The Best Smash Burger Recipe Ever
Published May 25, 2022. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This smash burger recipe is loaded up with my secret meat blend and is seared to perfection with melted American cheese, special sauce, and toppings on a toasted bun. Once you try it, this will hands down be your new favorite burger recipe.
Whenever I cook meat, I want it to be as flavorful as humanely possible. If you are looking for some delicious new beef recipes, then check out my Birria Tacos or Chicken Fried Steak.
Smash Burger
The smash burger is a burger patty that is created by a ball of seasoned ground beef being smashed down on a griddle using a press that helps compress and flavor and cook faster. It is then served on a toasted bun with sauce, tomato, onion, pickles, and lettuce. It is a delicious burger, and it cooks in way less time than a traditional burger.
While most people associate this with the Smash Burger restaurant, it originated in Ashland, Kentucky, at the Dairy Cherry Burger Shop by a man named Bill Cullerton. He created it by smashing burgers with a no 10 can of beans and discovered that it brought out a lot of flavors and cooked very quickly. It has become more popularized in the last 10 to 15 years across restaurants in the United States.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Burger – Use 80/20 fat to lean ration ground sirloin beef.
- Seasonings – I like to use a combination of salt, pepper, paprika, Worcestershire, and Tabasco sauce. In addition, finely minced bacon makes it into my best smash burger recipe.
- Cheese – American cheese is used for the smash burger.
- Buns – Classically, potato buns are used, but I prefer brioche buns.
- Lettuce – Traditionally, iceberg lettuce would be used, but green leaf lettuce is much more flavor green to place on the burger.
- Tomatoes – I prefer the Roma tomato as it is great in the summer and decent all year long. However, in peak season and fresh tomatoes will work.
- Pickles – Any good dill pickle will work.
- Onions – I like red onions on burgers, but you can use sweet or yellow onions.
- Sauce – The classic sauce combines mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and relish, but I believe dijonnaise brings out the most flavor in the smash burger.
How to Make the Best Smash Burger
Use the easy-to-follow instructions and images to make this delicious smash burger recipe:
Prepare the tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, and onions, and set them aside.
Combine the meat with bacon and seasonings until mixed together.
Form 8 equal-sized tight meatballs and place them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill.
Next, add a small amount of oil to a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium to medium-high heat and add a meatball and immediately press smash it down until it is about a ¼” to a ½” thick.
Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the juices start to form on top of the burger patty, and then flip it over.
Immediately add on the cheese and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Add the buttered buns and toast with the cheeseburger for 30 to 45 seconds or until toasted.
Assemble the burger by layering it with a bottom toasted bun, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, cheeseburger patties, dijonnaise, and top bun, and serve.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: These are meant to be eaten as soon as they are done cooking. You can keep them warm for up to 15 minutes in the oven on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper at 165°.
How to Store: Cover and keep them in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. You can freeze these if they do not yet have cheese covered for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add the burgers to a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper and heat in the oven at 350° for 4 to 6 minutes or until warm.
Chef Notes + Tips
- If you do not like bacon, feel free not to add it to the burger mix.
- You can use any type of bun that suits your taste best.
- If you do not have a cast-iron skillet or griddle, you can use a non-stick pan.
- For options to smash the burger, you can achieve it by pressing it down with a spatula, parchment paper, or a burger press. See video.
- I like to toast the buns on the griddle as soon as I flip the burgers and add the cheese. You can use melted butter to help toast or just the rendered meat fat in the pan or griddle.
More Beef Recipes
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Video
The Best Smash Burger Recipe Ever
Ingredients
- 2 pounds 80/20 ground beef
- 4 finely minced strips of bacon
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- dash of Tabasco sauce
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 8 American cheese slices
- 4 leaves of green leaf lettuce
- 2 thinly sliced Roma tomatoes
- 1 peeled and thinly sliced red onion
- 2 thinly sliced dill pickles
- 4 toasted brioche burger buns
- dijonnaise sauce
Instructions
- In a large bowl thoroughly mix the beef, bacon, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, paprika, and Tabasco sauce.
- Create 8 equal size meat balls and place them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and quickly place in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Preheat a cast iron pan or griddle to medium to medium-high heat and add on the oil.
- Add the burger meat balls to the hot surface and immediately press down using a burger press and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until juices start to appear on the top of the uncooked side of the burger. See video.
- Flip the burger over and immediately add on the cheese and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until cooked through and the cheese is melted.
- To assemble: Layer with bottom toasted bun, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, cheeseburger patties, dijonnaise, and top bun, and serve.
The best burger I have ever made!
Fantastic!
Seems simple, but the right combination with the right flavors, this is over the top! I’ve done them about 4-5 times now.
I like to grind my own burger with my Kitchenaid mixer and grinder attachment. A food processor will work pretty well too. I do 1/2 sirloin and 1/2 chuck and add a couple slices of bacon from the butcher counter at my grocer’s.
Don’t skip the dijonnaise. That little bit of lemon does wonders.
I assemble as instructed. I did caramelize the onions last time. Buy the softest buns you can find!
I weigh 3 ounce patties and make double burgers, which are large, and messy, and fabulous! Thank you Billy!
My pleasure!
Best Recipe ,Chef Billy! The most fun was putting on the toppings my family wished. And, wow, we all loved it’s taste!!
These are the best burgers I have ever had! Thanks for the perfect recipe!!
This is the best burger!!!!
Yes
The Best! Make these all the time !
My new favorite burger 🍔
Thanks for giving it a shot!!
This was easy and so tasty. I would never have known there was bacon in the meat, It was extremely moist and tasty. Cooked up faster than going through a drive thru, Great recipe,
These were so yummy!
excellent!
Outstanding recipe!
This really is the best smashburger ever!
Amazing! We love this recipe and these will become a regular in our house. Thanks for sharing.
My new favorite way to cook burgers! My hubs and I both love it. <3
Mouthwatering deliciousness!!
This burger was over the top delish! Love the bacon in with the burger mix.
This recipe elevates a classic burger to the next level… Our mouths were salivating just watching the video, then came the real deal… WOW… only thing we did different was use “Chaffles” for the toasted buns since we are doing some sort of a Keto diet…. These made you forget you were even on a diet… Thanks Billy
my pleasure!
How would you cook these outside on a charcoal grill?
You couldn’t unless pre-smashed.
This may be a really dumb question, but are you supposed to cook the bacon before adding to the beef or add it raw?
no
I have made these on my outdoor griddle multiple times and is simply perfect. I also find the brioche buns DO add that perfect sweetness to the flavor profile. Highly recommend, thanks Billy!
excellent!
Very good!!
many thanks!
Amazing recipe my family loved them
excellent!
Delish
so good!!
Amazing!! Thank you for sharing!
My pleasure!
Billies smash burger recipie is the bomb. I will ussually double the recipie and freeze them in balls for later. Works great.
many thanks!
Simple instructions and Spectacular results. Made them 3 times now.
Amazing!
Delicious!!!
awesome
Best burger I have ever made! Fantastic recipe and so many compliments from my family. Planning to keep this one in the arsenal for future family get togethers!
Thank you!
Made these Smash Burgers last night for my husband and he loved it!
Awesome!
Truly is the best burger I’ve ever made. Thanks!!!
many thanks!
These were amazing! Thanks for sharing this recipe I will definitely try them again!
excellent!
The best burger I’ve ever made! Delicious and juicy, full of flavor. And EASY! Can’t wait to make more!
fantastic
This is now a staple in our home. Everybody loves them EVERY TIME!! Every detail adds to why these cheeseburgers are the best. Just so good.
thank you so kindly!!
These burgers are so flavorful and moist.
Perfect!
Absolutely the best burger I’ve made or eaten.
Terrific.
Thank you
Blew everyone away with how good it taste! Don’t think I’ll find a better burger recipe.
That’s awesome!
Yum, was fabulous and easy!
Great!
This smash burger is a family favorite. We love it! It’s a weekly dinner in our family!
Amazing!
I made this for my husband, a friend and myself and everyone agreed it was the best burger any of us had ever had. So delicious, moist and bursting with flavor. This is now my go to homemade burger
That’s awesome. thanks for giving it a shot!!
Ok I thought the cheeseburger was the best, you have outdone yourself on this one! Delish..
Awesome!
I’ve made the smash burger a few times now and it’s absolutely yummy. I’ve also made it with blue cheese and it brings it to another level.
Thanks for giving it a shot!!
Terrific. Best homemade burger I’ve made in a long time
I’ve made this delicious burger many times. It’s my go to on a weeknight. My kids and I prefer it to a restaurant burger.
Thanks Chef Parisi!
Easy and tasty. I’ve made a couple different recipes and this isn’t anything difficult but I liked the seasonings. I always put more in than it says and I did that here too. I’m in usually 25% more than what something says. Except for cinnamon.
Thanks for the recipe Chef!
This was awesome! I’ve made burgers with moose for years and it can be dry. The bacon was just what it needed and the technique was perfect. Thank you!