KFC, eat your heart out! Our Fried Chicken Burger is way crispier than yours, the chicken is way juicier and it tastes way better. The trick is to mix a bit of marinade into the flour coating – this creates lumps that fries up into an awesome ultra crunchy crust. 

Henry’s Ultra Crispy Fried Chicken Burger

Today’s recipe is here courtesy of a young boy named Henry whom I met at a book signing in the NSW regional town of Mudgee. Huddled on the couch of a cosy local book store, he declared his signature dish to be the RecipeTin Fried Chicken. We enthused over how remarkably un-greasy it is and marvelled at how it’s crunchy all over, unlike KFC which we eeewed about how the skin has greasy soggy patches.

Conversation then moved into how we’d use the Fried Chicken to make the BEST fried chicken burger in the world. (Yes, we capitalise it!). We both agreed plain shredded lettuce was better than coleslaw (too rich!), melted cheese was unnecessary (too much!), tomato was optional. and the bun must be super soft.

So here it is. Dedicated to Henry and the town of Mudgee – I present to you, our very best Ultra Crispy Fried Chicken Burger!

Please observe the nubbly, crunchy, craggy surface on the fried chicken!! 🙌🏻

Ingredients

Here’s what you need for homemade Crispy Chicken Burgers.

Chicken brine keeps it juicy!

I use breast because it’s easier to get a nice uniform shape suitable for burgers. It’s marinated in a buttermilk and salt mixture which locks in juices. Essential because breast will cook beyond the ideal internal temperature in the cook time required to make the crust really crispy and golden.

Don’t worry if you don’t have buttermilk, substitute yogurt and milk instead. It works virtually the same!

• Chicken breast is my preference for a relatively uniform shape when trimmed to size. However, boneless chicken thighs work as well. Whichever you use, it’s best to pound to even thickness so it cooks through evenly and sits reasonably straight on the burger.

• Buttermilk – Known for its marinating qualities so the chicken is really juicy inside once cooked. It’s the traditional marinating ingredient used for Southern Fried Chicken which is the fried chicken recipe used for this burger.

  While it’s a common ingredient in the States, it’s more of a speciality baking item here in Australia. But there’s an easy substitute that works virtually the same – just plain yogurt and milk! The acidity and thickness of yogurt diluted with milk results in almost the same consistency as buttermilk, and yogurt is excellent for marinating (proof here!).

• Salt – For seasoning and increase the chicken’s juiciness.

• Egg – To make the flour crust stick to the chicken.

KFC 11 secret herbs and spices!

The flavour of the fried chicken is a copycat of KFC fried chicken. Flavour wise, it is very similar!

• Herbs and spices – No unusual players here, just all the usual suspects! Adjust the cayenne pepper for the amount of spiciness you want. Simply omit if you don’t want spicy at all!

• Cornflour/cornstarch and flour – For the coating of the chicken to make it fry up ultra crunchy! Cornflour makes it crunchier than just using flour. So why not just use all cornflour? Because it doesn’t go golden when fried, it stays white. On the other hand, flour coated things fry up into a beautiful golden colour! So by using a blend of the two, we get the best of both worlds – crunchy and golden colour.

Burger fixings

Don’t let anyone tell you what you should or should not have on your burger. Though, if you want a copycat better-than-KFC-Burger experience, here’s what you need!

• Soft buns – I use brioche buns because they’re so soft and pillowy, and a little bit sweet like KFC buns. However, you can use any buns you want. (I’d personally avoid ultra chewy / crispy ones though. A little too tough for use in burgers).

• Gherkins/pickles – Just your everyday dill pickles, or whatever takes your fancy. Just a little something to cut through the richness and saltiness of everything else going on inside the burger!

• Lettuce – Good ole’ iceberg lettuce! Nice and fresh, finely slicing it gives it some decent height and a lovely bed for the crunchy chicken to rest on.

• Garlic mayonnaise – KFC doesn’t use garlic mayo, but you and I know that a touch of garlic just makes mayo better. Turns it into aioli, actually!

How to make Crunchy Fried Chicken Burgers

It’s easier than traditional Fried Chicken which is made with bone-in chicken that take longer to fry (~6 to 8 minutes) so you need to be quite accurate with temperature control.

Chicken Burgers, on the other hand, are thinner, boneless pieces and take just 3 to 4 minutes to fry. And because of the shape, you don’t need nearly as much oil.

1. Pound the chicken to 1cm / 0.4″ even thickness. Use freezer bags, ziplock bags or similar (I use a purpose-made product called “Go-Between”) and a meat mallet, or rolling pin. Pounding is recommended so the chicken cooks through evenly and sits a little straighter on the burger. But if you skipped this step, it wouldn’t be a deal breaker.

2. Trim the chicken to the size of the buns, or larger, if you want! It will shrink a touch when it cooks but the crunchy nubbly bits add size.

3. Marinade – Mix the buttermilk, salt and egg. Then add the chicken and toss to coat. Marinate for at least 3 hours, or up to 24 hours. Don’t go much beyond 24 hours, it actually over marinades and makes the texture of the chicken too much like the cold cut chicken slices you buy at the deli. Still nice, but it does change the chicken texture.

4. Crunchy coating – Mix together the flour, cornflour/cornstarch and all the spices.

PS There is no spice mix in the marinade because there is a ton in the coating which is where you want a punch of flavour. If it was in the marinade too, then the whole chicken just tastes the same all the way through. The contrast between chicken flavour inside and intense coating is nicer. KFC tastes like ours ie you can’t taste the seasoning inside the chicken, just on the coating.

5. Marinade flour clumps – This is the trick to the ultra crunchy chicken! Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the marinade into the flour mixture then use your fingers to mix it in. The flour will form little clumps.

   When this sticks to the chicken, it fries up into ultra crunchy nubbly bits. This is what makes this chicken so crunchy! See my Fried Chicken recipe for musings and ravings about this method. Thanks Kenji!

6. Coat the chicken in the flour mixture just prior to frying. Don’t do this in advance and leave it lying around, the chicken will sweat and make the flour soggy.

7. Look at all those clumps! Express pass to crunchy town!

8. Fry in oil for 4 minutes or until golden and crunchy, then drain on paper towels.

   Cooking vessel & oil amount – You will need 2.5cm / 1″ of oil in whatever cooking vessel you use, so the chicken is elevated off the base and will fry evenly all the way around. A heavy based pot like a dutch oven is ideal for safety, even distribution of heat and also because it retains heat well.

   Oil temp – The oil temperature should be 180C/350F. If you don’t have a thermometer (I use a Thermapen) then test by throwing in a small cube of bread. At 180C/350F it should turn golden in 15 seconds. OR stick a bamboo chopstick in and touch the base of the pot – if bubbles immediately rise from floor of pot, oil is hot enough.

   Keeping cooked pieces warm – Because the thin pieces of chicken cook in just 4 minutes, you won’t need an oven to keep the cooked pieces warm. Batch 1 will still be hot when you finish batch 2. However if you are scaling up, keep cooked chicken warm in a 50C/125F pre-heated oven on a rack set over a tray (so the underside doesn’t go soggy).

   ⚠️ Do not touch the chicken for the first 90 seconds, to give the crust a chance to adhere.

Assembling the chicken burgers

1. Garlic mayo – Mix the mayonnaise with grated garlic. Do this at least 15 minutes ahead to give the flavours a chance to meld.

2. Spread the mayo on the lid and base of lightly toasted buns. You can toast in the oven, under a grill or just put the cut face down in a pan on the stove.

3. Assemble – Pile lettuce on the base, top with tomato if using, then chicken, gherkins then the lid.

4. Eating time! Sink your teeth into the burgers while hot and crunchy!

Love to know what you think if you try this! Hand on heart, this really is far superior to KFC burgers. I am not one to shy away from going public with Shameful Food I love (oh, I’ve been busted doing midnight kebab runs multiple times!). But KFC burgers is one thing you will never catch me eating!! – Nagi x

PS If you make a side of homemade fries to serve with these burgers, I’ll be impressed. And if you do a full-blown homemade KFC spread by adding Coleslaw plus Potato and Gravy, I’ll be seriously impressed!

Complete your Homemade KFC spread!

Perfect Crispy French fries

Coleslaw

KFC Potato and Gravy recipe

Fried Chicken

Watch how to make it

Print

Ultra Crunchy Fried Chicken Burger

Recipe video above. KFC, eat your heart out! Our Fried Chicken Burger is way crunchier than yours, the chicken is way juicier and it tastes way better! The trick is to mix a bit of marinade into the flour coating – this creates lumps that fries up into an awesome ultra crunchy crust. See my Fried Chicken recipe for ravings and musings about this method. (Thanks Kenji!)

Course Main

Cuisine Western

Keyword crunchy chicken burger, fried chicken burger, KFC burger

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Marinating 3 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 730cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Chicken choices:

• 2 x 250g/8oz chicken breast (I use this)
• 4 boneless thigh fillets

Marinade:

• 3/4 cup buttermilk (Note 1 for sub)
• 1 1/2 tsp cooking / kosher salt
• 1 large egg

Burgers:

• 4 soft buns , split and lightly toasted (mine are 10cm/4″)
• 2 – 3 cups iceberg lettuce , finely sliced (or other leafy greens of choice)
• 2 tomatoes , sliced (optional, sometimes I do)
• 2 gherkins / dill pickles , sliced on an angle

Garlic mayo:

• 2/3 cup mayonnaise , preferably whole egg
• 3/4 tsp garlic , finely grated (1 clove)

Crunchy coating:

• 3/4 cup flour , plain / all purpose
• 1/4 cup corn flour / cornstarch

Fried chicken seasoning:

• 1/4 tsp celery salt (or heaped 1/8 tsp celery seed)
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (inc to 1/2 tsp for spicy ZINGER burger!)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp black pepper

To fry:

• 3 cups vegetable oil (or canola or peanut) (2.5cm/1″ depth in cooking vessel)

Cups – Metric

Instructions

• Shortform recipe:
• Pound chicken to 1cm / 0.4" thickness, trim, marinade 3 – 24 hrs. Mix coating and seasoning, mix in 2 tbsp marinade. Coat chicken, fry at 180°C/350°F for 4 min (don't touch for first 90 sec). Assemble!
• Full instructions:
• Chicken – Cover the chicken with a freezer bag or plastic sheet and pound to 1cm / 0.4" even thickness. Trim to just a touch larger than the size of your bun. Save off-cuts for another use (stir fry – or Dozer, in my case!).
• Marinade – Whisk Marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken, toss. Marinate in the fridge for 3 hours minimum, to overnight (don't go beyond 24 hrs).
• Garlic mayo – Mix in a small bowl and refrigerate until required.
• Prepare crunchy coating – Mix flour, cornflour and Seasoning ingredients in a bowl. Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of the marinade, then use fingers to mix through to form lumps – when this sticks to the chicken, it fries up into awesome crunchy bits!!
• Heat oil in a large heavy based pot over medium high heat to 180°C/350°F (Note 2).
• Coat chicken – Pick up a piece of chicken and allow excess marinade to drip off. Press to coat in flour coating. Shake off excess, then fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden. DO NOT TOUCH for the first 90 seconds to allow the coating to adhere. I fry 2 at a time. Drain on paper towels, cook remaining chicken.
• Assemble – Smear garlic mayo on the top and bottom of the buns. Pile lettuce on the base, top with tomato if using. Then chicken, gherkins and put the lid on. Sink your teeth into it immediately and enjoy!

Notes

1. Buttermilk is the traditional marinating ingredient for Southern Fried Chicken. Find it in near milk in large grocery stores. Sub with 1/2 cup yogurt + 1/4 cup milk, it works nearly as well (yogurt is an excellent marinading ingredient). Next best sub: stir 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar into milk, leave 10 minutes. Will curdle. Use per recipe.

2. Frying vessel – I feel safe using a heavy cast iron pot. For most oil efficiency, use a wok – shape means you will use about 30% less oil with same surface area for frying. If you have a deep fryer, I salute you!

Oil temperature – use a thermometer. If you don’t have one, test by throwing in a small cube of bread, at 180C/350F it should turn golden in 15 seconds. OR stick a bamboo chopstick in and touch the base of the pot – if bubbles immediately rise from floor of pot, oil is hot enough.

3. Re-using oil – The oil gets a little too dirty with fried chicken, because of the heavy seasoning in the coating. You could re-use it once more for another batch of this recipe, but I wouldn’t use it for another recipe.

4. Leftover cooked chicken will keep for 3 days but, well, you know. Soggy.

Nutrition per burger. Estimate assuming 1 tablespoon of the oil is absorbed into the chicken coating and takes into account residual flour and marinade that is discarded.

Nutrition

Calories: 730cal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 22g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 1615mg | Potassium: 717mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 982IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 4mg

Life of Dozer

Explanation of his forlorn look: He’s not allowed in the kitchen when I deep fry. So he slunk off outside for a snooze. By the time he woke up and waddled back inside, the burgers were long gone and I was roasting vegetables. Explanation complete.

The post Henry’s Crispy Fried Chicken Burger appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

I know you know how to make a cheeseburger … but as it turns out, I have some tips you might find useful! From the best beef to the best bun to the best cheese, today’s burger recipe also comes with your choice of burger sauces: a tomato one or my quick creamy Special Burger Sauce. Plus, homemade fries!

The only questions left are really, single or double cheeseburger?? Stove or BBQ??

Cheeseburger recipe

Anybody who claims the sight of a big juicy cheeseburger doesn’t get their blood pumping is either made of stone or a vegetarian! 😂

And anybody reading this is neither of those things, right?? 😂 We are people who hold burgers like we are clutching onto dear life, like this! ⬇⬇⬇

And we are people who go gaga over sights like this (noting that in no way does the following represent reality because I mean, who cuts burgers with a knife??):

Pictures, done. On to business then – how to make them!

What you need for a great cheeseburger

Here is (in my humble opinion) what you need to make a great cheeseburger:

1. The beef: No need to get (too) snobby

My simple view: The better the beef, the better the flavour, but I would never turn my nose up at a burger made with everyday supermarket beef. Here’s my skinny on beef:

• For company: 50/50 brisket and chuck with 20% fat, ground to order by the butcher. Brisket brings really good beefy flavour, and chuck for texture.

• For the everyday: Standard beef mince from the grocery store still makes a great burger. Mince can be a mixture of any cuts and offcuts but is usually predominantly chuck. Fattier mince = juicy and more flavourful. Leaner mince = still fine but not as juicy. You pick (guess which camp both my feet are in! 😂)

• Single vs double cheeseburger: The decision is entirely up to you. I use 150g / 5 oz per patty for a 10cm / 4″ wide bun, so just double up if you want a double. Yes, a double is big and mighty and indulgent…. but it’s such a good treat!

2. The cheese: Processed for authenticity!

For the truly classic cheeseburger experience, we need processed cheese. Nothing oozes, stretches and runs the way proper, luridly orange processed American cheese does when it melts. Natural be damned – we’re in this for the nostalgia and the authenticity!

These days in Australia, there’s even cheese helpfully labelled “Burger Slices” so we can’t get it wrong!

That said, don’t let my loyalty to processed cheese stop you from using any melting cheese you want. Swiss, cheddar, tasty, colby, gruyere – or an even fancier cheese if you so desire / your wallet stretches that far!

3. The bun: Soft and white

Soft white buns, preferably with sesame seeds, are in my opinion the only way to go. Soft is essential so it becomes one with everything jammed inside. There is a time and place for crusty artisan breads, but now is not it!

There is also a time for wholemeal breads, seeded breads and olive studded breads – but again, now is not the time! 😂 (But really I jest – use whatever bread you want.)

As for size….

I always hunt down burger buns around 10cm / 4″ in diameter. Why? Because I like my patties to cover the bun from edge to edge, and it becomes a little more logistically challenging to make patties larger than 10cm when you factor in a 25% diameter shrinkage as they cook.

Nothing is more irritating than taking a giant bite of a burger only to end up with a mouthful of juicy air sandwiched between two pieces of bread.

So my rule of thumb is 10cm / 4″ of so. It’s a safe size, and also a practical size in that it’s a filling meal for one person. Even for someone with a hearty appetite such as myself.

4. The green stuff and pickled stuff

• Lettuce – Cos/romaine and shredded iceberg lettuce are about as classic as you can get with burgers. If you want to get gourmet with baby greens, rocket/arugula, spinach or even kale, go right ahead (I promise I’m not judging you!)

• Onion – Raw red onion rings are my onion of choice. I like the bite and freshness they bring as a foil to all the fatty beefiness of the burger. For those who find them too harsh, alternatives are to dice them then scatter just a bit on your burger, or cook ordinary (not red) onions instead.

• Tomato – As with the onion, tomato brings moisture and a touch of welcome freshness to this stack of goodness.

• Pickles (BIG!) – Opt for big gherkins rather than small ones, else you’ll end up with a burger scattered with dozens of tiny little gherkin rounds! And that ain’t cool.

5. The sauce

And last but not least, the sauces. You can absolutely stick to the tried-and-true ketchup / mustard script. But today, I’m also sharing two homemade burger sauces:

1. Special Burger Sauce – An orange-hued, mayonnaise-based sauce that’s a blatant copycat of a popular burger sauce sold at grocery stores; and

2. Tomato Burger Sauce – Essentially a quick tomato chutney. But it has a more savoury flavour which I think suits burgers better than traditional chutney which is traditionally quite sweet and flavoured with distracting things like ginger, chilli and cardamom.

More burger sauce options

• Ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce) – straight out of the bottle, just as it is!

• Mayonnaise – plain (the Special Burger Sauce is a flavoured version)

• Yellow mustard – I’m talking the bright yellow stuff, sometimes labelled “American mustard”. (Caution: Don’t accidentally get the bright yellow Hot English Mustard which is spicy!)

• Barbecue sauce – See my Barbecue Pork Ribs recipe for a classic homemade Barbecue Sauce recipe.

• Thousand island sauce – A creamy pink sauce made with mayonnaise and ketchup that’s popular with seafood (Aussie favourite prawn dipping sauce!). Recipe here.

OK! The ingredients done, let’s move on to the cook part!

How to make great cheeseburgers

If a BBQ isn’t an option, switch your range hood to max and cook on the stove in a heavy cast iron skillet. Give your non-stick pan the night off – it doesn’t cope well with high heat cooking!

1. The cheeseburger patty

1. Form patties – Separate the beef into 4 mounds, or 8 if making double cheeseburgers. Gently roll each mound into a ball (not firmly, we want tender patties not rock hard ones!) then press down into a patty that is slightly wider than the burger bun, to factor in cooking shrinkage.

   As noted above, I like using buns that are maximum 10 cm / 4″ wide so the patty is proportionally a good size and thickness. If your buns are much larger, I’d recommend using more beef else you’ll end up with wafer-thin patties, or patties that are way smaller than your buns!

2. Tip #1 – Dent your patty in the middle. Thinning the centre of the patty compensates for the tendency of the patty to dome up in the middle as it cooks. It also reduces the overall patty shrinkage during cooking. Doing this means there’s no need to squash the burger to keep it flat and even as it cooks (losing precious juices!) Use your fingers or the back of your hand to press a dent into the centre of the patty. A neat trick I picked up from Bobby Flay many years ago!

3. Photo 3: The dent – Here’s what it looks like. It doesn’t need to be even or deep, just a slight inwards curve, so the patty is shaped a bit like a red blood cell.

4. Tip #2 – Salt JUST before cooking. My second key tip is to only salt the patty just before cooking. If you salt your patty ahead of time and leave it sitting around, the cooked patty ends up much firmer. This is because the salt acts on the meat proteins and changes their chemistry. Go ahead and give it a go, if you want to see it for yourself! I salt mine while the skillet is pre-heating.

2. Cooking the patties

1. Cast iron skillet – Preheat oil in a heavy-based cast iron skillet over high heat until it is very, very hot. Why a cast-iron skillet? Because it’s made for high heat fast cooking so we can get a great caramelised dark brown crust without overcooking the inside. This burger patty cooks in 3 minutes flat!

   Don’t have a cast-iron skillet? You can use a non-stick frying pan but just heat the oil until hot, not smoking. Don’t cook it as aggressively as I do in the recipe video below (ie. very, very hot skillet) or you may damage the non-stick coating. You probably won’t get quite the same colour on the crust but avoid the temptation to cook for longer as you’ll end up with overcooked insides.

   BBQ/Grilling option – see box below for directions!

2. 3-minute cook – Place 2 or 4 patties in the skillet (depending how many fit) and cook the first side for 1 1/2 minutes, pressing down LIGHTLY with a spatula. Note the emphasis on “lightly”! Nobody likes dense, hard patties where all the juice has been squeezed out during the cooking phase!

3. Flip & cheese – Flip the burgers then immediately top with cheese and cook for another 1 1/2 minutes.

4. Melted! And look at that. A perfectly cooked patty and melted cheese draped over it. A flawless burger!

How to BBQ/Grill cheeseburgers

Better than cooking indoors! If your BBQ hot plate / grill is well-seasoned, you won’t need oil, especially given the beef patties are quite fatty too. If your BBQ isn’t well-seasoned, then brush lightly with canola or vegetable oil (or use a scrunched up paper or two).

Preheat your BBQ on high heat until you see wisps of smoke, ie. very hot. Then simply cook the patties per the recipe directions (1 1/2 minutes on each side). You can also toast the buns on the BBQ by placing the cut face down on the grills.

3. Assembling cheeseburgers

This is the order in which I like to build burgers because I think it’s the most structurally stable. Anybody who’s bitten into a giant burger only to have a slice of tomato jettisoned out the other end knows exactly what I’m talking about!

1. Toast the buns under the grill/broiler for a few minutes until light golden. I only do the cut face because I like to keep the round outside faces soft. Using your BBQ? Just pop them face down straight onto the grill.

2. Smear with sauce of choice. In the photo above I’m using my homemade tomato chutney burger sauce and in the video you’ll also see me using my creamy pink Special Burger Sauce. No need to choose – sometimes I use both. 🤷🏻‍♀️

3. Lettuce → tomato → patty – I put lettuce down first because it kind of “sticks” to the sauce followed by tomato then the patty (or patties!)

4. Gherkins → onion – Next, gherkins are scattered across the cheese (they kind of naturally adhere which is nice) followed by onion.

5. Sauce on lid – Finally I also usually smear the sauce on the lid though if I’m feeling extra saucy I’ll spoon additional sauce straight onto the burger stack instead or (gasp shock horror!) as well. 😇

6. Jam the lid on top then demolish your burger!

It’s your burger – you do you

I know this cheeseburger recipe contains clear statements regarding what I think makes a great cheeseburger. However, I don’t believe in burger dogma. I’ve always been a firm believer that you should never let anyone tell you what you should or should not put in your burger.

So really, make yours how you wish. Ignore all my tips, do what you want. And share your Great Burger tips in the comments below! – Nagi x

PS. If accompanying crispy French fries is on your list of “non-negotiables” for burger meal bliss, I wholeheartedly agree. My long-awaited French fries recipe has finally arrived! I promise you will love them. They are a game changer. 😇

Watch how to make it

PS. I filmed this during a time when there were national supply issues with some lettuces, so I had to resort to butter lettuce. Nobody panic, I survived.

Also – Crispy French Fries recipe has been published! Make it!

Print

Cheeseburgers (double or single)

Recipe video above. This cheeseburger recipe assumes your bun is 10cm/4" wide. If it's larger, you may want to scale up the beef so you don't end up with wafer-thin patties or a burger patty that's much smaller than your bun. Nobody likes biting into bread with no beef!!

Slather with sauce of choice though for a really great burger experience, try my Special Burger Sauce (quick, no cook) or my Tomato Chutney for Burgers.

Course BBQ/Grilling, Mains

Cuisine Western

Keyword cheeseburger, Hamburger recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Resting 3 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 755cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Single Cheeseburgers:

• 600 g / 1.2 lb beef mince (ground beef) , at least 20% fat (Note 1 for quality)

Mighty Double Cheeseburgers:

• 1.2 kg / 2.4 lb beef mince (ground beef) , at least 20% fat (Note 1 for quality)

Cooking:

• 1/8 tsp each salt and pepper PER burger
• 2 – 3 tbsp canola oil

Everything else you need:

• 4 soft burger buns or rolls , around 10cm/4″ wide (Note 2)
• 4 – 8 slices burger cheese (American) or other cheese or choice (Note 3)
• 8 cos/romaine lettuce leaves , torn to size (or shredded iceberg)
• 2 large tomatoes , cut into eight 7mm/ 1/4" slices
• 1 red onion , finely sliced into rings (Note 4)
• 2 large gherkins , finely sliced (Note 5)

Sauce options:

• Special Burger Sauce (creamy orangey/pink one, quick no cook)
• Tomato chutney for burgers
• Ketchup
• Mustard

On the side:

• French fries (and it’s epic!)

Instructions

• Patties: Separate the beef into 4 equal portions, or 8 if making double cheeseburgers (do it!). Gently roll each portion into balls then press down into round patties that are slightly larger than your bun to allow for shrinkage (12 cm / 4.7" wide, 1 cm / 0.4" thick for a 10cm / 4" burger bun).
• Prepare: Get all your burger bits and pieces out and ready to use. Don't salt your beef until just before cooking (it toughens the meat).
• Toast buns: Preheat the grill to high. Place the bread cut face up on a tray and toast for 3 to 5 minutes until light golden. (If using BBQ, place cut face down on the grill). Set aside.
• Dent patty: Sprinkle one side of patties with half the salt and pepper. Flip, then press a dent into the middle of each patty. (Prevents patties doming when cooking and reduces shrinkage!). Sprinkle this dented side with the remaining salt and pepper.

Stove:

• Preheat 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot – smoking hot! (Note 6)
• Cook: Cook 2 to 4 patties (whatever fits in the pan) for 1 1/2 minutes. Press down lightly with a spatula (not too hard else the meat juices squeeze out!). Flip, then immediately top with a slice of cheese. Cook for another 1 1/2 minutes (cheese will melt by itself!) then transfer burgers to a tray to rest for 3 minutes.

BBQ/Grilling:

• Preheat: If your BBQ hot plate/grill is well seasoned (ie oiled), there is no need to oil before cooking. If not, lightly brush with vegetable or canola oil (or use scrunched up paper towel). Then preheat your BBQ on high until very hot and you see wisps of smoke.
• Cook the burgers per above directions for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, topping with cheese as soon as you flip, then resting for 3 minutes. (You can also toast the buns on the grill (face down on the grills, 2 – 3 minutes.)

Assemble:

• Slather the base of the bun with your sauce of choice. My order of assembly: lettuce, tomato, burger (x 2 for double!), gherkins, onion, sauce on bun lid, jam it on top of the stack.
• DEVOUR with French Fries on the side.

Notes

Batch cooking: If you are making a big batch, keep buns and cooked patties warm in a 50°C/122°F oven while you continue cooking.

1. Beef quality:

• My favourite blend for flavour and juiciness – 50/50 brisket and chuck, ground to order from the butcher, with 20% fat.
• Supermarket mince – Nobody in my circles turns their nose up at burgers made with supermarket beef mince. The trick is to follow my specific direction to salt it just before cooking as the patty is far more tender once cooked. And also, lean = less flavour and less juicy (fat is where beef flavour is).

2. Burger buns – See intro for commentary. Brioche buns are premium, else any soft white buns that aren’t too gigantic (why-oh-why are Aussie hamburger buns so BIG?? So hard to cook hamburger patties that size!). Doesn’t have to be called hamburger buns, you can just get soft white rolls (best to skip crusty/seedy/wholemeal/fancy stuff).

3. Cheese – for a true cheeseburger experience, opt for the processed cheese! Sold in Australian grocery stores helpfully labelled “burger cheese”, see in post for photo.

4. Onion – If you’re not a fan of raw onion (I personally like how it breaks up the richness of the burger), you can either dice then scatter over the sauce on the base of the bun (like McDonald’s does) or cook it in a little oil with a pinch of salt and pepper (I’d use brown/yellow onions instead).

5. Gherkins – large is just more practical so you only need a few slices to cover the burger. If you only have the small ones on hand, slice them lengthwise rather than into rounds

6. Pan – If you’ve only got a non stick pan, that’s fine but just don’t cook your burger as aggressively as I do in a smoking hot skillet else you will destroy your non stick coating. You won’t get quite the same charring but it will still be delicious!

7. Nutrition – Per burger, counting burgers, toppings and buns only. Condiments including Special Sauce not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 755cal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 51g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 146mg | Sodium: 750mg | Potassium: 727mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1166IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 533mg | Iron: 5mg

Life of Dozer

Dear Dozer fans: Don’t miss Dozer’s cameo in today’s recipe video. Don’t worry about the recipe, just skip straight to 1 minutes 55 seconds to see Dozer.😂

And here he is, looking mighty unimpressed at the sad McDonald’s Big Mac I got for study purposes to compare Maccas’ special sauce to my recipe. (Spoiler: no comparison!!!)

The post Cheeseburger – double or single appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

A great homemade burger sauce is an easy win to shift a big juicy burger from yum territory to holy-crapola-this-is-amazing land! Besides, when a burger sauce recipe is this easy and so much better, nobody has an excuse to resort to those squeezy bottles of overly-sweet sauce sold at grocery stores…..

I have two go-to burger sauce recipes: a tomato chutney-like one (25 minutes on the stove) and this creamy one (a quick 20 second mix job). You probably figured why the latter is especially popular in my circles. 😂

Copycat Heinz Secret Burger Sauce

This burger sauce is a copycat of Heinz Secret Burger Sauce. Except theirs includes acidity regulators (260, 330), stabilisers (412, 415), and preservatives (202, 224), to name a few of the more tantalising ingredients on the label.

This burger sauce recipe does not.

Even using store-bought mayonnaise, which I have done so here, this sauce still leaves the Heinz stuff in the dust! (I really need to pop a mayo recipe on my website, don’t I??!)

Sauce talk: Different sauces for burgers

With the rise of gourmet burgers, you see all sorts of condiments, sauces and relishes on hamburgers these days! But here’s a core list of my favourite burger sauces I use:

• Ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce) – Straight out of the bottle, just as it is!

• Mayonnaise – Plain, or flavoured like this Special Burger Sauce recipe (see below).

• Yellow mustard – I’m talking the garish yellow stuff, sometimes labelled “American mustard”. (Caution: Don’t accidentally use the other bright yellow mustard, Hot English Mustard, which is spicy!)

• Creamy burger sauce (this recipe) – A mayonnaise-based savoury burger sauce, usually with little bits of gherkins in it.

• Tomato burger sauce (chutney/relish, recipe here) – A slightly chunky style sauce that’s similar to tomato chutney except not as sweet and with less earthy spices like cardamom, ginger etc.

• Thousand Island sauce – A creamy pink sauce made with a mix of mayonnaise and ketchup that’s popular with seafood (Aussies’ favourite prawn dipping sauce!) Recipe here.

• Barbecue sauce – See my Barbecue Pork Ribs recipe for a classic homemade Barbecue Sauce recipe.

Ingredients in homemade burger sauce

Here’s what you need to make this burger sauce.

• Sweet gherkins – These are gherkins that are (as the name may give away!) sweet as well as tangy rather than just tangy. Substituting with any gherkin / pickled cucumber will work fine here, but one that leans sweet is best if you want to replicate the store bought burger sauces.

• Juice from gherkin jar – We to use some of the pickling juices for tang and flavour in our sauce. A neat trick!

• Mayonnaise – I like using whole egg mayonnaise for a smoother, more rounded flavour. Hellmans and S&W are two popular brands here in Australia. Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise is extra-creamy and also great, albeit more expensive. Substitute with any ordinary mayonnaise, but the flavour may be slightly sharper and sweeter.

• American yellow mustard – We’re after that artificially bright yellow stuff here which adds flavour and colour warmth to the sauce. Not to be confused with hot English mustard which is a similar colour but very spicy! Substitute with any smooth mustard, like Dijon.

• White wine vinegar – Brings the main sharpness to the sauce. Substitute with apple cider vinegar. If you’ve only got ordinary white vinegar, reduce by about 1/3.

• White sugar – We need a little sweetness to balance the sauce. I just use white but brown will work fine too.

• Spices – Paprika (which makes the sauce a bit pinky), onion powder and garlic granules (substitute with garlic powder). Onion and garlic powder can be substituted with more of the other.

How to make special burger sauce

It’s very technical … dump and mix. 😂 We need more recipes like this!!!

Using the burger sauce – double up!

I was born with the instinct to double up – sauce on the bottom lid and smeared on the top lid or drizzled over the burger patty stack piled up in the bun. I can’t imagine just smearing it on the lid or base of the bun – am I wrong??

I know you know how to mix together a bunch of ingredients but I made a quick little how-to video for you anyway. Mainly as an excuse to show off how good hamburgers are with homemade sauce.

I hope you give this a go one day! Let me know in the comments below if you do. – Nagi x

PS. And if you want a Cheeseburger to slather this on, just head right here.

Watch how to make it

Print

Special Burger Sauce

Recipe video above. A great homemade burger sauce is an easy win to elevate a big juicy hamburger from yum to holy crapola, this is so good!!! Dead easy and so much better than store bought. Slather on your favourite burger (here are all my Burger recipes) or try the Cheeseburger recipe pictured in post!

Want a tomato one? Try this Tomato Chutney for Burgers.

Makes just over 3/4 cup, enough for 4 – 5 burgers.

Course Sauce

Cuisine Western

Keyword burger sauce, hamburger sauce

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 4 – 5 burgers

Calories 220cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole egg mayonnaise (Note 1)
• 1 tbsp American yellow mustard (Note 2)
• 2 tbsp sweet gherkins finely chopped (Note 3)
• 2 tsp gherkin juice (from the pickle jar) (Note 4)
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar (Note 5)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic granules (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Cups – Metric

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or jug and stir until smooth.
• Use for burgers – browse my Burger collection or try the latest and greatest Cheeseburger! I generously slather on the base bun as well as the lid (or drizzle the stack).

Notes

1. Mayo – whole egg has a smoother, more rounded flavour than non-whole-egg mayo. I like Hellmans and S&W. Ordinary mayo works fine too, kewpie is also great!

2. Mustard – not to be confused with hot English mustard which is the same colour but very, very spicy! Sub with any other smooth mustard.

3. Sweet gherkins are gherkins with a touch more sugar. Ordinary gherkins will work fine too.

4. Pickle juice – This is the juices from the pickle jar.

5. Vinegar – apple cider vinegar is the best substitute, otherwise any other clear vinegar. If using ordinary distilled white vinegar reduce by a touch (it’s a bit sharper).

6. Storage – Should keep for the shelf life of the mayonnaise. 

7. Nutrition per serving assuming 5 servings.

Nutrition

Calories: 220cal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 251mg | Potassium: 27mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 165IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg

Life of Dozer

A typical early evening stroll – he disappears off into the distance then I have to use the maximum zoom on my phone to locate him (yup, he’s peeing). 😂

The post Special Burger Sauce appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

To accompany today’s cheeseburger recipe, here’s a tomato chutney designed especially to be a burger sauce. Having said that, I’ve been using it as an all-rounder condiment for everything from sandwiches to scrambled eggs, pork chops to chargrilled skirt steak! I especially like that it’s not as sweet as traditional tomato chutney.

Need a fast sauce for your hamburger? Try my Special Burger Sauce!

Tomato chutney burger sauce

This is a tomato burger sauce which is pretty much a tomato chutney. The main differences being that traditional tomato chutney is usually sweeter, and typically includes a good amount of onion plus spices like ginger, chilli and sometimes cardamom. Not really natural pairings with beefy burgers!

Instead, I’ve gone with more savoury flavourings such as Worcestershire sauce, paprika, onion and garlic powder.

Different in flavouring it may be, but this burger sauce is just as versatile as traditional tomato chutney. See the section below for suggestions for use!

Best sauce for burgers

With the rise of gourmet burgers, you see all sorts of sauces and relishes on hamburgers these days! But here’s a core list of burger sauces I use:

• Ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce) – straight out of the bottle, just as it is!

• Mayonnaise – plain, or flavoured like this Special Burger Sauce recipe.

• Yellow mustard – I’m talking the bright yellow stuff, sometimes labelled “American mustard”. (Caution: Don’t accidentally get the bright yellow Hot English Mustard which is spicy!)

• Creamy burger sauce (recipe here) – A mayonnaise based savoury burger sauce, usually with little bits of gherkins in it.

• Tomato burger sauce (chutney/relish, this recipe) – A slightly chunky style sauce that’s similar to tomato chutney except not as sweet and less earthy spices like cardamom, ginger etc.

• Thousand island sauce – A creamy pink sauce made with mayonnaise and ketchup that’s popular with seafood (Aussie favourite prawn dipping sauce!). Recipe here.

• Barbecue sauce – See my Barbecue Pork Ribs recipe for a classic homemade Barbecue Sauce recipe.

What goes in tomato chutney sauce for burgers

Here’s what you need for this tomato chutney sauce for burgers:

• Canned tomato – I like to use crushed as I think it’s got the best texture for the intended use. But diced will work too, though the sauce will look a little chunkier.

• Worcestershire sauce – A good hit of savoury flavour.

• Brown sugar – For sweetness, though you’ll find that this sauce is much less sweet than typical tomato chutney.

• Apple cider vinegar – This brings the tang to this sauce which works well together with all the rich juicy meatiness and cheesiness in burgers.

• Spices – These are the seasonings for this tomato burger sauce. We can be a bit flexible here:

  • Garlic powder – substitute with 1/2 garlic clove, finely minced, or more onion powder

  • Onion powder – substitute with more garlic powder

  • Smoked paprika – substitute with ordinary paprika

  • Mustard powder – use ordinary mustard spread instead (not a spicy one like Hot English Mustard, unless you’re intentionally trying to make it spicy!)

  • Celery salt – substitute with plain salt

How to make tomato burger sauce

Nice and easy – just place everything in a saucepan, stir to combine then simmer for 25 minutes on medium low until it reduces down enough so you can draw a path across the base of the saucepan.

Lovely concentrated tomato flavour going on here! Just what we want.

Batch size and storing

This recipe makes around 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) which is enough for 5 to 6 burgers. Not a big batch recipe like you’d ordinarily do for chutneys as I am sharing this recipe to be the sauce for Cheeseburgers which I also published today.

Storing – Store in sterilised jars for up to 6 weeks, or 1 week in normal containers, or 3 months in the freezer.

Ways to use this tomato chutney

As I mentioned at the beginning – and in fact, in the title (!) – this is a tomato chutney that was created specifically to be a sauce for slathering onto juicy burgers. Specifically, the big, juicy Cheeseburgers I also published today though you could also have a leisurely browse through my burger collection!

Having said that, as I also mentioned at the start, I’ve really enjoyed using this as a condiment much like any tomato chutney. In fact, possibly more because it’s got a fraction of the sweetness of traditional tomato chutney!

Here are the other ways to use this:

• In sandwiches (exceptional with Meatloaf sandwiches!)

• Dipping sauce – for things like beer battered fish, crumbed chicken tenders, beef kabobs

• Dolloping on – pretty much any roast, egg white or normal omelettes, plain poached or baked chicken breast, grilled sausages (yes!), a simple piece of pan fried fish or grilled steak (try skirt steak!).

• Crostini or any toasted bread – Either smear with something like ricotta then dollop over this tomato chutney, or smear with this chutney then scatter over crumbled marinated feta or goats cheese. YUM.

And that’s just a front of mind brain dump. Tell me in the comments below all the other possibilities I haven’t mentioned! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

It’s not a hard recipe, but I just wanted an excuse to show you how amazing a burger is with this tomato chutney!!

Print

Quick tomato chutney sauce for burgers

Recipe video above. We can do better than ketchup! This is essentially a tomato chutney but far less sweet and doesn't include ginger, chilli or other spices you often find in chutney (which I didn't want for a burger sauce). Use for your burger of choice and anything you'd ordinarily dollop/smear chutney on – see in post for extensive suggestion.

Makes 1 1/2 cups, enough to generously slather onto 5 to 6 burgers (But I'm quite greedy).

Course Sauce

Cuisine Western

Keyword sauce for burgers, tomato chutney, tomato relish

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Calories 65cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 800 g / 28 oz canned tomato , crushed or diced
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Mix all the ingredients in a medium saucepan.
• Simmer Bring to a simmer over medium heat then lower heat to medium low so it's simmering gently.
• Cook for 25 minutes, stirring regularly, until it reduces down and is thick enough so you can draw a path across the base of the saucepan (see video or step photos).
• Cool & slather: Transfer into a bowl. For use on burgers, cool then slather. Browse my Burger collection for options! If using to dollop or dip for any number of the other suggested uses in the post, use warm or cooled!

Notes

Substitutions (it’s a forgiving recipe):

• Brown sugar -> white sugar
• Garlic powder -> 1/2 garlic clove finely minced or more onion powder
• Onion powder -> more garlic powder
• Smoked paprika -> ordinary paprika
• Mustard powder -> 1/2 tsp any smooth mustard (perhaps not hot English mustard though!)
• Celery salt -> ordinary salt

Leftovers will keep for 6 weeks in sterilised jars, a week in the fridge in ordinary containers, or 3 months in the freezer.

Nutrition assuming 5 servings.

Nutrition

Calories: 65cal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 506mg | Potassium: 435mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 330IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 2mg

Life of Dozer

Yesterday – early evening stroll on the golf course. Shocked he didn’t roll in duck poo which is his usual MO.

The post Quick tomato chutney burger sauce appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.