Welcome to Best Burger Recipes! You've come to the perfect site for easy hamburger recipes and ideas, and information about America's favorite food.
The hamburger is a staple in popular American culture. They're easy to make and a sure crowd pleaser whether you pan-fry them in your kitchen or bust out the big artillery on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
What you can find at Best Burger Recipes
- At Best Burger Recipes, we want to start from the basics. From introducing ingredients, combining the ingredients, to cooking the burger. A basic hamburger isn't that difficulty to prepare. It is simply a cooked beef patty in a soft toasted bun.
- From there, we will move beyond the basics and try some alternative burger recipes. The most common substitution is the meat. Try ground chicken patties, turkey patties, lamb patties, pork and more.
- Best Burger Recipes will also try to feature healthy alternatives. It is good to eat well and live long so that we can eat more right? A good example are vegetarian burger recipes. Vegetarians and vegans are strong advocates and will not stand to be left out of the hamburger fight. They came out with a good variety of veggie burgers so that they too can enjoy the quinessential North American food lifestyle which is the hamburger.
- We shall also explore interesting ingredients that can be used as toppings to make your burger one-of-a-kind. Let the experimentation starts!
Your experimentation can be as simple as buying a jar of sun-dried tomatoes soaked in olive oil and decking them on top of your patty. You will be amazed at how it can literally transform your humble hot sandwich into something truly remarkable.
- Last but not least, we will showcase homemade hamburger recipes contributed by our dear visitors and hamburger lovers as well as share news, interesting hamburger ideas and cooking tips and shortcuts.
What makes a burger a burger?
Today's burgers include ingredients ranging from common to exotic meats, common garnishes to herbs and seasonings from any culture you can imagine. With all the creativity going on, one has got to ask the question: "What makes a burger a burger?"
The burger is actually a type of hot sandwich.
A sandwich, according to Wikipedia, refers to a food item consisting of two slices of bread with fillings between them.
Fillings can contain "a combination of salad vegetables, meat, cheese and a variety of sauces or savoury spreads".
In the case of the burger, the bread is typically a sliced bread roll and the filling, a cooked patty made of ground beef combined with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon and cheese. Spread and condiments include mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup and relish, thousand island dressing, barbecue sauce and more.
The term "burger" is derived from "hamburger" which took its name from the German town of Hamburg. Although the dish's roots is in Europe, it gained massive popularity in the United States of America and Canada to become the quinessential food of North America as well as one of US's biggest cultural exports, besides Hollywood films.
It is easy to see why it is popular. It is easy to eat and excites the palate. It can be a balanced meal with the bread, meat and salad vegetables all tied together with a flavorsome sauce. It is not pretentious, and is, essentially, a working man's lunch.
Exploring Alternatives
The meat pattie need not be made solely of meat. It can be combined with other non-meat ingredients. For example, the Juicy Lucy.
A burger from Minnesota with cheese inside the meat. This creates a gooey hot interior, a unique culinary experience that can often lead to tongue burns for the uninitiated. Eating this can be dangerous yet so exciting.
For those that are looking for something a bit healthier, low carbohydrate burgers have become something of a phenomenon. These burgers replace the bread with lettuce or other non-carbohydrate ingredients, and generally include sauces with less fat and calories.
Experimenting with toppings
What a burger is topped with seems to vary by region. Burgers from Texas might feature mustard and jalapenos. A burger served in a "Midwestern" style will often include butter (generally in the form of a buttered bun), while certain eateries in North and South Carolina might eschew the traditional toppings entirely and use chili and coleslaw. Hawaiian burgers generally stick with an asian theme; using teriyaki sauce and pineapple, while California might add guacamole. The Southwest is home to a popular concoction called the "Slopper", which features judicious use of red and green chilis. Every region of the United States has a different "standard" hamburger, and a different regional specialty. What is common in one area might be unheard of in another.
Size and quantity
One of the most universal variations is the amount of meat used.
In fast food restaurants, "double" or "triple" burgers are quite common. These generally use multiple patties to increase the amount of meat on a burger. Some just place 2 patties together while others, such as the Big Mac, choose to layer the ingredients.
It is not just the patties that can be multiplied. Toppings too. The most common one being cheese.
Some humonguous burgers are created as gimmicks. It is impossible for one person to eat a burger like this one featured on the right. But heck, it is fun to make and see.
From the largest to smallest.
Another common variant is the mini hamburger or the slider. This is a very small hamburger served on a small square bun, topped with onions, pickles, and mustard.
These burgers started as a military meal, but gained a great deal of popularity in American fast food restaurants such as White Castle and Krystals.
Let's Hear From YOU!
I'll be adding new hamburger recipes and information as the site grows, but don't wait for me. If you have any great burger recipes, do share them with me. I'd love to hear what you think, and how you've put your very own spin on these fabulous recipes. No recipe too simple or too strange - everyone here would love to read about them all. So, feel free to post your own recipes, or comment on someone else's. Tell a story, or share a piece of advice - it's all up to you.
Finally, look around, enjoy and...participate - Best Burger Recipes is for YOU!