I think I might like smashburgers more than any other kind of burger. Yes, I realize that is a bold statement. And I love a thick, juicy burger in a pan or on the grill... of course. I'm not an animal. So when I was visiting my friend and her son and he said he wanted to make smashburgers for my website, I was like - hell yeah! So I give you Isaac's doublestack smashburgers with bangin' sauce.
What is a Smashburger?
The name might say it all and is very literal. We are taking a chunk of ground beef and smashing it in a pan to make a flat, crusty burger. There is no rare, medium rare or well done here. Smashburgers are smashed and cooked all the way through and they are insanely delicious.
If you haven't tried a smashburger or even heard of it, please walk slowly out of the cave you've been living in and don't let the light blind your eyes. Five Guys is a good example of a smashburger. They smash it on the flat top grill and cook it to perfection. I do enjoy a Five Guys burger, but I'm here to tell you this: you can make an even better one at home!
your guide to making a smashburger
Making smashburgers is pretty flexible and you can put anything you want on it. A lot of recipes will show them being made in a cast iron skillet (and this is what Isaac does in the video), but I've made great smashburgers in Teflon too! So let's get down to the nuts and bolts of this.
- Heat your pan first whether it's a cast iron skillet or teflon pan.
- Add a neutral oil like canola or vegetable once the pan is heated.
- Make sure the pan is very hot. Grab a chunk of ground beef. You can roll in a ball which helps maintain a consistent shape or just throw your chunk of ground beef in the pan as is. It's up to you.
- The smashing part. You have options.
- In this video, we wrapped a small skillet with aluminum foil and used that as the smasher - works great.
- Use a heavy metal spatula to press the meat once in the pan and flatten as much as you can. Smash it, smash it, smash it.
- This might sound crazy, but put a piece of plastic wrap on your cutting board and smash them with your hand, THEN transfer to the pan and smash again with metal spatula, if needed. (note: plastic spatulas are not great for smashing in my opinion).
- You could also buy a "burger smasher" like they have at diners, but why spend the money when there are DIY options?
- Wait until the ground beef is getting crispy and crusty around the edges before flipping.
- Once the smashburger is flipped, add a pinch of diced onion to the tops and cover the pan to steam the onions a bit.
- Add harvarti cheese slices and cover pan again to melt. I know people love their American and cheddar cheese, but havarti was awesome on these!
- Make a quick sauce with ketchup, mayonnaise, dijon mustard and worcestershire sauce, toast your buns and spread sauce on tops and bottoms.
- Assemble and eat!
you can make an easy, gourmet smashburger at home
Do you want to go to Five Guys and spend $12-15 per person for a burger and fries? Yeah, me either. I mean, occasionally I will because I love their French fries so much. But, while I'm on the subject of Five Guys Fries, I should mention that I also have an awesome french fry recipe. If you have time, please check out my Fancy French Fries with Garlic, Butter and Parmesan. You can even skip the fancy stuff and just make the fries - they are insanely delicious!!
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Back to smashburgers and how easy they are to make. Look, eating out is expensive and almost unaffordable for a burger night. Make a plan. Wait for ground beef to go on sale for $4.99-$5.99 per pound and plan a smashburger night.
Do you know how easy it is to add flavor to ground beef? It's just salt and pepper. That's it!! And a pinch of garlic powder if you want. 🙂 And you can buy generic rolls instead of brioche to cut costs. Make the sauce in this recipe OR DON'T. It's up to you. The burgers with onions and cheese will still be awesome.
I'm a big advocator for cooking at home and believe we all have culinary capabilities. This smashburger recipe is easy enough for any beginner home chef to follow.
Easy steps to making doublestack smashburgers with bangin' sauce
Beef: It's what's for dinner:
- Dinner for Two: Steak Au Poivre w/Potatoes Au Gratin
- Mrs. Mann's Steak and Sausage Pie
- Beef and Broccoli (that's it)
- Shepherd's Pie (Stacey's Version)
- Moroccan-Spiced Phyllo Meat Pie
- Korean Beef Bulgogi Over Basmati Rice
- Steak Salad w/Pickled Red Onions & Bleu Cheese
Doublestack Smashburgers with Bangin' Sauce
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 2 smashburgers 1x
Description
Are you ready to get your smashburger on? You can make incredible doublestack smashburgers with bangin’ sauce is less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef 80/20 or 85/15 blend
- 4 slices Havarti cheese
- 2-3 tablespoons diced onions
- 2 brioche rolls
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons oil for frying (vegetable or canola)
For the bangin’ sauce:
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
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Instructions
- Dice the onions. It’s up to you how large or small you want the dice to be. We’ll be adding a pinch of onion to the top of each burger.
- You can make the bangin’ sauce at the beginning of the process or at the end – it’s up to you. Add the ingredients to a small bowl and mix until well combined.
- Heat a pan on your stove top. We used a cast iron skillet, but you can easily use a Teflon pan and get a fantastic smashburger. Just make sure your pan and oil are nice and hot (medium-to-high heat) before cooking the patties.
- For the “smasher” we wrapped a small cast iron skillet with foil. You can use a metal spatula as well, but if you’re using a Teflon pan be careful not to scratch it. With a spatula, you’ve got to smash it down a couple of times. (note: plastic spatulas are not great for smashing unless you can weight down the spatula with a small bowl).
- This recipe is for two doublestack smashburgers, so you’ll need four patties total. You can roll them into a ball first before smashing or just grab a chunk and don’t roll it first. I liked the ball of meat because it makes a more consistent shape. Note: you can use one pan and cook them in batches or you can heat two pans and cook them at same time.
- Place the ball of ground beef (each ball should be the size of a large meatball in your hand) in the heated and oiled pan. Using ¼ lb for each patty might be a little too much, so just go a little below that.
- Use your “smasher” to press down and flatten the burger completely. Using a cast iron skillet as the smasher was awesome and flattened the patties beautifully.
- Once the patties are smashed, season with a pinch of salt, pepper, and garlic powder on top. Then let them cook on medium-to-high heat for 3-4 four minutes or until you can see them getting crispy and crusty around the edges. Then turn them.
- Once the patties are turned, let them cook a minute, then add a pinch of diced onions to the top of each patty. Cover the pan and let the onions steam for a minute.
- Remove the lid and add one slice of Havarti cheese (or whatever cheese you’re using) to each patty. Cover the pan again and let cheese melt for a minute. Remove lid and you’re done.
- Toast your brioche rolls right before the smashburgers are finished. Spread bangin’ sauce on the top and bottom of your bun, stack the smashburgers on top of each other, put the tops on and have a feast! Sides are up to you: French fries, pickles, salad – all are awesome!
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