A while back, we asked our readers on our Facebook page how they would construct a classic burger. We like to go a little crazy with our recipes here from time to time, but we felt that our recipe section wouldn’t be complete without our take on the simple, classic burger. Our readers offered many different recipes and ideas from simply a beef patty on a bun with some cheese to burgers towering with salad, so we thought we’d sit down and work on our own version for our next recipe.
This is a VERY simple recipe and you should be able to whip these up in roughly 10-15 minutes.
INGREDIENTS:
250g of Angus mince (split into roughly two golf ball-sized amounts)
Salt
Pepper
1 OXO cube
Cumin
Two slices of American cheese
1 Tomato, sliced
1 Red onion, sliced
Little gem lettuce
Ketchup
American mustard
Burger buns (we used store-bought from a supermarket bakery section due to time constraints, but you can also make your own. Please refer to the Halloween burger recipe HERE for a step by step on how to make our buns!)
(Makes two burgers)
For the patty:
Even though the Angus mince provides a strong flavour, we wanted the burger to really pack a punch, so we added a dash of cumin and crumbled an OXO cube into the mince before forming the patties. It helped give the patties a nice, rich, bold finish.
Once you’ve done this….
Pre-heat the oven. You’ll need to use it at the end!
Heat up a skillet or pan with a little oil. Roll up the mince into approximately golf ball sized shape.
Sprinkle salt on the top side only. Place the ball of meat into the hot pan (salt side down). Cook for one minute.
Sprinkle salt on the top and flip over. At this point you want to smash the patty down. Following the instructions above should ensure that it stays together and doesn’t fall apart. To ‘smash’ it, simply press down on the patty with a fish slice until it reaches your desired look.
Flip and cook until done. Add the American cheese to the top of the patties while they are still in the pan. Once they start to melt a little, turn off the heat and remove the patties.
Building the burgers:
Simply half your burger buns and build as follows:
(from bottom to top)
Bottom half of bun
Patty
Lettuce
Two slices of tomato
Two slices of red onion
Top half of bun (add tomato sauce and mustard to the top half of the bun before placing it on top. Don’t put the sauce on the patty itself.)
Once you’ve done this, lightly wrap the burgers in tin foil and place them on the bottom shelf of the oven for a few minutes. This will heat the entire burger a little more and further melt the cheese, meat, sauce and toppings all together for a great look and finish.
Enjoy!
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James vs. Burger 
I like the gentle bake at the end. Does this steam the bun just a little?
Yep 🙂 We do it with pretty much every burger we make now. The way it allows everything to melt together is delicious.
Just made these, amazing, putting these in the oven just bound all the ingredients together………….lovely
They look rocking burgs. Going to try at the weekend. Have never tried the OXO before. That looks like real American cheese… where you be finding that?? its like hens teeth in the uk.
They are just regular cheese slices. We’re just used to calling it American cheese.
To get the right effect, put it on the patty while its in the pan and flip the meat with the cheese still on top.
The ‘melding’ process at the end can also be done in the microwave, just wrap the burger in kitchen towel or greaseproof paper and nuke for 30 seconds.