The best hamburger recipes are made with nothing more than beef, salt and pepper. I’m talking the ones you get from good steakhouses and diners. A great crust on the outside, juicy, beef and tender on the inside.
Homemade hamburgers are made for piling on toppings of choice. So don’t let anyone tell you what should and shouldn’t go on your burger!
Hamburger recipe
In my youth, I learned how to make hamburgers from a celebrity chef who insisted that you needed breadcrumbs, egg and seasonings for a truly great burger. And that’s how I made it for years, thinking that was the right way.
After multiple trips to the States (sorry Australia, but no one does burgers like America!), too many burgers, and watching countless cooking shows, meeting chefs, caterers and restauranteurs, I’ve been converted to the right way.
A great beef hamburger patty requires nothing more than beef.
No flavourings other than salt and pepper. Just a nice fatty beef mince – even from the supermarket.
Best Hamburger Patties
The secret to a truly great homemade hamburger recipe is to use beef that’s nice and fatty. Ideally, a good quality ground beef / mince from a butcher, but nowadays, supermarkets sell very good quality beef too.
When it comes to cooking with meat, here’s a big takeaway from this hamburger recipe: fat = flavour. If you mix pork fat into lean beef then cook it up, you’d swear you’re eating pork.
Thus, the big secret is revealed. The very best burgers you’ve had are made with nothing more than fatty beef, salt and pepper. That’s the way it’s done at all your favourite burger joints and diners (McDonald’s aside, because who knows the secret spices in those burgers??).
Tip: Dent the Hamburger Patty
If you’ve ever had your burgers shrink into little domes, you’ll love this little tip.
Dent the surface of the patty using your fingers. You’ll still get some shrinkage, but substantially less. Great tip I picked up from Bobby Flay!
What to put on Hamburgers
As a food blogger, it’s sometimes hard to resist making food look crazy irresistible. I confess to being a sucker for this, and such is the case with the first hamburger recipe I published, pictured below, with that mouth watering runny yolk and golden crispy bacon.
Truth be told, I never order burgers fully loaded. Because classic hamburgers done right are crazy delicious as they are, and also for practical reasons – whose mouth is big enough to shove THIS in????
For me, if you’ve got a big, juicy hamburger patty topped with melted cheese, all you need is a big dollop of a condiment of choice (relish, ketchup, mustard, mayo), lettuce, tomato and pickles.
Everything else is optional.
Though as an Aussie, excluding beetroot from the list of “must haves” may be considered a blasphemy!!! – Nagi x
PS I’m a sucker for hamburgers on the BBQ, but ironically, I usually make them on the stove because it’s easier midweek.
More Burgers, Sliders and Sandwiches
-
Chicken Burger – juicy seasoned chicken breast steak with the lot!
-
Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken Burger – chicken marinated in a homemade flavour bomb Peri Peri sauce
-
Cubanos – The famous Cuban roast pork sandwich from The Chef movie
-
Pastrami Sandwiches – Rye bread piled high with homemade pastrami. EPIC!
-
Veggie Burger – Meatless made amazing. Puts those doughy bricks at the shops to shame!
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Browse all Burgers and Sandwiches & Sliders recipes
How to make hamburgers
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Hamburger Recipe
Ingredients
Hamburger Pattie
- 800g - 1kg / 1.6 - 2 lb ground beef (mince), 20%+ fat (Note 1)
- Salt and pepper
- 3 onions, peeled and sliced into rings
- 2 tbsp oil
- 4 - 8 slices cheese of choice, I use Swiss (optional)
Hamburger
- 4 soft hamburger buns, lightly toasted
- Lettuce, tomato slices
- Ketchup, mustard, relish, sliced pickles
On the side
Instructions
- Separate beef into 4 equal portions. Use hands to lightly form into patties the size of your buns (mine are about 10 cm / 4") - don't press hard, light fingers = soft juicy patties (see video for how I do this).
- Season generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Make a dent on one side (stop burger from become dome shape and shrinking when cooking).
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a heavy based skillet or BBQ over high heat. Add onion and cook until wilted and caramelised. Season with salt and pepper, then remove.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil until smoking. Add patties and cook for 2 minutes until deep golden with a great crust. Do not press! Flip carefully, cook for 1 minute then top with cheese (if using). Cover with lid and cook for further 1 minute until cheese is melted.
- Meanwhile, toast the cut side of the buns lightly.
- To serve: Spread base of buns with sauce / condiment of choice. Top with lettuce then tomato, then hamburger patty. Pile over onions, sliced pickles, then more sauce/condiments. Top with lid of bun. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
Originally published 2016 with this recipe. Recipe updated and improved in May 2018.Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
This inflatable cone (the alternative to the plastic Cone of Shame) – he loves it. It’s like an inbuilt pillow. He’s been like this for hours! (Yeah, he ain’t cute when he sleeps!)
Although I’m usually all about healthy meals I must confess that I am absolutely OBSESSED with burgers. There’s a thing called Burger Night in my house and truth to be told, it’s happening once a week #oops. I know, it’s bad. But baby it’s cold outside! haha. I’m not even the one making them, my husband does and he’s become so good at it that I don’t even dare making them myself anymore haha. I will tell him about the dent in the patties, it’s a great tip! I seriously wish I could reach to your burger through my screen and just devour it!!
These burgers do look fantastic.
Thank you Barbara!! 🙂
Damn Nagi….when I was a meat eater this is def the way I would have had my burger…AND the way I still make the burgers for my friends…except now I serve them super meaty and delicious veggie burgers…that I swear you will never know the difference!!!! And yes the dent is def the best kept secret!
When? I thought it was…..Cheagan??
I am sitting at my desk at work with a huge drool stain on my shirt……thanks Nagi 🙂 I so love your recipes!
BA HA HA!! You paint quite a picture Josie!!!! ❤️
Bacon, egg and cheese on a burger; so drool-worthy!
Can’t really go wrong! 🙂
OMG … I have NEVER seen such a drool-inducing burger in my life. And no, I’m not exaggerating. This is truely a want-to-dive-into-the-screen post.
YES to putting worcestershire and ketchup in the burger meat! 🙂
Naaaa, don’t dive in, just come BACK TO AUS and I’ll make these for you at your welcome home parteeeeee!!!!
Thank you so much Helen!!! High praise coming from you!❤️
Girl… when Craig and I were house hunting in San Francisco, we paid $50 for two burgers and 1 basket of fries, and they sure as h*ll weren’t made from wagyu beef! And they sure weren’t nearly as awesome as this burger you’ve created! THIS I would gladly pay $25 for! Load it up baby – this burgers got it going on!
NO!!! For ordinary burgers???? I seriously do NOT remember SF being so expensive!!!
Hi Linmu! Thanks so much for picking that up, am SO embarrassed!? Oooh, I love the idea of adding texture to burgers, I must say I’ve never tried that!!! As for $75 burgers? I can’t even fathom paying that!!!!
Those burgers look incredible! So decadent! Perfect treat for a night in! 🙂
Thanks Sarah!!! Hope you had a FAB weekend and the weather was as gorgeous as it was here! (I’m in Syd, where are you??)
Now that is a burger!!! Food porn at its greatest. Just awesome Nagi 🙂
? Bring on food porn!!!
These look amazing. Your pictures rock.
Thank you so much Lisa!! 🙂
YES!!! An Aussie Burger has to have an egg on it,but where do you sit with the whole beetroot on burgers??????
I love beetroot on burgers but can’t have it near the egg!!! So then I have to make the beetroot egg choice. Afraid beetroot tends to win as I don’t like egg near ketchup…….I am odd 😉
Love burgers! I do the ground onions too 🙂
p.s Currently writing a burger cookbook so we are eating an awful lot of burgers!!!!! So far have 20 of the 54 I want in the book 😉 and we have oven chips with them a lot of the time too!
WHAT??!!! Burger cookbook?? OMG!!!
Oh. My. GOSH. These burgers are seriously EPIC. When you said “loaded” you MEANT it. Which, is obviously the ONLY way to eat a burger. I wish 5 of these would magically appear in front of my face right now!
Work some genie magic and will shoot them right over!
Oh so delicious Nagi. I could at one now. Some great ideas there too in the comments. I love a burger with bacon ( and beetroot of course)
You’re a beetroot gal!!! 🙂 I’m too messy to have beetroot. Will end up all over me!
Why yes I DO want to reach through the screen and GRAB that burger…remember how I was telling you that mac and cheese can be too rich for me. But when it comes to burgers, I have no limits so this looks like perfection. Like perfection that requires several napkins because I’m famous for dribbling things down my shirt…
I love reading your posts, Nagi. I hear them in your voice… 😉
I totally GET you Marissa!!! I grew up with food that was never made with cream, so any cream based dishes are too rich for me, hence why I have so many “creamy but no cream” dishes!! 🙂 I bet I beat you on the dribble front though. I always seem to be wearing a white top when I’m eating burgers….. 🙂
I would pay you 25 Aussie $ for this burger too!!! You can seriously make alot of money with this 🙂 🙂 🙂 ps. an option if Food Blogging doesn’t work out……. ha!
To finish your sentence….if food blogging doesn’t work out, I move to Spain and we start a food truck together?? 😉
Sounds like a plan.. 🙂 Lol!
YUM YUM Can’t wait to try….
Thanks Nick! Hope you do try it! 🙂
Oh, my. If ever I’ve seen pure sin, this is it! Love it! My only problem is that my jaw locks if I try to open too wide, so I think I’ll either have to squish this down or eat piecemeal.
By the way, you don’t have to cheat on the fries. Grab two ziplock-type bags. In one, put a mixture of well-beaten eggs, salt and milk (I also usually use a squirt of barbecue sauce or ketchup for a bit more zing). Dump your home-cut fries in and shake until all the fries have the mixture on them. Pour the works into a colander so the excess liquid can drain off. If you quickly tap-wash the colander as soon as it’s empty, it cleans up easily. In the second plastic bag, make a mix of cornstarch, salt, pepper, a bit of cayenne, crushed dried parsley, whatever spices your heart desires, and some very finely crushed breadcrumbs. In go the fries, and shake-shake-shake. Spread them out on a non-stick or lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 175°C/350°F until done, flipping once. No deep-frying, low-fat, awesome taste, no extra dishes, done.
One more change: make a little bit of vinaigrette-type dressing by mixing a light oil (I use grapeseed or roasted hazelnut), vinegar, and some Maggi liquid seasoning. Toss the lettuce leaves in that before putting them on the burgers. I promise you won’t regret it.
BA HA HA! Jaw lock!!!! Actually, it squishes down just fine 🙂 Most of the height is from the bun! I am extremely fascinated by this fries recipe. I totally get it! The dry coating must give it the crunch??? I’m trying it asap. You ROCK Shalryn! Thank you for sharing!!!
FABULOUS photography!
An added note: Way back in 1968, I went to college at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The student union there- The Straight- made hamburgers topped with runny fried eggs. Oh my! If you’ve never had a burger, with whatever toppings, topped with a runny fried egg, you’ve gotta try it!
I really appreciate the thought put into this recipe for a lowly burger. From the addition of Worcestershire to the caramelized onions, Nagi has totally nailed this!
Thanks Heather!!! Oooh, I bet those burgers were WICKED! 🙂 I love hearing stories of food-association memories!!! Hope you had a fab weekend Heather!
Hi Nagi! Now this is my kind of burger! The grated onion in this adds so much flavor and keeps the burger moist. Yes to the runny egg on top! 🙂
I bet you make a WICKED burger! Or is it Gary who is the household Burger King?