Indulge in the ULTIMATE BURGER experience with our mouthwatering recipe that promises the juiciest burgers bursting with flavor topped with an array of tantalizing toppings.
They say everyone has their kryptonite in the kitchen, and for me, it’s burgers and hard-boiled eggs. But let me tell you, I’ve been on a mission to conquer both of these and in the process I’ve created the ultimate burger masterpiece. This is by far the juiciest burger,like drip down your arm juicy, I’ve ever made.
My hard boiled eggs still have have yolks that might be considered golf balls, but that’s for another day.
What Makes a Great Burger
- Spices: The secret to unforgettable burgers lies in the spices. Without them, your burger can fall flat. In this recipe, we’ve got a perfect blend of garlic, onion, cayenne, and Worcestershire sauce. Don’t worry about the cayenne pepper overpowering the flavor—it adds just the right amount of kick to elevate your burger.
- Beef: When it comes to choosing the beef for your burgers, I opt for 80% ground beef. Why? Because a burger needs a bit of fat to stay juicy and flavorful. Leaner cuts may result in dry, hockey puck-like burgers, while fattier cuts can cause excessive shrinkage. 80% strikes the perfect balance.
- Size: To ensure your burgers cook evenly, it’s crucial to shape them into uniform patties. I divide the meat into quarters by eye, then roll each portion into a large meatball. Placing it between wax paper, I gently press down with my hand and then use a small skillet to flatten it evenly. This method guarantees perfectly sized patties every time.
- Rest: Before and after cooking, it’s essential to let your burgers rest. Allow them to come to room temperature by leaving them on the counter for about 30 minutes before cooking. After they’re done cooking, tent them loosely with foil and let them rest for 5 minutes. This resting period allows the juices to redistribute, ensuring each bite is packed with flavor and juiciness.
Topping Options for Your Perfect Burger
Now that you’ve mastered the art of crafting the juiciest burgers, it’s time to talk toppings! Whether you prefer classic favorites or adventurous combinations, the sky’s the limit when it comes to dressing up your burger.
Classic American Cheeseburger:
- Lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup/mustard, melted cheddar or american cheese
Gourmet Burger:
- Creamy avocado, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, swiss or blue cheese, barbecue sauce
Southwestern Burger:
- Crisp lettuce, tomato, jalapeños, guacamole, pepper jack cheese, sriracha mayo
Mediterranean Burger:
- Fresh spinach, sliced cucumber, roasted red peppers, feta cheese, Tzatziki sauce
Some of Your Most Popular FAQs when making burgers:
- How can I prevent my burgers from shrinking when cooking?
- To prevent burgers from shrinking, make an indentation in the center of each patty before cooking. This helps the burger maintain its shape as it cooks.
- Can I make burger patties ahead of time and freeze them?
- Yes, that’s one of the best things about burgers! Form the patties and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze until firm, then transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container. They can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- How long should I cook burgers on each side?
- Cooking time can vary depending on the thickness of the burger and how you like it cooked. A general guideline is to cook burgers for about 4-5 minutes per side for medium-rare, 5-6 minutes per side for medium, and 6-7 minutes per side for well-done.
- Should I cover burgers while they cook?
- It’s generally not necessary to cover burgers while they cook. However, if you’re cooking them on a grill and want to ensure even cooking, you can cover them with a lid for the first few minutes.
- What type of buns are best for burgers?
- Brioche buns are a popular choice for burgers due to their soft texture and slightly sweet flavor. However, you can also use sesame seed buns, whole wheat buns, or even lettuce wraps for a lighter option.
- How can I prevent my burgers from sticking to the grill or pan?
- To prevent burgers from sticking, make sure your grill or pan is well-oiled before cooking. You can also brush a little oil directly onto the burgers themselves. Additionally, avoid pressing down on the burgers with a spatula while they cook, as this can cause them to stick.
Looking for some side dishes to go with these delicious burgers?
- Coleslaw: Refreshing coleslaw with a tangy dressing provides a nice balance to the rich flavors of the burger.
- Potato Salad: Creamy and flavorful potato salad is a classic barbecue side dish that pairs beautifully with burgers. Customize it with your favorite ingredients like bacon, pickles, or herbs.
- Broccoli salad is a delightful and nutritious side dish that perfectly complements any meal, especially burgers!
THE JUICIEST BURGERS EVER
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Juiciest Burger You’ll Ever Eat
- Total Time: 20 min
Description
Ground beef mixed with egg, milk, garlic & onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper to make the most flavorful burgers your company will remember for a very long time!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 lbs. Ground Beef
- 1 Large Egg
- 3 Tablespoons Whole Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
- Freshly Ground Pepper
- ¾ Cup Breadcrumbs
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, milk, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, onion powder, cayenne pepper, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. Use your hands or a spoon to mix the ingredients thoroughly until well combined.
- Once the ingredients are mixed, add the breadcrumbs to the mixture. Mix again until the breadcrumbs are evenly distributed throughout the meat mixture.
- Divide the meat mixture into equal portions, depending on how large you want your burgers to be. Use your hands to shape each portion into a patty, ensuring they are of uniform size and thickness for even cooking.
- Preheat your grill or skillet over medium-high heat. If using a grill, lightly oil the grates to prevent sticking.
- Once the grill or skillet is hot, place the burger patties on the cooking surface. Cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side, or until the burgers reach your desired level of doneness.
- Once cooked to your liking, remove the burgers from the heat and let them rest for a few minutes before serving. This allows the juices to redistribute and ensures a juicy, flavorful burger.
- Serve the burgers on your favorite buns or lettuce wraps, topped with your preferred condiments and toppings.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH THIS:
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 burger
- Calories: 340-450
- Sodium: 197-260 mg
- Fat: 24-32 gr
- Carbohydrates: 8-11 gr
- Protein: 21-28 gr
- Cholesterol: 123-145 mg
Truly the best burgers we’ve had
this turned out great! I wasn’t sure but my super picky kids actually complimented me 🙂 I usually just add ranch dressing packet but didn’t have any last night so jumped on pinterest and found this recipe. this will definitely be a go to for us – I halved the recipe since I only had one lb. of beef and it still turned out ok. my littles don’t like spicy but they didn’t notice the chilli powder. thank you!
We enjoyed these burgers. Next time I will add a dollop of butter while the patty is grilling.
that looks awesome
Great burger! #grilling #burger
So delicious! I used ground sirloin. They are moist and flavorful even when grilled on my old school George Forman Grill. I served them on Hawaiian buns with American cheese slices, vine ripened tomato, bib lettuce and dill pickle slices. I used one pound ground sirloin not two. I used a bit of Dijon mustard on my burger bun. I’ve been attempting to perfect a home burger. I think this is the winner! Everyone agreed.
FIVE STARS ALL DAY. Full of flavor and the juice dripped down my arm. Amazing!
I don’t think these get reviewed enough. These are amazing. The cayenne made me skeptical to make them for the 6/4/2 year old kids but they have No problems with it at all. What a great recipe.
that was very sweet Ross, thank you!
I never leave reviews but I had to with these burgers to offset those naysayers saying this is like a meatloaf. It is anything BUT. These have to be the best burgers we’ve ever had. My kids usually only eat 1/4 to 1/2 of their burgers and they devoured these. I will never stray from this recipe.
I’m so glad you liked them Diane. I love to hear that one of my recipes got your kids to eat! That just makes my day.
I don’t often leave reviews on anything, but oh my these are the best burgers I’ve ever made, and I’ve made a few!! Thank you for sharing.
thanks Phil !
I didn’t have Worcester sauce or garlic anything so I simply used three pounds of hamburger, one egg, whole milk, seasoning salt, Italian breadcrumbs, pepper, and onion power. I measured everything with my heart except the meat and egg and my husband said it was amazing with a loud “Mmm”. I think he approves. I’ll be bookmarking since I don’t use my email much and will revisit you again.
My husband said it was amazing. We are still trying to get our 21 month old to eat beef so she’s not partaking yet but I’m this is a keep recipe. And I used 3lbs of meat and one egg everything else I measured with my heart. Didn’t have cayenne pepper or garlic anything so I used seasoning salt and pepper with onion powder (again measuring with my heart). For the first time making homemade hamburgers, I nailed it. Thank you so much. I’m bookmarking your site since I rarely use my email.
“Lava flowing melty cheese.”
I used your recipe for making juicy lucy burgers tonight. Holy cow! Man, absolutely bursting with juiciness and lava flowing melts cheese. These are going to be the gold standard for awesome burgers!
What about 1 lb
I’d like to make these gluten free, with quick oats. How nuch do you think I should use?
I decided to give these a try. Wow. Perfect. And I don’t taste the cayenne. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. My whole family loved these.
Best burger you will ever eat!!! So tired of dry tasteless ground beef. I tried a similar recipe recently but couldn’t find that one again. I read several recipes tonight before landing on this one. I was looking for one that called for evaporated milk and bread crumbs because those were the ingredients i could remember from before. Anyway read this one and liked how it sounded but i am known for concocting/combining recipes. These are my tweeks. First, I don’t fool with buying anything organic. I used evaporated milk for the whole milk, a little extra Worcestershire sauce because we love it, No onion powder, No cayenne pepper, added half stick of softened butter broken up and dropped in different places on the mixture. You wouldn’t want the half stick to end up in one area of the hamburger. I used Italian style bread crumbs in previous recipe and this recipe. Everything else i used as written in this recipe. Always use fresh, never frozen 80/20 ground beef.
These burgers are simply fantastic! You do not taste anything but good juicy burger. Nothing of these ingredients stands out or is overpowering at all. You don’t feel the bread crumbs at all. I will never want a burger any other way. Ate one plain and topped one with pimento cheese, fresh salsa and chunky guacamole. DELICIOUS!!! I froze cooked burgers of previous recipe i tried and when they were thawed and reheated was just like fresh off the grill. I’m sure these will be also.
I think that was one of the longest, in depth comments I’ve ever received! LOL Thank you for taking the time to write such a review Shelal.
No.
Has a fall apart texture which is not good. Does not have the good burger feel. Definitely like a meatball/sausage.
I think you were one of those people that either let your meat come to room temp or moved the burger too quickly. A burger should only get flipped once like most meats.
I didn’t even use a egg because I was only using a half pound of hamburger & it was fantastic!!
Hi Debi – I was wondering if using thawed ground beef vs fresh would make any difference? Thanks
I believe it does. For some reason when I shape ground beef into patties that has previously been frozen, it feels wetter to me. The texture is off too. I prefer to use fresh beef whenever making burgers.
Do NOT listen to the nay sayers. The breadcrumbs do NOT make this a meatloaf. What they do is make these the best burgers my family ever ate! I tried making another recipe ONCE and they all knew the difference and whined and complained that I need to make Debi’s burgers (as my kids call them!) FAR from a hockey puck. Trust me on this folks – this recipe is a total winner!!
Due to a food allergy I can’t use egg. Do you think it would still be ok without?
Wow! Were these ever good. My husband laughs whenever I cook burgers because they are either not cooked, overcooked or bland as hell. This made me look like a superstar.
that’s what used to happen to me too Trisha. All the time! Not anymore though. 🙂
What type of breadcrumbs do I use!
you can use regular or Italian style
OMGosh. My burgers are usually round bricks, but this is the best burger recipe…EVER!!!
Thank you Carlene – I’m so glad you liked them!
This is my go to recipe for burgers. Thanks for sharing, they are always a hit.
Love it Jay! Thanks for your comment 🙂
My go-to burger recipe! So good!!
Agreed. I wasn’t sure about the breadcrumbs either but these were by far the best burgers I’ve ever made.
SIMPLY OUTSTANDING – you won’t regret making these!
Thank you for this recipe. It was delicious.
Has anyone tried freezing these? If so did you cook from frozen or thaw first? How did they turn out! Cant wait to try.
Hi Alana – you can freeze these after the patties are made. And they can be cooked from frozen – if they are thin enough – but I would thaw them in the fridge first.
How thin should they be?
sounds like a great recipe for something different…..cant
wait to try them
Amazingggggg! Juicy and a burst of flavor! Made some small substitutes because I didn’t have Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, & whole milk.
My replacements were:
ketchup vinegar pickle juice -Wor. sauce
Adobo – onion powder
Almond milk – whole milk
Thanks LeeCee … i’m so glad you liked them!
Was fantastic
Best EVER recipe for burgers! Thank you for sharing it’s a keeper
why thank you Marie! We like ’em too! >3
I’m curious if I could do this without the breadcrumbs? My BF and I don’t eat processed stuff. I can eat dairy, but he can’t. So grated butter isn’t an option.
I’m not the author, but you could but some bread in a blender and use that I bet!
I make my own croutons. When a recipe calls for breadcrumbs, I simply grind them up to use. They are delicious!
I absolutely love this recipe. The burgers were so tasty and juicy. My husband and kids love it!
Just wonderful!!!
This recipe sounds like your making meat loaf!
Doesn’t specify type of breadcrumbs – fresh, white bread crumbs?
Bread crumbs do hold in moisture, and add density. However, they are now common in meat recipes due to the great depression as they were used to hulk up the little meat they had. Should not be present in a burger. Instead, grate cold butter into the ground meat and mix.
Best burgers I’ve ever made at home! I cooked them in my COSORI air grill and they are delicious! I saw couple of people comment that the recipe looked like meatloaf, oh brother! It did NOT come out like meatloaf Lol, Thank you ( no more hockey pucks for us!)
thanks Kathy! And I agree, it is definately not a meatloaf!
I didn’t think these would turn out good with the breadcrumbs either but they were fabulous
How much ground pepper??
It doesn’t specify…..
I dont usually leave comments on food blogs but I had to tell you how good these turned out. I’m known for overcooking burgers and somehow these turned out great !!!! Thank you
I’m glad you took the time to leave a comment and a great one it was too! Have a great day, Debi
I can’t wait to try this burger this weekend!
I really love these burgers!
You lost me at breadcrumbs but I tried it anyway. What good burger has breadcrumbs? OUTSTANDING. Made a fool of me
I’m glad you gave it a try Josh. I know there are many ways to make burgers, I have just found this one to be my GO TO because it always turns out so good!
Thanks for your comment, Debi
I made these last night for my family and they were a huge hit!
These are so good!
SO GOOD!
The best burgers have no fillers ..
No egg ..no bread crumbs
That only makes them hard …like hockey pucks
Just wondering if you tried them before you left your comment?
Of course she didn’t try them! Lol. My mom always put bread crumbs in hamburger meat and Italians put them in their best meatballs! She has NO IDEA what she’s talking about.
I’ve never eaten a hockey puck. But I have had many different types of burgers. Smash burger being my favourite, and “meatloaf” type burger being my second favourite. It’s not a filer, it is a binder and I can make much thicker patties to grill at a lower heat and still stay juices and medium in the middle.
But…have you tried the recipe before commenting? I haven’t either so I’m curious.
Wonderfully delicious burger! Moist when grilled on my old school George Forman grill. I used ground sirloin. Served them on Hawaii burger buns with American cheese,slices,bib lettuce ,vine ripened tomato and dill pickle. I added a bit of Dijon mustard on the bun for my burger. I’ve been trying to perfect a home burger. This is the winner. Everyone loved them.