Smash Burger Recipe
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.
Why We Love This Easy Cheeseburger 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 seers and creates a crispy exterior. Then layer them with melted cheese and thin toppings on a soft bun… What’s not to love?
But 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.
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 – 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 on a Griddle
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 American 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.
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 and mustard on the top buns.
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 of smash burger patties off the griddle and flip.
If the first one doesn’t loosen easily, give the patties another minute.
Get the Complete (Printable) Smash Burger Recipe + Video Below. Enjoy!
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.)
Flip and add cheese to the second batch of patties.
Once the first batch of patties has cooked an additional 2 minutes on the flip side, stack one patty on top of a second patty and place two patties on each bun.
Add pickle slices to the hamburger patties and place the bun tops on the burgers.
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!
Best 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.
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!
Looking for More Easy Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Low Carb Burger Bites
- Baked Reuben Party Sandwiches
- Impossible Cheeseburger Pie
- Gourmet Grilled Cheese
- Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich
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.
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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.