by Texas Homesteader ~
Poor-Man’s Steak (or stuffed hamburger) is ground meat stuffed with grilled onions, peppers & melted cheese served on fried potatoes & topped w/brown gravy. I like to add diced jalapenos to the mix for a spicy kick! This simple recipe is sure to bring rave reviews.
Travel Experience With Poor Man’s Steak
I wanted to attempt a dish RancherMan & I enjoyed at a restaurant called ‘Poor-Man’s Steak’. It was a thick serving of a hamburger patty stuffed with grilled onions & peppers along with melted cheese.
It was served on a bed of fried potatoes with brown gravy drizzled over the whole shebangie. (a real man-pleasing meal, that’s for sure!)
RancherMan has raved about it ever since. So I decided to make it for him at home.
Can You Use Ground Venison For Ground Beef?
You can use ground beef of course. But in my traditional #UseWhatchaGot mode I’ll be using ground venison instead of hamburger.
So I pulled the ground venison from the freezer last night to thaw in the fridge.
Using Dehydrated Vegetables
Now with the venison thawed I rehydrated some dehydrated cubed potatoes by covering the cubes with hot water & allowing to rehydrate for about an hour.
I’ve already got homemade broth in the fridge for making the gravy. I’ll thicken it with cornstarch.
Making My Stuffed Hamburger
Now that I have all of my ingredients together it’s show time!
When it’s time to pull the dish together I’ll make the stuffed meat patty using previously frozen chopped grilled onions, bell pepper & jalapeno. But you’ll want to chop & sauté those veggies now if needed.
I also pulled out some shredded pepper jack cheese. RancherMan & I are fans of spicy food. If your family isn’t, feel free to substitute with your favorite cheese here. Cheddar or Monterey Jack would be good choices.
UPDATE: A cube of cheese in the center of the hamburger patty instead of shredded cheese takes longer to melt. This makes it less likely to have cheese melting out of the patty before it’s cooked to a safe internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
Since my dehydrated potatoes from the pantry are now fully rehydrated I’ll need to get them ready to be topped by the stuffed meat patty by draining the water from them..
With a little bacon grease in my cast-iron skillet I’ll fry the rehydrated cubed potatoes to give them a little crisp edge. This will take the place of regular cubed & fried potatoes for the recipe.
Finally I’ll make gravy out of homemade broth. It’s simple, I’ll thicken it with just a little cornstarch.
You can use broth the same as me, or a jar of prepared brown gravy, or even the inexpensive little packets sold in the store. Whatever’s easiest for you.
Now I’m ready to start assembling my poor-man’s steak. Let’s see how it all comes together with my ground meat:
Stuffed Hamburger Problem: Cheese Melts Too Quickly
It was absolutely delicious and RancherMan raved. So from that standpoint it was a win for sure.
But I was disappointed that in an effort to make sure my venison was well done, much of the shredded cheese inside melted away during cooking.
So now I put a small cube of cheese in the middle instead of shredded cheese. The cube takes longer to melt so it stays inside the burger much better.
In asking on our social media page, one of my oh-so-smart FB followers also suggested:
“You have to seal the patties REALLY well. That, and sear them then steam them. The meat cooks quicker and the cheese tends to stay put better.”
So maybe I’ll try that next time as well… Although RancherMan implores: “Don’t change a thing!”
Anyway, here’s the recipe! If you try and like it – please leave a comment below with a rating. Thanks!
Did you make this Poor Man’s Steak? Please rate the recipe in your comment below!
Poor-Man's Steak (ie: Stuffed Hamburger)
This poor-man's steak is just a hearty stuffed hamburger patty. I've grilled onions and peppers and stuffed them into a hamburger patty with cheese. The result is delightful and delicious. #TexasHomesteader
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground meat (I used ground venison)
- Chopped onions/bell peppers to taste (I used about 1/2 cup total)
- Chopped jalapenos to taste (I used 3)
- 4 oz Cheese cut in a cube for each patty (I used pepper jack cheese)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
-
Grill the onions, bell peppers & jalapenos on a griddle coated with bacon grease & set aside.
-
Season ground beef with 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper & 1/2 teaspoon onion powder.
-
Separate the 2 lbs of ground meat into sections of just under 1/4 lb each, resulting in 10 halves (5 burgers).
-
Flatten meat sections & add the sautéed peppers & onions to the middle of half the patties. Add a small cube of cheese on top of the sautéed veggies.
-
Fry each side until done - about 5-6 minutes each side.
-
Serve them on a bed of fried potatoes and ladle on brown gravy.
Recipe Notes
These burgers are thicker than normal so it takes a little longer to cook them. I cooked each side about 5-6 minutes so I could make sure it was well done all the way through.
This recipe will make 5 large restaurant-sized servings. So feel free to reduce down to smaller patties for more servings if desired.
~TxH~
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Chicken/Poultry
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So good and so easy! I cubed the cheese and placed it in the center of the patty, surrounding it with grilled onions/peppers and it seemed to keep the cheese from melting out of the patty as it cooked. Instead of brown gravy I topped it with homemade white gravy using the pan scrapings and a small amount of the grease. It was delicious!
If you didn’t want to go the Cream of Mushroom route; a brown gravy is also good, but in oven, covered for about 30 minutes, uncover, top with cheese and put back in oven until cheese begins to melt.
Oh My Goodness; it has been ages since I have made these; leaving out the jalapenos and replacing with finely diced/sliced mushrooms. I do mix up a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, whole milk, then stir in freshly chopped parsley which makes up the ‘gravy’.
After frying- browning / searing up my burgers on both sides I transfer to greased baking dish, then evenly top with gravy and cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes until heated thoroughly.
Such a flexible recipe, Colleen! I’ll have to try your version soon. ~TxH~
This recipe looks ‘do-able’ for me 🙂 .. I do believe my husband would also love it. We too, have plenty of venison in the freezer. I’ll put ours over a bed of rice. Sounds delicious. Thank you. Appreciate you!!!!!!!
First of all Josie, be aware that I always (ALWAYS) make the first patties way too large. Including the ones I made tonight. LOL. Seems I always err in guessing how large both halves will make the patty when combined. The second skillet-full tonight was halved in size and much more manageable. Oh, and they freeze beautifully so I always make waaaaay more than we’ll eat at one sitting. Enjoy ’em though, they’re delicious! ~TxH~
Hey Howdy there Texas Tammy from ~TxH~
Now that’s looking mighty scrumptious to me , I’ll be taking notes on this one as I need something like this every once in a while. I like the Hamburgers and stuffed ones would suit me well no Bread rapped around it. Has much as I love bread I have to keep it under control.
My wife being Japanese and loving rice like I like my potatoes will get hers on top of rice. Gravy would be good for sure But again I must keep that under control as well, so once in a while too.
Thanks for the share about the Poor Mans Stake.
Will be doing this sometime next week … : >)
P.S. Sorry , not able to do the jalapeno…. Dangerous….lol
Well Howdy Greg! This is one of RancherMan’s favorite meals too. Last night I minced the jalapenos but kept them separate from the bell pepper & onion mixture. I asked our guests who wanted them eliminated from their serving, but all wanted them so I tossed it into the mix. But the jalapeno was so mild I daresay no one could even tell it was in there! A little disappointing to me, but probably perfect for our guests. And I’m with ya on the gravy – everything in moderation. I make a lower-fat gravy by taking the broth and thickening it into a gravy consistency, so I don’t feel near as guilty indulging from time to time. 🙂 ~TxH~
This is on the regular rotation. 5 or 6 times now and again tonight. Thanks!
So ironic that you write this today, Ken. We are expecting out-of-town family for several days so I just picked up the ingredients to make this poor-man’s steak. RancherMan absolutely loves it! ~TxH~
We’ll be trying this one!! Sounds delish!!
I’m going to try this. Sounds so good!
RancherMan doesn’t have a picky palate so he eats whatever I cook and usually complements it as well. (What a thoughtful hubby!) But when he raves on & on for hours about supper – well that recipe’s a keeper for sure, Ann! ~TxH~