Looking for the best homemade hamburger recipe? Look no further! Whether you grill, cook on the stove or even bake- I have the best recipe for you! With all the tips and tricks to make these the tastiest, juiciest burgers ever.
Burgers are one of my favorite foods- whether it’s topped with green chile and a runny egg, something fancy like apple chutney and blue cheese, or simply cheese, lettuce, and pickles. Any way you dress them up I will love them!
If you have a Fortnite fan make sure to check out my Durr Burger!
Now, we’ve all had (or at least most of us) those frozen patties from the store. And although they are great for convenience sake they don’t tend to make the best burgers. They get the job done for BBQs and parties but what if you want to take your burgers to the next level?
Don’t forget to try my Homemade Mayo and Homemade Hamburger Buns!
Ever wonder why a bistro or brewery burger is always so juicy, thick, and perfectly cooked? Want to know how to get your burgers like that?
Let's talk about the best hamburger recipe!
First things first- let’s talk hamburger meat.
Best Ground Beef for Burgers
Typically, the more fat the tastier it is- but the more fat and the harder it is for the meat to stick together.
Ground beef that is 70/30 to 80/20 will be perfect for burgers. (70/30 and 80/20 refers to % lean meat to % fat. So any ground burger that has between 20% and 30% fat will be super tasty.
80/20 ground beef is most common in stores and what I typically use.
You can also grind your own ground beef or ask a butcher to grind meat for you.
If you grind your own meat Beef Chuck is a great meat to grind for patties because the it has between 15 and 20% fat.
What about other ground meats for burgers- like elk, lamb, pork and even chicken?
Other meats will have different cooking temps that need to be reached and are sold in different fat percentages (like chicken). If you would like to learn more about making patties out of different meats let me know in the comments below!
How to make Hamburger Patties
Now that we have the ground beef let’s make the patties.
Remove ground beef from the refrigerator and form it to balls, then flatten into a 4 inch wide patty.
Want super thick burgers? Use a ½ lb for each patty.
Want “normal” thickness burgers- similar to what you’d get from fast food places and prefrozen patties? Use ¼ lb for each patty and I tend to try to make them 4.5 inches in diameter (they tend to shrink a little more than the thick burgers).
Want to make sliders? Use 45 grams for each patty (or just divide a 1lb of ground beef into 10 equal pieces) Check out my sliders recipe here!
If I want the perfect patty, I recommend weighing the ground beef using a food scale. However, if you eyeball it it should be fine too.
Once you form the patties make a slight indent in the center of each one, about the size of the tip of your thumb. This will help the patty keep from shrinking.
How to season hamburger patties?
You might be wondering what about seasoning the meat- what about flavor?!
Trust me on this- if you cook the hamburger right you won’t need a lot of seasoning.
Once patties are formed and right before cooking sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. That’s it.
If you want you can sprinkle with garlic and onion powder- but I’ll be the first to tell you it won’t need it.
Shouldn’t I mix the seasoning into the ground beef?
Nope- it’s not necessary, plus if you handle/work the ground beef too much it can cause the meat to become tough when cooked and we don’t want that!
What about stuffing the burgers with cheese or other tasty things?
If you want a stuffed burger just mix in the cheese (or whatever) with the minimalist amount of mixing.
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How to cook hamburgers:
There are three main ways to cook a burger- well two but I am going to introduce you to a third that has become one of my favorites!
Before starting just remember that any hot oil and grease from the burgers can burn you. Any sort of pan frying will splatter (and be quite messy)- please be careful and take the proper precautions.
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How to cook burgers on the stove?
Preheat a heavy bottomed fry pan/skillet (like a cast iron) with ½ teaspoon of oil. (Use an oil like vegetable oil).
For thick ½ lb patties: Place patties on the pan and sear both sides, then flip the patties every 30 seconds or so until an internal temperature of 125-135°F is reached for medium rare or 135-145°F for medium (I use a meat thermometer for this).
For ¼ lb patties: Since these are thinner, they will cook faster. So, place the patties in the preheated, oiled pan and cook without flipping for ~2 minutes. You want the side to form a nice golden/browned crust, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
With thinner burgers it’s harder to get a medium rare cooked burger, so expect it to be cooked to medium/well doneness.
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How to grill a burger?
Preheat your grill for at least 5 minutes then clean and oil the grilling grate. (I use a gas grill so if you have a charcoal one adjust accordingly.)
For thick ½ lb patties: Place patties on grill on, cover and cook for about 2 minutes- you want nice grill marks. Flip and grill for another 2 minutes. Then and allow to continue to cook until the internal temperature reads 125-135°F is reached for medium rare or 135-145°F for medium- 5 to 6 minutes approximately.
For ¼ lb patties: Place patties on the preheated grill and grill for 2 minutes, rotate 90°F and cook for another 2 minutes until more grill marks appear. Then flip the patties, place cheese on the cooked side and grill from another 2-3 minutes.
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How to bake a burger- yes Bake!:
Preheat oven to 200°F and adjust your oven rack to the mid lower section of your oven.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Place formed patties on prepared baking sheet.
I used to bake the patties on a greased wire rack placed on top of the baking sheet (as shown above) but never noticed a huge difference in how they baked and didn’t want to clean the rack every time I made burgers. So you can try it if you want but it isn't necessary.
Bake in oven until an internal temperature of 125-130°F is reached for medium rare or 135-140°F for medium, about 30-40 minutes. Time will vary depending on oven- make sure to check internal temp of burgers often.
When burgers are at the correct internal temperature remove from oven. They will look like grey unappetizing blobs- but they are perfectly cooked and delicious.
Now heat a heavy bottomed fry pan/ skillet with a tablespoon of vegetable oil until the oil is just smoking. Then place the patties in the pan and cook until a golden-brown crust forms, ~45 seconds to 1 minute, then flip and cook for another 45 seconds. Remove from pan and enjoy!
I use a wireless meat thermometer most of the time- the same one for grilling, smoking, or baking meat- to make sure the internal temperature is correct. I love using my Thermoworks thermometer.
This method works well for both ½ lb and ¼ lb burgers since you are really just waiting for the internal temp to reach the desired temperature.
What about smash burgers?
This is a topic for a different post and until I get to writing it up I recommend cooking smash burgers similar to my sliders just make the patties larger than the sliders- ~4-4.5 inches in diameter.
How to keep burgers from shrinking?
- Don't overwork the meat.
- Use a good fat to meat ratio .
- Flatten patties to 4-4.5 inches in diameter.
- Make a small indent in the middle of each patty.
Tips for buying ground beef in bulk:
Often times, as with most things, the more ground beef you buy the cheaper it is.
I will often buy a 5lb package of 80/20 ground beef and then when I get home portion out 1-2lb portions (using my food scale), bag them in quart freezer bags and freeze them.
I also flatten out each bag before freezing (similar to how I freeze green chile- see post for example), so they stack nicely.
The biggest takeaways from this entire post on how to make juicy hamburgers is:
- Don’t overwork the ground beef
- Don’t over season (there’s no need too!)
- Make the patties at least 4 inches in diameter
- Most importantly cook the burgers to your perfect internal temperature of doneness- cooking times will vary based on cooking method and cooking appliance (different ovens, grills, and pans will all affect how the burger cooks) .
Can go wrong with a classing cheese, lettuce, and tomato burger!
What is your perfect burger doneness? Let me know in the comments!
- Rare: 120-125°F
- Medium Rare: 130-135°F
- Medium: 140-145°F
- Medium Well: 150-155°F
- Well Done: 160-165°F
One of my favorite gourmet hamburger recipes is my Apple Chutney Blue Cheese Bacon Burger. First had this gem at a little brewery in Colorado and knew I had to recreate it for you all!
Favorite toppings for burgers:
- Classic: Cheese, Onion, Lettuce, Tomato, Mayo, Mustard, Ketchup, and Pickles
- Southwest: Green Chile, Fried Egg, Cheese
- In-N-Out Animal style: Grilled Onions, In-N-Out Sauce (see my copy cat recipe here!), Lettuce, Tomato, Cheese
- Hawaiian: Grilled pineapple, Red Onion, Lettuce and Sweet Teriyaki Sauce (mixture of teriyaki, mayo, and a little honey).
- The Perfect Fall Burger: Apple Chutney, Blue Cheese, Bacon
Other tasty toppings:
- Fried Sweet Potato Strings
- Sweet Pickles
- BBQ Sauce
- A 1 Sauce
- Hot Sauce
- Onion Rings
- Chips
- Peanut Butter (yes people really like this!)
- Hot Dog- sliced in half lengthwise and laid on top
Some of my favorite sides for burgers include:
Favorite Drinks with Burgers (besides a delicious ice-cold soda):
After Burger Desserts:
Watch how to make this recipe!
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The Best Hamburger Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground hamburger- with 20-30% fat 80/20 is fine
- Salt
- Pepper
- Vegetable oil
Instructions
Before starting just remember that any hot oil and grease from the burgers can burn you. Any sort of pan frying will splatter and be quite messy- please be careful and take the proper precautions.
- Divide ground beef into equal portions and flatten into patties that are 4 inches in diameter. I recommend either making two ½ lb patties or four ¼ lb patties.
To cook on the stove:
- Preheat a heavy bottomed fry pan/skillet (like a cast iron) with 1 teaspoon of oil. (Use an oil like vegetable oil).
- For thick ½ lb patties: Place patties on the pan and sear both sides, then flip the patties every 30 seconds or so until an internal temperature of 125-135°F is reached for medium rare or 135-145°F for medium (I use a meat thermometer for this). ~4-7 minutes.
- For ¼ lb patties: Since these are thinner, they will cook faster. So, place the patties in the preheated, oiled pan and cook without flipping for ~2 minutes. You want the side to form a nice golden/browned crust, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- With thinner burgers it’s harder to get a medium rare cooked burger, so expect it to be cooked to medium/well doneness.
To grill the burgers:
- Preheat your grill for at least 5 minutes then clean and oil the grilling grate. (I use a gas grill so if you have a charcoal one adjust accordingly.)
- For thick ½ lb patties: Place patties on grill on, cover and cook for about 2 minutes- you want nice grill marks. Flip and grill for another 2 minutes. Then and allow to continue to cook until the internal temperature reads 125-135°F is reached for medium rare or 135-145°F for medium- 5 to 6 minutes approximately.
- For ¼ lb patties: Place patties on the preheated grill and grill for 2 minutes, rotate 90°F and cook for another 2 minutes until more grill marks appear. Then flip the patties, place cheese on the cooked side and grill from another 2-3 minutes.
To bake the burgers:
- Preheat oven to 200°F and adjust your oven rack to the mid lower section of your oven.
- Line a baking sheet with foil. Place formed patties on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in oven until an internal temperature of 120-125°F is reached for medium rare or 130-135°F for medium, about 30-40 minutes. Time will vary depending on oven- make sure to check internal temp of burgers often.
- When burgers are at the correct internal temperature remove from oven. They will look like grey unappetizing blobs- but they are perfectly cooked and delicious.
- Now heat a heavy bottomed fry pan/ skillet with a tablespoon of vegetable oil until the oil is just about smoking. Then place the patties in the pan and cook until a golden-brown crust forms, ~45seconds to a minute, then flip and cook for another 45 seconds. Remove from pan and enjoy!
- This method works well for both ½ lb and ¼ lb burgers since you are really just waiting for the internal temp to reach the desired temperature.
Notes
- Don’t overwork the ground beef
- Don’t over season (there’s no need too!)
- Make the patties at least 4 inches in diameter
- Most importantly cook the burgers to your perfect internal temperature of doneness- cooking times will vary based on cooking method and cooking appliance (different ovens, grills, and pans will all affect how the burger cooks) .
- Check out my Wagyu Burger recipe for extra flavorful burgers!
Nutrition
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