This really is the ULTIMATE beef burger.
I truly believe the best burger recipes are made with nothing more than beef, salt and pepper. Nice and caramelised on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside. And homemade burgers are made for piling on all of your favourite toppings. No one can tell you what should and shouldn’t go on your burger!
All my life I thought beef patties had to include binding agents like breadcrumbs and eggs, as well as loads of herbs and spices. But after watching countless cooking shows and chefs on youtube, I discovered that you don’t need anything fancy. Just beef mince, salt and pepper. Easy as that. When cooked right, the beef is super flavourful on its own!
The secret to a truly epic homemade beef burger recipe is to use mince that’s nice and fatty. When it comes to cooking with meat, the secret is fat = flavour. A concept I learnt from YouTuber Sam the Cooking Guy.
Another important part of this delicious burger is the sauce. Combine mayo with tomato sauce, pickle juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Sounds weird but it’s awesome I promise! It’s what takes this from just a regular beef burger to an ultimate beef burger.
My final tip for an epic beef burger is to toast the buns. In the pan you cooked the beef patties, place the buns face down for a few minutes to get nice and toasty on the inside. A small thing but makes a huge difference!
This part is optional but soaking red onion in some white wine vinegar and sugar for a few minutes gives you instant pickled onions! They’re just a little bit fancier than regular onions and it adds a delicious tangy flavour.
And the rest is up to you! Everyone has their favourite burger fillings, for this one I used cheese (of course), lettuce, tomato, bacon (how can you not) and gherkins.
More delicious lunches that you might like:
- Roasted lemon pepper chicken souvlaki pita pockets
- BBQ salmon rice bowls with pineapple salsa
- Cheat’s 30-minute crispy chicken bao buns
- 5-minute spicy peanut noodles
And finally, if you make this Ultimate Beef Burger be sure to leave a comment and tell me about it! I love to hear from you guys. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!
THE ULTIMATE BEEF BURGER
Course: LunchDifficulty: Easy1
servings10
minutes10
minutes20
minutesAn epic beef burger.
Ingredients
a few rings of red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp white sugar
1 brioche bun
150g beef mince
2 slices of shortcut bacon
1 slice of cheddar cheese
a small handful of iceberg lettuce, roughly chopped
2 slices of tomato
1 gherkin thinly sliced
- Burger sauce
2 tbsp mayo
1 tbsp tomato sauce
splash of pickle juice
splash of Worcestershire sauce
Directions
- Start by pickling the onion. Fill a jar with vinegar and sugar and add the onion. Leave in the fridge while you make the rest of the burger.
- Form the mince into a ball and heat up some neutral oil in a pan. Place the patty in the pan – it should be sizzling. Press it down with a spatula and season with salt and pepper. Flip after a few minutes, when caramelisation starts to form on the bottom. When the beef is almost done, place a slice of cheese on top and let it melt for about a minute,
- Meanwhile, in a separate pan fry off the bacon and start prepping the rest of the fillings. When the bacon is nice and crispy, remove it from the pan and place each bun face down to toast for a couple of minutes.
- For the sauce: combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Assembly: Spread some sauce on the bottom bun and layer on the lettuce, tomato, bacon, beef and cheese, pickled onion and gherkin. Pop on the top bun and enjoy!
I would never have thought of adding pickle juice to a dressing….what a great idea!
How great are pickles!
Seems a good burger! I would totally eat it 😀 Lovely photo too! Drooling at the keyboard! Thank the gods you didn’t add egg or binder. Quite right, it doesn’t need it! Pet hate of mine! It absolutely ruins the patty texture.
And yeah a high fat ration is best, at least 20/30 percent fat min. Fat isn’t actually unhealthy. It’s a myth. And no, it isn’t one of those weird internet conspiracy things or something I read off the facebooks. It’s a scientific fact. You can research for yourself 🙂 Of course, if you just want to stay slim. Yeah. That stuff will give you extra bellies!
Thanks so much for your comment! I agree, fat definitely isn’t the enemy, as long as you don’t eat too much of it of course haha 🙂