Regular ground beef can sometimes make a lacklustre homemade hamburger. You can take your burgers to the next juicy, char broiled level by just tweaking a few things.
(That's a DIY Charcuterie board ↑ you can learn how to make. )
To make some super-delicious homemade burgers you need a little more than just a mess of ground beef. For starters you can grind your own beef with a blade or cross rib roast. I show you how to do it, if you're interested, right here.
If you have pasture raised, dry aged beef with beautiful yellow fat in it you don't need to add anything other than a bit of seasoning to it.
But most of us are just buying regular ground beef at the grocery store which needs a bit of help.
With a few ingredients you probably already have around the kitchen you can make a great, big, juicy hamburger tonight! You have imported Asian truffle foam rooted by a one-eyed panda bear, right? (canned is fine)
Just kidding.
Read on for the recipe!
Table of Contents
Homemade Hamburger Recipe
1. Add one egg (yolk only) to 1 lb of the highest fat content ground beef you can find. (fat = flavour)
2. Add finely diced onion.
TIP: Do all your mixing gently. You want to work the meat as little as possible.
3. A blast of ketchup.
4. In goes a glob of Dijon mustard.
5. Squirt in a splash of Worcestershire sauce and gently mix.
6. Add in ¼ cup of breadcrumbs (just enough to help with binding) and a generous dose of salt and pepper.
7. Gently form into patties. DON'T squash them. Gently form them. Squashing is for bugs, not hamburgers.
Update: For everyone in apoplectic fits over adding ¼ of a cup of dry bread crumbs and the egg yolks this does not make it meatloaf. It does not. It really is still a hamburger. The tiny amounts of these two things act as a binder which are important. They keep hamburgers from falling apart on the grill.
How to Make the Patties?
The number 1 rule for making hamburger patties is to be GENTLE with them. You don't want to mush, smash or press them hard. They need to be pressed enough to stay together but you want to keep the integrity of the meat.
Form the meat into a bit of a ball and then press it between the palms of your hands until it's a disk shape. Put that disk on the countertop and continue to gently press and prod it until it's the right shape and size.
Just before dropping them into the pan or grill press your thumb into the centre of the burger and press it about halfway down. This helps it cook evenly.
How Big Should the Burger be?
A good rule of thumb is to make your patty ¾" - 1" thick, and wider than the bun. Anything thinner will run the risk of being dried out and anything bigger and they're easy to undercook.
You Put Egg in Them?
You bet I do. Egg acts as a binder helping to stick the hamburger together so it doesn't fall apart on the grill.
If you can't use egg to keep your burgers together another trick you can use is to refrigerate the patties, allowing them to set up, before cooking.
Making Sure it's Juicy
I've already given you one tip for ensuring you have a burger that drips down your chin and makes your eyes roll into the back of your head. By making it 1" thick. More tips for a juicy burger include:
- Pressing an indent into the centre of it before you cook. This will pop up as the burger cooks, and get you a more evenly cooked hamburger.
- Use regular or lean ground beef - never extra lean.
- Unless the person eating it is very young, very old or pregnant you can cook your burger until it has an internal temperature of 145.
How to Cook
Cast Iron
I almost exclusively cook meat in a cast iron pan. That includes hamburgers. Yes, even before using a grill, I will use my cast iron pan.
Cast iron heats up evenly and beautifully, is non stick, but can still get a good crusty sear on meat. The heat you set your pan to will depend on your stove, but I tend to heat it up quickly on high and then turn it down to medium/low once the burger hits the pan.
Oven
If you only have an oven (a toaster oven in a dorm for instance) you can cook these in there as well. Slip a cookie sheet into the oven and set it to 450 F (230 C). Once it's heated up slide your patties onto the hot cookie sheet and bake for approximately 5 minutes per side. When you flip the burger, flip it onto a part of the baking sheet that hasn't had burger on it yet - this will get you a better sear on the second side.
How to Make Homemade Hamburgers!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 egg yolk
- ¼ cup finely very finely diced red onion. (you want it so small that once it cooks it disappears)
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon dijon
- 2 shakes Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs just enough to aid in binding
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Mix together all ingredients gently. You don't want to mush and mash it.
- Form into 4 equally sized patties. (You can definitely stretch it and get 5 out of this recipe)
- Grill outdoors or cook in cast iron pan until done to your liking. About 4 minutes each side.
- Top with your favourite toppings!
Nutrition
Questions & Answers
- Isn't this really a meatloaf recipe? Um, no. It isn't. But I can see the confusion. Just make them. Trust me on this.
- What are the best hamburger buns? I used to be on a sesame seed bun kick, but now I only use brioche buns. I'm obsessed with them!
- What if I want a homemade fermented, New York style, Jewish deli pickle to go with my burger? No problem. Just click here for my classic fermented dill pickle recipe, based on fermenting God, Sandor Katz's pickles.
- Should you put lettuce on hamburgers? According to the late Anthony Bourdain? No. He has a point. If you don't eat the burger immediately the lettuce gets soft, warm and wilty.
- Can these be frozen? Of course! Just mix the ingredients, shape them into burgers and freeze them individually on wax paper. Once they're frozen you can stack them and store them.
Tune in next week for the next big debate: What's better for you? Frozen or homemade ice cubes.
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Design Love
I make them the same way as you, but sometimes add Cajun seasoning and of course garlic! But beware, you Burp them up for a few days!!! But oh, so good!
Cindy
Anemone
So salty is staying at your house huh? Pep is looking for him. I think there is some 25K reward. Turn him in to Knorr. lol.
Shauna
Sounds delicious and very similar to the way we make them. We add a little soy sauce and fresh garlic too. I'm with you. plain hamburger? blech!
Gayla T
My mom made your mix and after frying them in a skillet poured cream of mushroom soup over them and simmered. How square is that and how darn good do they taste? FAB! I'm famous for Granny's Big Juicy Cheeseburgers and the only thing besides the beef is that orange season salt. I ate that at a cook out years ago and now they are THE way to make burgers. LOL This old dog did just learn a new trick though, at a cook out at my daughter's this summer. A young woman turned in the corners of the slices of American cheese before putting it on the meat. That way all the cheese stays on the burger instead of melting down into the coals. I had never thought about it but do it every time now. So simple. Why didn't you or I think of that?
Anna
You make hamburgers exactly the way my mother did! I think she was trying to make a pound of hamburger feed six people and better flavor and lots of bread would make us happy about the 1/6th of a pound burger. Bless you mom.
Lin N
I don't eat beef, my burgers are made with 1/2 ground pork, 1/2 ground chicken, the rest of your reciped works great to this. Sometimes I add chopped jalapeños and grated Cheddar for a very yummy burger. Thanks, as always, for a great blog Karen.
Karen
Thanks Lin, glad it worked out for you! ~ karen
Kris
As usual, I'm late! And this is my first 'blog comment', so be kind. I've only been following you Karen for a short time (don't be nervous, I'm not really following you), and I love you, and your funny readers. Just want to say that your burgers are the 'right' way, although I now add oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs to any meat recipe because of dietery issues. Have you ever looked at the ingredients in bread crumbs? Scary.
Karen
Kris - Welcome to commenting! Isn't it fun? ~ karen (oh .. and I used homemade breadcrumbs ... https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/italian-bread-crumbs/ )
Chrissy
Karen, I love the idea of homemade bread crumbs.
I did a quick search of your site for making bread and I didn't see anything. My mom used to make the best, fluffiest homemade bread when we were kids. Any time I attempt it, it's dense and chewy. I would love to see a post on making the perfect loaf of bread!
Karen
Chrissy - There isn't a post on making bread (although I do make it the odd time). The bread crumbs are from store bought whole grain bread. ~ karen!
Susie
Forget the burgers..... I want the little man salt shaker. You have the coolest .... stuff.
Karen
Thx. Christmas present from the fella. - K!
Diane
That's just how I make mine...minus the mustard. :)
Nancy
My mother called these meat loaf patties..If she mixed onion soup mix in the burger..she called them onion burgers (not that you will be needing a name for them)..You may call them whatever you like Karen as we who adore you have accepted the fact that you are always right..lol..Your version sounds yummy and I will give them a try maybe next week as we had burgers (meat only) last night..I hope you and the fella had a nice Valentines Day!!
Karen
Thanks Nancy! Same to you. We're both stuffed to the gills with lasagna and garlic bread. He had cupcakes and ice-cream too. Not me. I had to save room for Fritos later. ~ karen
Jamie
I absolutely adore reading your blog!! :) These look yummmmmmy!
Eve
I actually told my husband I wanted hamburgers for dinner tonight! Not very valentinesy but, I'm pregnant so I get what I want ;) we'll try your recipe tonight! Thanks Karen!
Karen
Be careful Eve! Apparently these are actually meatloaf! You let us know if it taste like you're eating meatloaf. ~ karen
Mickey
Karen
The pattie goes on top of the bottom bun not underneath the upper bun. I'm guessing you put the pattie underneath the upper bun so that we could see the pattie better......yes, that's why, I'm sure.
Mickey
Karen
Mickey - It's for photographic purposes. What works in real life doesn't always work in a photo. ~ k!
SamiJ
I make my icecubes from a mix. Is that wrong?
Shannon V.
We don't make ice cubes....my Auntie had the recipe and sadly she passed away before telling anyone what it was!
BWA-HA-HA :)
Martha
I am still upset at the image of someone frying a burger in a pan. People do this? If there is no barbeque to be found, there is no burger.
Salim K Alriyami
yes your right
S
I'm fascinated by all of the ignorant burger related comments to this post!
Karen, something tells me if you invited all these "meat loaf sandwich" folks to your house for burger night, they would never believe that you had added those ingredients—especially the folks who insist they love only the "pure beef" taste of their own burgers.
This is a fantastic recipe and I'm not afraid to say that although there are many ways to make burgers, yours is in fact the RIGHT way!
kate
yup - those are meat loaf burgers, to be sure. In the case being unable to purchase really good beef - then, by all means do what you must to get tasty meals. Hamburger (any beef meal, actually) should start with good beef - good beef has it own delicious flavor that does not in any way need the addition of other ingredients
JT
You people are CrAazZYY. Just because you shape a ball of meat into the shape of a hamburger doesn't mean it's a hamburger. Maybe for you it is but if that was the one and only way to make it there wouldn't be millions of hamburger "recipes" around.
M.Darlin
So we can't eat beef around here. I use ground pork for our burgers... we call them Real Ham Burgers. But are they? And I often add rice and celery as well as the other ingrediants you use. And for those that like them I might even throw in chopped mushrooms and cheddar. I think of it as getting all the food groups into one dish. But have I gone to far? (oh, and p.s. I don't form patties. I squish it all onto a cookie sheet, about 3/4"thick, then I cut it into squares, then I bake it instead of frying. If appropriate I will grill it when reheating, with a little BBQ sauce on top.) Holy cow! I just realized I don't make hamburgers at all. (don't tell my kids. they think these are hamburgers.)
Shauna
M. Darlin, if you go to Spain and order a hamburger, that is exactly what you get a HAM 'burger'.
Mary Werner
Next question - do I put a question mark after that last sentence or not? Seems more of a statement than a question.
Mary Werner
I have only just started following you and you may have already addressed this (or undressed it) but what comes out the one hole on the little mans head, it is salt or pepper? And since you take his pants off to shake him, what comes out the other? I assume there is another or why take off his pants?
Karen
Mary - No, it's the first time I've featured those particular S&Ps. Salt out of his head, pepper out of his pants. Salt and pants. ~ karen!
Natalie
Haha this is a hilarious sounding comment, but I had the same question! :)
Bobbi
Oh, Karen.......the Lipton Onion Soup Mix is quite salty........my mom uses all the onion flakes in the package and only about 1/2 of the remaining mix when she puts it in a recipe.....just an FYI...not that you would be using it or anything.....