These Smash Burgers are quick to make, incredibly delicious, and way faster than delivery! With crispy edges, a savory sear that locks in the juices, and a homemade burger sauce, these patties will become your new summer go-to!
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Smash Burgers
What’s a Smash Burger?
A popular favorite (and for good reason!), smash burgers are made by pressing a seasoned beef patty into a hot surface like a grill, griddle, or skillet. This creates a thin, oversized patty with caramelized edges that cooks in just a couple of minutes.
- Flavor: Step aside, takeout burgers, this smash burger recipe is cooked at a high temperature for a crisp and caramelized crust and topped with a creamy, tangy burger sauce!
- Recipe Tip: Ensure the beef is measured out into small 3oz portions, as they need to be pressed thin to get the crispy lacy edges.
- Recommended Tools: A burger press is a good investment if this smash burger recipe is on regular rotation. You can make these without a burger press, too (check the recipe notes).
- Serving Suggestions: Make a BYO (build your own) burger bar with all the fixings.
Total Time: 35 Minutes Servings: 4 burgers Cooking Method: Stovetop
Smash Burger Ingredients
- Beef: An 80/20 blend provides the right balance of ground beef to fat.
- Sauce: Make this tangy sauce from ingredients you likely have on hand. Adjust the amounts or make it zesty and mix in a little chili sauce, sweeter with brown sugar, or savory with a splash of balsamic vinegar.
- Buns: Use regular burger buns, brioche buns, or try a potato bun.
Best Burger Toppings
- Smash burgers can be topped with slices of American cheese for the ultimate melt, but cheddar adds great flavor. Swiss, Pepper Jack, or Colby are good options, too.
- Like classic hamburgers, this recipe would taste great topped with bacon.
How to Make Smash Burgers
- Combine the burger ingredients and shape into 3-ounce balls (full recipe below).
- Set the burgers on the griddle and season.
- Press down with a burger press.
- Let it cook, then flip and cook on the other side.
Leftover Burger Patties?
Smash burger patties can be frozen raw or cooked and cooled, between layers of parchment paper, for up to one month.
Leftovers can be chopped up for a hamburger soup or added to a Bolognese.
Serve Alongside My Favorite…
Did your family love these Smash Burgers? Leave a rating and a comment below.
Equipment
- Burger Press see notes for other options
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons ketchup or 4 tablespoons chili sauce
- 2 teaspoons mustard
- 1 tablespoon grated dill pickles
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
For the Burgers
- 1½ pounds lean ground beef 80/20
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
For Serving
- 4 hamburger buns
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
- lettuce tomatoes, pickles, onions as desired
Instructions
- For the sauce, in a medium bowl combine mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, dill pickle, onion powder, and sugar. Mix well and refrigerate for serving.
- For the burgers, in a small bowl, combine salt, garlic powder, and black pepper and set aside for seasoning.
- Butter the cut side of each bun.
- Divide the beef into 8 pieces, 3 ounces each, and roll into balls. Cut an 8-inch square of parchment paper.
- Preheat a griddle or cast iron skillet over high heat. A sprinkle of water should dance on the heat and quickly evaporate when ready.
- Add the buns to the griddle and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a plate.
- Add the beef and top with the square of parchment paper. Press with a burger press or heavy spatula until flattened to ⅛-inch thickness. Peel the parchment paper off and repeat with the remaining patties. Season the tops with half of the seasoning.
- Cook for 90 seconds. Flip over, season, and cook the other side for 60 to 90 seconds.
- Top half of the patties with cheese. Stack a second patty on top of each slice of cheese, so you have 4 stacks of 2 patties.
- Transfer the patties to the hamburger buns and add toppings to taste.
Notes
- If you plan to make smash burgers frequently, it’s worth investing in a burger press. If you’re making them occasionally, you can use any heavy object to flatten the burgers. Place the meat on the hot skillet, cover it with a square of parchment paper, and press down with the bottom of a small heavy saucepan or skillet.
- Alternatively, you can roll the burger patties to ⅛-inch between two pieces of parchment paper before adding to the skillet, although the method above is recommended for searing the burgers.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Sandwich
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This is a great recipe! We love smash burgers and the sauce is fantastic. But the directions to smash the patties to a 1/8-inch thickness is a bit of exaggeration. They would literally fall apart that thin. One-fourth inch would be more likely, which is the thickness of the ones on the griddle.
I’m glad you love the sauce Gail!
I’m in the process putting this all together…do you need an eight inch square of parchment paper for each patty, or do you use the same one for all? Thanks!
Vicki, you can use the same square piece of parchment paper for all the patties.
Had these smash burgers for dinner last night and they were awesome I did buy a burger press because they will be made a lot in this house
So glad you enjoyed them, Diana!
These smash burgers were great! I definitely have to invest in a burger press. I did the burgers out on our grill but put them in a cast iron fry pan. So using a smaller cast iron pan as a press was difficult. The sauce was delicious! We will make these again.
So glad you loved them Jane!
The sauce really put these over the top, thank you for sharing this! Absolutely delicious
Amanda, yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. That sauce really is a game-changer. Thanks for the kind words!
Looks good. Have been making these since the 60s since I 1st ate at Steak’n’Shake. My family calls them lace burgers.
Sure do need sugar free and low carb food and deserts
The sugar in this recipe (½ teaspoon in the sauce) can be replaced with sweetener and the ketchup with sugar free ketchup.
Great cooking tips. Thanks for this simple and fast dinner or lunch favourite
Glad you loved it Randy!