In Good FlavorMake restaurant-style smash burgers at home quickly, easily, and inexpensively. This recipe creates thin juicy beef patties seared to perfection and topped with melted cheese. The patties are served with toppings and a special sauce on toasted buns.
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What are smash burgers? They are griddle or flat-top cooked beef rounds that are smashed thin to obtain a crusty brown sear with crispy and craggy edges while maintaining a juicy interior. The beef patties are topped with sliced cheese and served with toppings (lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onions), along with a sauce on toasted buns.
My special sauce has a ketchup and mayonnaise base. The sauce is smooth and tangy. It also has a slight sweetness from honey and a touch of smokiness from paprika.
These restaurant-style burgers are totally doable at home using a cast iron or stainless steel skillet or griddle. What you get is so much more affordable than eating out and it is so good!!
Ingredients needed:
- Use 80/20 ground beef (80% lean and 20% fat) for the best results. The high-fat content yields burgers that are super flavorful and juicy.
- American or cheddar cheese are classic.
- Toppings—lettuce, tomato, pickles, fresh or caramelized onions are all delish, but use what you like.
- Special sauce—consists of ketchup, mayo, mustard, paprika, and honey. Or use your favorite sauce.
- Spices—salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder. Season the ground beef to taste.
- Buns—regular hamburger, potato, or brioche buns. Toast until golden brown.
- Butter—for applying on buns for toasting.
- Oil—just a little. For cooking the beef patties.
Recipe highlights:
- Form ground beef into 4 equal rounds. Refrigerate while you prep the toppings, and special sauce, and toast the buns.
- For the sauce, combine ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, honey, and paprika in a bowl. Blend well and set aside.
- Toast the buns: butter the buns and cook until golden brown in a preheated skillet set on medium. Set buns aside.
- When ready to cook the beef rounds, preheat a cast iron griddle or skillet to medium-high. Add a very light coating of oil. Season the tops of the beef rounds with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Add beef rounds to the skillet, seasoned side down. You might need to cook in batches depending on your skillet size.
- Immediately place a piece of parchment paper on the patties and press flat with a large spatula or a flat meat pounder to 1/4 to 1/2-inch thickness. Remove the parchment paper. Season the top side. Cook for 2 minutes or until the bottom and edges develop a brown crust.
- Turn hamburger patties over. Top with a slice of cheese. Cover the skillet with aluminum foil. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the second side develops a brown crispy crust. Transfer to a platter.
- To assemble the burger, spread the special sauce onto the bottom bun. Top with lettuce, one or two smash burger patties, tomato slices, onion slices, and pickles.
- Detailed instructions are in the recipe card section below.
Pro tips for making the perfect smash burgers:
- Use 80/20 ground beef. The high-fat content is needed for flavor and juiciness.
- Form the beef rounds loosely for tenderness. There is no need to season the rounds ahead. Just portion out 4 ounces and loosely form into balls.
- Chill the ground beef rounds for 30 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes before cooking. You can also form them a day ahead. A chilled beef round retains the fat in the interior while allowing the exterior to sear and caramelize. Unchilled beef loses more fat.
- Smash patties thin—the trademark of a smash burger is the thin patty and a crispy brown crust. Pressing to 1/4” to 1/2” thickness increases the surface area of the patty to produce ultimate caramelization and seal in the flavor.
- Use a cast iron pan/skillet/ griddle or stainless steel pan for best results. If using cast iron and cooking in batches, you will need to reduce the heat seating after cooking the first burger(s) to prevent the subsequent ones from cooking too quickly and burning.
- Toast the buns for a buttery and crispy component.
Smash burger tools:
You don’t have to buy special tools to make a good smash burger, but they make the job easier and make you feel like a pro!
- Use a large spatula, a flat meat pounder, or a small cast iron pan to press the burgers flat. If you want to get fancy, use a Burger press that is made specifically for smashing burgers.
- To help the cheese melt quickly, cover the patty with aluminum foil, avoiding any contact with the cheese. A Melting dome serves the same purpose and is a little easier to work with.
- For cooking the patties, a stovetop cast iron griddle or skillet is ideal. I use my cast iron comal, which I also use for making soft homemade tortillas.
- Parchment paper for placing over the beef round to prevent sticking prior to smashing it.
How to store and reheat hamburger patties:
Store the patties in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 4 days.
To reheat, place the pattie(s) on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350° F oven for about 5 minutes or until the center reaches 165° F. The amount of time depends on the thickness of the burgers.
To microwave, place a patty on a microwave plate. Microwave at 10 second intervals until heated through.
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Smash Burgers with Special Sauce
Description
Make restaurant-style smash burgers at home quickly, easily, and inexpensively. This recipe creates thin juicy beef patties seared to perfection and topped with melted cheese. The patties are served with toppings and a special sauce on toasted buns.
Ingredients
Special sauce:
Instructions
- Divide ground beef into 4 equal portions. Loosely form into balls. Refrigerate while you prep the toppings, special sauce, and toast the buns.
- For special sauce, combine all the ingredients. Blend well and set aside.
- Preheat a cast iron pan/skillet /griddle to medium. Spread butter on the cut centers of the buns. Place face down in the pan. Cook until the underside is golden brown. Transfer the buns, face up, onto a prep surface.
- When ready to cook the beef rounds, preheat a cast iron griddle or skillet to medium-high. Add just enough oil to very lightly coat the skillet. How much depends on the size of the skillet you use.
- Season the tops of the beef rounds with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder, to taste. Add beef round(s) to the skillet at least 2 inches apart, seasoned side down. You might need to cook in batches. How many batches depends on the size of your skillet.
- Immediately place a piece of parchment paper on the patties and press flat with a large spatula or a flat meat pounder to 1/4 to 1/2-inch thickness. Remove the parchment paper. Season the second side, to taste. Cook for 2 minutes or until the bottom and edges develop a brown crust.
- Turn hamburger patties over. Top with a slice of cheese. Cover the skillet with aluminum foil, making sure the foil does not come in contact with the cheese. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the second side develops a brown crispy crust.
- Transfer to a platter. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Continue cooking the remaining beef rounds, if any.
- To assemble, spread the special sauce onto the bottom bun. Top with lettuce, one or two smash burger patties, tomato slices, onion slices, and pickles.
- Makes 4 single patty or 2 double patty burgers.
Notes:
- The cooking time is about 4 minutes total, if you cook all of the smash burgers at once. Multiply the cooking time if you need to cook in batches.
- Cast iron pan retains heat tremendously well. If using it and cooking in batches, you will need to reduce the heat seating after cooking the first batch to prevent the subsequent ones from cooking too quickly and burning. If burgers cook too slowly, increase the heat.
