

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Amish-style hamburger steaks are soft, tender beef patties in a rich mushroom gravy, a supper many people remember from church cookbooks and family tables. The tenderness comes from crushed saltine crackers and milk mixed into the beef, the same trick that keeps a meatloaf moist.

Many versions brown the patties in a skillet first. This one skips that: the raw patties go straight into the baking dish, the gravy goes over the top, and the oven does the cooking. Bake them covered so they stay moist, then uncovered for the last few minutes so the gravy thickens.

Spoon the gravy over mashed potatoes or egg noodles, with green beans or corn on the side. Patties can look brown and still be undercooked, so check one from the middle of the dish, where they cook slowest, with a food thermometer. Leftovers reheat well in their gravy, until hot all the way through.

Ingredients

Into the dish

2 pounds ground beef
1 cup crushed saltine crackers, about 28 crackers
½ cup milk
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 (10.5-ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup beef broth
nonstick cooking spray

To serve

mashed potatoes or cooked egg noodles, for serving

Directions

Heat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and set it on a rimmed baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, crushed crackers, milk, onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper with your hands, just until combined.
Shape the mixture into 8 patties about 3/4 inch thick. Lay them in the dish in a single layer; they'll fit snugly. Wash your hands and anything the raw beef touched with hot, soapy water.
Whisk the soup and broth together and pour it over the patties, covering them.
Cover with foil. Bake 35 minutes.
Uncover and bake 10 to 20 minutes more, until the gravy is bubbling and a patty in the middle of the dish reads at least 160°F in the center.
Serve the patties over mashed potatoes or noodles, with the gravy spooned over.

It's done when a patty in the middle of the dish reads at least 160°F in the center, and the gravy is bubbling. Check with a food thermometer.

Leftovers go in the refrigerator within two hours, in shallow covered containers. Reheat them until hot all the way through (165°F).

Tips

Mix the beef gently and only until combined. Pressing hard makes tough patties.
A thermometer is the only way to know a patty is done; color is not proof.
Thinner patties cook faster. If yours are thinner than 3/4 inch, start checking 10 minutes early.

Food-safety sources

Safe Cooking Temperatures, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension (UNL Food). Checked November 1, 2026.
Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Checked November 1, 2026 (address from a search result; the page itself blocks automated checks).