5 Banquet Salisbury Steak Cooking Instructions for Perfect Results
Cooking Banquet Salisbury Steak in the oven takes about an hour, with specific instructions to preheat and bake for 53-55 minutes for a satisfying meal.
Banquet Meals produces many budget-value easy-prep meals that work well for many different situations, including when eating alone or when preparing a quick dinner. Their Banquet Salisbury Steak with Gravy meal is a very popular option that provides you with large amounts of protein and a decent taste but with some critical drawbacks (like any other hamburger steak).
Here’s what you need to know about preparing this meal, including how long you cook it, how you cook it, and a few other essential questions.
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How Long Do You Cook Banquet Salisbury Steak?
It should take about an hour or so to bake a Banquet Salisbury Steak meal in a conventional oven. First, you need to wait for the oven to hit the proper temperature. Depending on your stove’s overall strength, you then bake it for about 53-55 minutes or so.
It is essential not to use a microwave or other options with this meal because they are designed specifically for the oven and won’t cook properly on different devices.
Prepare the Oven
Start by preheating your oven to at least 375 degrees Fahrenheit. While you wait, open the package and cut a slit down the center of the cover. Doing so helps steam to escape while your food cooks. Next, please take out a cookie sheet, place it in the oven, and put your meal on top.
Once your oven hits 375 degrees, place the meal inside on the center rack. Choosing the center rack is best because you’ll get good heat exposure. However, you’ll also ensure that the meal doesn’t get too much heat, which is common when placing it on the bottom rack.
Bake the Meal
Wait at least 53 to 55 minutes for your meal to cook correctly. Set a kitchen timer and wait for it to end before pulling the pan out with gloved hands. Use an internal thermometer to ensure that meat has hit an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit. That should be more than enough to kill bacteria.
Check the rest of the meat by cutting it in half and seeing whether any parts are frozen. It would be best if you didn’t have to worry about that because it should have baked long enough. If it is fully cooked, you can turn off your stove. If not, put it back in for five-minute stretches until your meal is prepared. Be sure to use oven mitts to remove the baking sheet from the oven.
Spoon the Gravy
Each Salisbury Steak meal comes with a Salisbury steak gravy package that you set in a hot bowl of water for 10 minutes to melt and warm properly. Please wait at least five minutes for your steak to cool down before opening up this package and pouring the gravy out on top of it.
Spread the gravy across the meat and all other foods here, ensuring it sits for a few minutes before serving. Your meal should be hot but not scalding when you cut into it. It should also be evenly cooked before eating, so cut open each steak to make sure.
Is Banquet Salisbury Steak Real Meat?
Yes, your Banquet Salisbury Steak meal uses real meat. However, it is not a particular meat type as you might think. Salisbury Steak is often a mixed food type (i.e., like ground beef) anyway, and the Banquet’s meat is no different.
Think of them more as Salisbury steak patties than an actual steak. When checking Banquet’s official site, you find it uses mechanically separated:
- Chicken
- Pork
- Beef
Banquets do not break down the specific meat percentages used in each meal, nor are they required by law. This blend is typical for Salisbury Steak, though.
The meat quality may vary because the steak may sit in a freezer for many weeks before purchase. Buying newer meals may help get better freshness.
How Many Carbs are in Banquet Family Size Salisbury Steaks And Brown Gravy?
Typically, you get about 26 grams of carbs in each Banquet Salisbury Steak meal according to their nutrition facts. There are about three grams of fiber in each meal, which isn’t incredible. However, it is a decent level if you already ate a fiber-heavy dinner earlier in the day. This meal also has minimal added sugar in it.
This meal’s high sodium, or salt, level is one thing to keep in mind. Doctors recommend 2,300 milligrams of sodium every day for a healthy heart and body. With 930 milligrams, it has 40% of your daily salt intake (they have some low sodium alternatives). That should be concerning if you already eat a high-salt diet.
Furthermore, it has 30 milligrams of cholesterol, about 10% of your daily 300-milligram intake. However, it does have a solid 10 grams of protein, which is a decent amount for a single meal. Doctors suggest 0.8 grams of protein every day per body weight pound. For a 170-pound person, that’s about seven percent of your protein needs.
As for vitamins and minerals, this meal has eight percent of your Vitamin B12, Magnesium, Folic Acid, and Calcium needs. It also has 15% of your phosphorus and six percent of your Zinc and Iron. So while not vitamin-packed, this meal does have some nutritional value.
What Are the Other Ingredients in Banquet Family Size Salisbury Steaks And Brown Gravy?
Banquet’s Family-Size Salisbury Steaks and Brown Gravy meal recipe contains many ingredients broken down into several categories. We already listed the meat types used in the steak, so we won’t include them here. However, it is essential to examine a few other factors that may be found in this meal:
- Gravy: Contains water, modified food start, flavoring, salt, monosodium glutamate, caramel color, corn syrup solids, and beef base.
- Vegetable Juice Concentrates: Includes celery, carrot, onion, leek, extracts of paprika, and dried whey ingredients.
- Bread Crumbs: Features enriched bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid.
- Soy Protein Concentrate: This may include salt, caramel color, flavoring, dextrose, spice citric acid, corn, and dehydrated potatoes.
Other ingredients that don’t fall into a single category include soybean oil salt, maltodextrin, magnesium carbonate, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and calcium carbonate. While these fancy-sounding ingredients may seem imposing, they are additional flavoring and preservatives and are safe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Microwave Dinners / Frozen Meals Good for You?
While Banquet’s Salisbury Steak meal is not really a microwave meal because you have to cook it in the oven, it does fall into a similar category of “easy prep” meals. These dishes do contain some vitamins and minerals and a good level of protein and fiber. However, these meals also have high salt, fat, and MSG levels that you must understand before buying and eating one, even compared to a homemade Salisbury steak.
Can You Cook This Meal in a Toaster Oven?
Though it may seem more straightforward to cook this meal in a toaster oven, you shouldn’t. Unfortunately, toaster ovens don’t get hot enough to properly prepare this meal, which could expose you to some bacteria risks. In addition, while the meal is obviously frozen and should be protected, a toaster oven simply doesn’t produce even enough heat to cook this meal properly and may leave some sections raw or frozen.
How Often Should You Eat These Meals?
Eating an occasional Banquet Salisbury Steak with Brown Gravy meal is not going to affect your health as much as a person. However, it is essential to note that eating them daily is typically not a good idea. Their high salt and MSG levels may be beyond the daily recommended value. Instead, it is best to try these meals out no more than once a week and use home-cooked meals for most of your days.
