By no means is this a complex, fancy burger, but in my opinion, that’s not what a burger should be. A delicious burger should be loaded with melty cheese and a delicious savory burger sauce. This recipe is everything a great burger should be; simple and flavor-packed.
The Most Satisfying Burger:
Let’s start with the ground beef. In order to make a juicy burger, you want to have a good amount of fat in your meat. So, I like to go with either an 80% lean to 20% fat ratio or a 70% lean to 30% fat ratio. When making your burger, never mix any seasonings or sauces into the ground beef itself. If you were to do so, the salt in your seasonings would draw out the water content in the ground beef, leaving you with a denser patty instead of a tender and juicy one. Instead, season both sides of the patties before you start cooking them.
Feel free to form the patties by hand, however, I find it that I get more consistent patties when I flatten the balls of ground beef with a kitchen appliance, such as the bottom of a pot or skillet.
Now for the burger sauce! In all honesty, it is a super simple recipe consisting of ingredients that you can almost always find in your cabinet. What I really think makes the sauce is the pickles and the pickle juice. The flavor of both pickle products gives the sauce an incredible savory flavor, as well as, provides the sauce with a great acidic note.
For the burger, you can really use any cheese, but I just love the artificial packaged cheese slices, I mean “cheese product”(sorry). The American cheese melts so well and gives the burger another burst of umami flavor.
The final addition to the burger: the onions. The natural sweetness of the onions compliments the saltiness of the burger and sauce so well. The onion may not be the most flattering topping, but it sure does elevate the flavor of this burger.
The Most Satisfying Burger Recipe
Cuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
Burgers45
minutesA truly delicious burger recipe that will satisfy anyone
For the Burger
1 1/2 lbs(24 oz) ground beef – 80/20 or 70/30
8 slices American Cheese
2 medium or large yellow onions
4 Burger Buns
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Parchment paper
- For The Burger Sauce
3 tablespoons chopped dill pickles
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon pickle juice
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Directions
- Cut out two 9in by 9in sheets of parchment paper that will be used to press out the burger patties and four 6in by 6in pieces of parchment that will separate the patties while cooling. Divide the ground beef into 4 equal portions(about 6 oz each) and form each portion into a ball. Place your ball of ground beef in between the two 9in by 9in sheets of parchment and using a large heavy object with a flat bottom(a pot for example), press the ground beef down until a patty that is 1/4 inch thick is formed.
- Gently place each patty on the remaining four 6in by 6in pieces of parchment, being careful not to rip the patties. Place patties into a dish(you can place patties on top of each other as they are separated by parchment paper and will not stick together). Put patties in the freezer, so that they can set up, while you continue working on the remainder of the recipe.
- Cut off the tops and bottoms of your onions and half them(cutting from top to bottom). Peel the onions. Cut thin slices going parallel to the top and bottom of the onion(cuts should resemble half rings).
- Fill a pan with any neutral cooking oil(vegetable, canola, etc.) until the surface is entirely coated. Let the oil heat up(2-3 minutes) on medium-high heat before dropping in the onions. Place the onions in the pan and season lightly with salt. Continue to cook onions on medium-high heat(stirring occasionally) until they turn light brown(6-7 minutes). Remove from heat and place in a separate container.
- In a separate bowl, mix pickles, mayo, ketchup, pickle juice, salt, and black pepper to make your burger sauce.
- Heat up a large pan on high heat. Lightly coat the surface of your pan with oil. Place both halves of all of the burger buns on the pan and toast for about a minute. Set the buns aside.
- Lightly grease the pan again and let the oil heat up on high heat(2 minutes). Take your burgers out of the freezer and season the side that will go on the pan first generously with salt and pepper. Then place the patties on the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes before flipping. Once flipped, cook the other side for about 2 minutes, before applying two slices of American cheese on each burger. Cook patty with cheese for about 1 more minute and remove patties from heat.
- Generously slather both halves of the buns with the burger sauce. Then place your patty on the bottom bun and place onions on top of the patty. Close with the top bun and enjoy your delicious burger.
Notes
- Feel free to use a griddle or a flat top to cook the burgers as well
- If your pan is not large enough to fit all 4 burgers at the same time, you can cook a few patties at a time
