How To Make Smash Burgers
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Aug 18, 2025 
Homemade Smash Burger Recipe – Learn the easy steps for how to make this fast food sensation at home! You only need a handful of simple ingredients and a griddle to smoosh your own smash burgers and load them with your favorite toppings.
A Spicy Perspective Burger Recipe
Smash burgers… They’re all the rage. Extremely thin beef patties cooked on a griddle (or in a cast-iron skillet) so that the beef patty sears and creates a crispy exterior. Then layer them with melted cheese and toppings on a soft bun… What’s not to love?
But most people come to our site for our famous Best Hamburger Patty Recipe. You can use this recipe for thick patties or thin crispy patties. However, today we thought we’d share our favorite old-school smashburger recipe. It’s worthy of being just as popular!
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
Let’s start with a bit of burger history… Smash burgers aren’t a new thing. And the name of the franchise Smashburger isn’t unique to them either. In fact, Whataburger has been making smash burgers for as long as I can remember. Some people even say they invented them. However, before that, American diners all over the country were smashing ground beef on the griddle to cook them quickly and serve up greasy tantalizing diner burgers.
All this to say, don’t be intimidated. These newfangled smash burgers are simply the old-timey griddle burgers you’ve been eating your entire life, just with a new catchy name. Anyone who claims to have invented them might want to rethink that.
Here we’re sharing our favorite version. In our (humble) opinion, two thin patties + thin shaved toppings create the perfect burger experience, so smash hard and slice thin!
Ingredients and Equipment You Need
- Griddle – like a Blackstone or a large wide cast-iron skillet
- Spatula – use an extra-large flat metal spatula or a grill press
For the Hamburger Patties –
- Ground beef chuck
- Salt and pepper
- Onion powder – or garlic powder
Classic Smash Burger Toppings –
- Cheese slices – preferably American cheese because it melts so well
- Lettuce
- Tomato slices
- Onion
- Pickles
- Ketchup
- Mustard
- Hamburger buns – classic or brioche buns
Here we’re showing you how to make a simple all-American version. But feel free to add any topping you like!
How to Make Smash Burgers
Tips for Success: Divide the ground beef and prep all your burger toppings so that they are ready as soon as the patties go on the griddle. Open all the buns and unwrap the American cheese slices so they are quick to grab. Only start smashing and cooking once all your prep work is done; this will ensure your burgers are served hot!
Find the full Smash Burger recipe with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Best Burger Toppings
We love a burger stacked with classic toppings like cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup and mustard. But there are MANY options for goodies you can use to load up these beauties!
Here are a few other topping options to consider putting on your smash burgers:
- Thin crispy bacon
- Pickled jalapeño slices
- Mayonnaise
- Homemade Big Mac sauce
- Barbecue sauce
- Hot sauce
- Fried onions
- Pickled red onions
- Crushed potato chips
- Chili and Fritos
- Avocado slices
- Fresh sprouts
I mean, seriously… There’s nothing you can’t put on a smash burger!
Smash Burger Recipe Tips
- We make smash burgers on our Blackstone griddle because you can fit so many patties on the griddle at once. However, smash burgers are just as easy to make in a cast-iron skillet, so use what you have and have fun experimenting!
- As mentioned above, the key to making an amazing smash burger is to portion out small amounts of ground beef, preferably ground chuck, then don’t shape it. Instead, smash it on a hot griddle until it is very thin so it cooks quickly.
- I like to season the smash burgers right on the griddle as soon as they are smashed. Then I allow the first side to get extra crispy, before flipping them over and adding cheese.
Smash Burger Recipe
Video
Ingredients
For the Smash Burger Patties –
- 1 pound ground beef chuck
- Salt and pepper
- Onion powder
For the Smash Burgers –
- 4 hamburger buns
- 8 slices American cheese
- 1 cup shaved lettuce
- 1 large ripe tomato thinly sliced into rounds
- ¼ cup thin dill pickles
- ¼ cup shaved red onion
- Ketchup
- Mustard
Instructions
- Prep all your burger toppings so that they are ready as soon as the patties go on the griddle. Open all the buns. Unwrap the slices of cheese and lay them out so they are quick to grab.
- Use a knife to divide the ground beef into 8 equally portioned chunks. You can round out the edges of each chunk if you like, but it is not necessary.
- Preheat the griddle, or a large cast-iron skillet, to medium-high heat.
- Once the griddle is piping hot, place the open buns on the griddle and toast them for 1 minute. Then remove the buns and layer the lettuce, tomato, and onion on the bottom bun, and the ketchup, mustard, and pickles on the top buns. *Or save the pickles for the end if you like to add them straight to the hot patties.
- With the griddle piping hot, place 4 chunks of beef on the griddle. Use an extra large metal spatula (or a grill press) to quickly press the patties out until they are paper-thin and wider than the hamburger buns by about 1 inch. Then sprinkle them generously with salt, pepper, and onion powder.
- If you have room on your griddle, immediately repeat with the remaining 4 chunks of beef. Press and season.
- After approximately 2 minutes, use a large thin metal spatula to scrape the first batch or smash burger patties off the griddle and flip. If the first one doesn't loosen easily, give the patties another minute. Once the patties are flipped, lay a piece of American cheese over the top of each, so that it melts as the patty continues to cook. (They should cook 4-5 minutes total.)
- Next flip and add cheese to the second batch of patties.
- Once the first batch of patties has cooked an additional 2 minutes on the flipside, stack one patty on top of a second patty and place two patties on each bun.
- Then stack the remaining six patties in twos and place on the remaining three buns. (To clarify, each bun should have 2 stacked patties.) Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Smashburgers are hamburgers. However, most hamburgers are made with thicker patties. What makes a smash burger special is that they are made with beef patties that are smooshed thin on a griddle. Because they are thinner, it’s best to load each burger up with two patties!
Lean ground chuck is the ideal meat to make this smash burger recipe.
Not if they are cooked properly! The thin patties do not need to cook for long to get a nice sear on the outside. So they stay juicy and flavorful on the inside.
Pair these cheeseburgers with fast food favorites like homemade french fries… You’ll love our delicious Cajun fries, shoestring fries, and air fryer potato wedges!
Best smashburger I’ve ever made. Thins toppings make all the difference.
this burger was what my dreams are made of! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!
Hands-down my favorite style of burger! Thinking these would be perfect tonight after soccer practice!!!
The whole family devoured these! Thanks for this tasty recipe.