33 Best Burger Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated August 15, 2018
These incredible burger recipes offer a unique twist to the classic hamburger, incorporating ingredients like pimento cheese, sesame oil and serrano chiles. The flavors don't stop there, though. Try a few of our favorite Umami burgers, chicken burgers and buffalo burgers. Other recipes include superstar chef Bobby Flay's nacho burgers and juicy cheddar-and-onion burgers.
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Cheddar-Stuffed Burgers with Pickled Slaw and Fried Shallots

MARCUS NILSSON
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Kyle Bailey makes these cheese-stuffed burgers with a custom blend of ground rib eye steak and pork fatback, and serves them on homemade herb-butter rolls. This streamlined version for the home cook calls for ground beef chuck and store-bought brioche buns.

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Bacon-and-Kimchi Burgers

© Con Poulos
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Chef Wesley Genovart makes this over-the-top, Shake Shack–inspired burger with two thin stacked patties, thick-cut bacon, kimchi and a spicy homemade sauce.

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Blue Ribbon Barbecue Chicken Cheeseburgers

Con Poulos
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Inspired by a best-selling dish at Blue Ribbon restaurants in New York City, owners Eric and Bruce Bromberg recently opened Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken. The menu includes a knockout chicken burger: “We’ll pit our chicken burger against your beef burger any day,” they say.

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Double Cheeseburgers, Los Angeles-Style

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Roy Choi’s burgers look like the American classic, but get an Asian twist with toasted sesame seeds in the mayo and fresh shiso leaves on top of the lettuce.

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Cheddar BLT Burgers with Tarragon Russian Dressing

QUENTIN BACON
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At BLT Burger in Las Vegas, chef Laurent Tourondel brushes burgers with butter while they’re on the grill. The natural sugars caramelize, making the meat extra-delicious.

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Pimento Cheese-Stuffed Burgers

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Asian-Style Pork Burgers

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Melissa Rubel adds scallions, fresh ginger, garlic and sesame oil to ground pork for a juicy Asian-flavored burger.

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Lola Burgers

© Tina Rupp
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This iteration of Michael Symon’s crazy-delicious Lola burger—part hamburger, part breakfast sandwich—was adapted from his cookbook, Michael Symon’s Live to Cook.

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Cheddar-and-Onion Smashed Burgers

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Inspired by the sliders at White Manna in Hackensack, New Jersey, Adam Fleischman creates beef patties by flattening balls of ground meat on the griddle. Tip: Burger purists handle ground meat as little as possible; over-working the beef can create a tight, meatloaf texture.

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Mini Burgers & Crispy Onion Rings

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These little burgers are extra juicy because they’re made with a mixture of meats, including ground chuck and short rib. The accompanying onion rings are unbelievably crispy, thanks to the club soda in the batter.

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Minetta Burger

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Minetta Tavern has become known for its spectacular hamburgers. The restaurant’s namesake burger is made with a blend of beef short rib and brisket from the nearly century-old local purveyor Pat La Frieda.

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Nacho Burgers

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The only thing better than a cheeseburger is one topped with nacho cheese sauce, salsa and tortilla chips.

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Uncle Louie Burgers

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Bacon, avocado and Russian dressing upgrade this burger to new heights.

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Stilton Sirloin Burgers with Onion Jam

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These juicy mini cheeseburgers are delicious served with delectable sweet potato fries.

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Bacon Hamburgers with Catalina Dressing

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In Saint-Pascal, a village two hours north of Quebec City, the burger topping of choice is Kraft Catalina dressing. Frédéric Morin and David McMillan create a tangy homemade version with tomato, vinegar, paprika, garlic and hot sauce.

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Barbecue-Glazed Turkey Burgers

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Turkey burgers are a popular lunch at Gwyneth Paltrow’s house, where she serves them on toasted brioche buns. She usually adds a topping or two, like Swiss cheese and a few pickled jalapeños. Jarred barbecue sauce adds a ton of flavor to the burgers and helps keep them from drying out.

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Cumin-Spiced Burgers with Harissa Mayo

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The Moroccan flavors in these burgers—shaped into ovals instead of the usual rounds—include cumin, harissa and garlic. The sauce: a delectable mix of mayonnaise, caraway seeds and more harissa.

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Umami Burgers with Port and Stilton

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Resist the urge to pile on any of the usual toppings—lettuce, tomato, ketchup. “The port is your condiment,” explains Adam Fleischman.

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Chicken Burgers with Spicy Peanut Sauce

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Italian-Sausage Burgers with Garlicky Spinach

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Using sausage in burgers is a smart shortcut, because the meat is already seasoned.

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Bacon Burgers on Brioche Buns

JOHN KERNICK
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Tyler Florence uses a custom blend of ground prime rib, brisket, skirt steak and tenderloin for his burger. He tops it with Nueske’s bacon and Cowgirl Creamery’s triple-cream Mt. Tam cheese. The recipe is also delicious with a mix of chuck and sirloin.

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Lamb Burgers with Onion Soup Aioli


John Kernick
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Instead of putting caramelized onions on these tasty lamb burgers, Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple whisks onion soup mix into mayonnaise for a very playful and delicious spread.

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Vietnamese-Style Banh Mi Burgers

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Is this an American take on a Vietnamese classic or a Vietnamese take on an American classic? Either way, these spicy burgers topped with Tabasco-spiked mayonnaise, slivers of crunchy pickled carrots and sprigs of cilantro are wonderful.

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Red Chili Burgers

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Spanish Pork Burgers

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Chef Sang Yoon, who makes some of America’s best burgers, flavors his succulent pork patty with Spanish ingredients like piquillo peppers and serrano ham. “Spain,” he says, “performs miracles with pork.”

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Double-Decker Burgers with Goat Cheese

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Buffalo Burgers with Raisin-Garlic Mayonnaise

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Ground buffalo has an intense meaty but not gamy flavor. Since the meat is so lean, it’s best to cook the burgers rare.

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Pimento Cheeseburgers with Bacon Jam

© Abby Hocking
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“This is like a bacon cheeseburger that went to heaven,” says chef Edward Lee, of Whiskey Dry in Louisville. The pimento cheese and sweet bacon jam both melt into one dreamy, messy bite—this is not a burger for the faint of heart (quite literally). Save any leftover spreads for an out-of-this-world grilled cheese sandwich.

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Lamb Burgers with Green Harissa

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Harissa, a staple in Tunisian and Moroccan cooking, ordinarily contains dried red chiles. Grace Parisi makes her green version with Anaheim and serrano chiles to add bright flavor to grilled lamb burgers.

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Caprese Burgers

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The delicious flavors of a caprese salad—basil, tomato and mozzarella—are captured in these juicy burgers.

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Lamb Burgers with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce

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This spicy burger, served with a cooling yogurt sauce, is Suvir Saran’s take on lamb vindaloo, the classic Indian dish.

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Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Burgers

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Marc Vetri believes that many of his favorite Italian ingredients—homemade sausage, broccoli rabe and Fontina cheese—go wonderfully with pasta, but make even better burgers.

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Smoked Gouda and Bacon Burgers with Barbecue Sauce

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This smoky patty melt features smoked Gouda cheese, hot sauce-spiked onions and sweet homemade barbecue sauce.

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