Juicy, flavorful, and perfect for the grill or stovetop this is the best burger recipe you’ll ever try. Ready in just 20 minutes, this simple recipe is a must for your next summer cookout.

Nothing beats a mouthwatering, juicy burger. Whether you want to make it on the grill or cook it on the stovetop, everyone needs a great hamburger recipe in their repertoire and this recipe fits the bill.

Simplicity reigns when making any burger, though. Nothing to fuss over, not a ton of ingredients, just enough to add the perfect addition to the rich, meaty taste of a hamburger.

Whether you add cheese, eat it with lettuce, portabella, or a brioche bun the star is the meat itself. Full of flavor, simplistic, juicy, and delicious. This is by far the best hamburger recipe you will ever taste.

Best Hamburger Recipe

What is the secret to a good burger? Simplicity.

While I’ve found many recipes that call for crackers, milk, and eggs, you won’t find any of that here. To me, that’s a meatloaf recipe that you’re grilling instead of baking.

Keeping those ingredients where they belong and making a simple burger with just a handful of seasonings and some butter for added juciness is going to result in the best burger you’ve ever tasted.

Besides, taste is subjective, and adding too many things to quality beef isn’t going to help the cause. Often it will take away from that rich beefy taste if you’re not careful.

Ingredients for the Best Burger Recipe

Just a few simple ingredients and you’ll have the best homemade burgers you’ve ever tried. You can find measurements and full directions in the recipe card below.

Ground Chuck. 80 percent lean ground beef is best so look for 80 lean/20 fat ratio for juicy burgers.

Butter. Butter is the secret ingredient to a delicious, flavorful, juicy burger. Freeze it, then grate it into the ground beef. This is the only thing you’ll want to mix into the meat before the hamburger patties are formed.

Salt. I prefer coarse sea salt or kosher salt for this recipe. You don’t mix it in, just generously shake it onto the surface of the patties.

Pepper. Freshly ground black pepper for the most flavor.

Garlic powder. This helps bring out the delicious beef flavor.

How to Make the Best Burger Recipe

It only takes a few minutes to transform ground beef into the best burger you’ve ever tried. Not a ton of fuss and no milk or eggs.

Place the ground meat in a large bowl, put the frozen grated butter in, and mix with your hands until everything is combined.

Push down the mixture in the bowl and use a knife to divide the meat mixture into 6 even pieces. These will make your patties.

How to Make the Perfect Burger

Making the patty is such an important step! If you don’t do it quite right they take forever to cook, fall apart, or are too small… and no one likes to eat just the bun the first bite!

One section at a time, grab a section of the divided meat and form into patties roughly 6″ wide. This will allow for shrinking while cooking, maintaining a bun-sized burger when finished.

Your meat should be about one inch thick so it cooks all the way through quickly, but don’t make it much thinner or it begins to fall apart as soon as you try to flip it.

The diameter of your meat is going to shrink as it cooks, so you need to keep this in mind while forming your patties. You’ll want to make the patty roughly 6″ wide to allow for the shrinking so it will be bun-sized when finished.

Thick patties will result in a slow cooking process, and if too thin they’re prone to falling apart. You want something roughly an inch thick so it cooks all the way through quickly, but not so thin it begins falling apart as soon as you try to flip it.

Once you’ve formed the patties, and using the back side of a tablespoon, press an indentation in the center of each patty. This will prevent the burgers from puffing up while cooking.

After forming the patties, season both sides generously with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

How to Grill The Best Burgers

1. Preheat the grill to medium heat. Around 350°F to 400°F and make sure you clean off the grates.
2. Place hamburger patties directly on the preheated grill and cook for 3 minutes. Flip the burgers over and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
3. Brush the top of the beef patties with softened butter and add cheese at the last minute of cooking, if desired. Burgers are finished when a digital thermometer inserted into the center reads 160°F.
4. Place patties on a warm plate to rest. Reduce heat on the grill, lightly butter buns, and toast on the grill for 1-2 minutes.
5. Serve hot patties on toasted buns with desired toppings.

How to Cook the Perfect Burger on Stove Top

1. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and coat with butter.
2. Place patties directly on the heated pan and cook for 3 minutes on the first side. Flip the burgers over and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
3. Add a slice of cheese at the last minute of cooking, if desired. Burgers are finished when the internal temperature reaches 160°F.
4. Place the burgers on a warm plate to rest. Reduce heat in skillet, lightly butter brioche buns, place in skillet, and cook 1-2 minutes until lightly toasted.
5. Serve hot hamburgers on toasted buns with your favorite toppings.

Favorite Toppings for The Best Burger Recipe

BBQ sauce is probably my favorite. A little melty cheese, some homemade bbq sauce, red onions, all piled up on a brioche bun is the best way to eat a burger, in my opinion, but of course there are other ways.

• Provolone cheese
• American cheese
• Swiss cheese
• Mushroom
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Carmelized Onions
• Bacon
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Mayo
• Steak Sauce

Regardless of what you choose, served with a basket of homemade oven baked french fries and you have yourself a great, easy, weeknight dinner or a great cookout recipe for all your summer grilling.

Tips for the Perfect Burger

The first tip for a great burger is to make sure you’re using quality beef. If you can get locally grown, grass-fed, grass-finished ground beef is going to be your best bet. Nothing compares to the flavor of locally grown beef.

Another is heat. The right temperature is going to be your best friend when cooking the best hamburger patty.

For best results make sure the meat has direct contact with the cooking surface is essential. When using the grill, do not use foil. And if making stovetop burgers, a cast iron skillet is going to help retain heat the best.

Adding butter adds delicious depth to the flavor, but it also keeps the meat nice and juicy.

Season generously, but do so just before the meat hits the heat. Salt, especially, dissolves relatively quickly so if you put it on long before you put the meat on the grill, it’s not going to add near as much flavor and it will create dry burgers.

The last tip is less is more when it comes to flipping. For so long I was always afraid if I didn’t flip the burger patty multiple times when cooking them to ensure even cooking. But for the best burger with the least amount of falling apart, you should really only flip the meat once.

How to Store the Best Burger

To Refrigerate: Wrap the burgers tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for up to four days.

To Freeze: Cooked burgers freeze really well. Wrap the hamburger patties tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil after they have cooled to room temperature. Place them, wrapped, in an airtight container and freeze for up to four months.

To reheat: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight if frozen. Preheat oven, grill, or cast iron skillet to around 350°F, unwrap the burgers, and cook until they reach an internal temperature of 165°F.

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If you try the best burger recipe I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below and be sure to give me a five-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ recipe rating on the recipe card! Feel free to follow me on Pinterest and Facebook for more delicious recipe inspiration.