Adventures in Burgers: Making Burgers with Flair

Dennis Weaver at The Prepared Pantry

For years, we thought burgers were boring. We would go to a cookout or party—it was always the same: dry burgers charcoaled until they were almost crispy then slapped on a bun with mayo, lettuce, and tomato. They don’t have to be that way. There is a secret and for us it was a great discovery in burgers: It’s what you put in the burgers that count more than what you put on the burgers.

Now don’t get us wrong; we love to load up burgers with guacamole, roasted peppers, bacon, and such. But that’s topping the meat. Adding goodies to the meat makes the meat flavorful. We especially like to mix sauces—like salsa or Asian sauces--with the meat but chopping those roasted peppers or snipping that cooked bacon and adding it the meat before forming patties is great too. Usually we do both: add a sauce and other ingredients.

Stuffed burgers can be done in two ways. One is by forming two thin patties, loading cheese or other goodies between the patties, and then pressing the edges together to seal the ingredients into the patty. This is easiest to do with a hamburger press. (You can buy one for around five dollars at The Prepared Pantry.) In fact, it’s pretty hard to form patties thin enough and uniform enough without a press. And by the way, this is the best way to make a cheeseburger: the cheese stays melted and doesn’t drip down into the grill.

The other way to stuff burgers is to gently toss the goodies with ground meat, mixing the ingredients throughout the ground meat before forming the patties. This is an absolutely dynamite way of making burgers—no more boring burgers. Every bite is seasoned. You can use any sauces you like but we’ve gone nuts over Asian sauces. Not only can you make some intriguing burgers but since they are designed for stir fires, they are concentrated enough to give some real flavor to the burger.

We’ll get you started with a couple recipes—one stuffed with salsa and other goodies and a Thai burger made with an Asian sauce and chopped peanuts. (I know, chopped peanuts seem a little weird but this burger is a winner.) But consider these example; let your imagination rule.

• Read on for Nacho Burgers
• Read on for Thai Burgers

My wife makes great nachos, really loaded nachos with everything from olives to red onions. Using that as inspiration, we loaded up some burgers.

We started with lean ground beef. Unless we’re making stuffed burgers, we use 80 percent lean meat; leaner meat is too dry. With stuffed burgers use the leanest ground you can buy; the components add extra fat. Since we were going to load these up and didn’t want them crumbly, we set aside an egg to toss with the meat. The egg helps hold things together.

This combination makes terrific burgers.

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 large egg, whisked with a fork
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
about 20 medium black olives, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
3/4 cup grated Monterrey jack cheese
1/2 cup salsa

Gently toss these ingredients together until mixed. Don’t handle more than necessary. Form nice flat burger patties with a hamburger press. Cook them until done, turning only once and without pressing the burgers with the spatula while cooking. Turning only once will trap more of the juices in the burger; pressing with the spatula forces the juices from the meat.

To assemble the burgers, we used the following:

shredded lettuce
tomato slices
guacamole
bean dip

Spread the bottom bun with bean dip and then cover with lettuce. Top with the burger patty. Smother the patty with guacamole and top with tomato slices.

I thought these were outstanding burgers but I’m biased. The real test was what others thought. Those of our crew who heard there were peanuts in the burgers were not excited. Those who tried them anyway, loved them. (Don’t let the peanuts throw you; they add flavor and crunch that works wonderfully well.)

We used the bean sprouts as an accompaniment to the Thai burgers. We weren’t sure how the peanuts would work out. We chopped them very coarsely, just a cut or two on each nut and worked them right into the burger. They were a great addition and maybe made the burgers.

You can buy the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce from our site or at the store.

To make my Thai burgers, again we started with lean ground beef and again added an egg to help hold things together.

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 large egg, whisked with a fork
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup very coarsely chopped peanuts
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Gently toss these ingredients together until mixed. Don’t handle more than necessary. Form nice flat burger patties with a hamburger press. Cook them until done, turning only once.

To assemble the burgers we mixed some more Thai Sweet Chili Sauce with mayonnaise and spread it on the buns. (We used 1/4 cup chili sauce to 1/2 cup mayonnaise.) We topped the patty with bean sprouts.

We used the bean sprouts as an accompaniment to the Thai burgers. We weren’t sure how the peanuts would work out. We chopped them very coarsely, just a cut or two on each nut and worked them right into the burger. They were a great addition and maybe made the burgers.

Get a Burger Buddy for a Buck! Save over 80%--it sells for $5.49 elsewhere. This nifty little burger press makes neat, uniform burgers just like at the restaurant. (Limit one please.)

Take $2.00 off any Asian sauce

Take $2.00 off Thai Sweet Chili Sauce or any of our Asian sauces. Enter code RGM434 at checkout. Use these sauces for burgers, stir fires, and condiments.

Copyright 2008 by The Prepared Pantry and Dennis Weaver. Used by permission.

Dennis Weaver is the author of “How to Make a Great Hamburger”, a free e-book at The Prepared Pantry. The Prepared Pantry sells baking mixes, gourmet foods, and kitchen tools.