The Best Classic Burger Recipe – Perfectly seasoned juicy homemade hamburgers. This easy recipe only needs a few ingredients.
How do you make a great burger?
I’m a firm believer that a truly great hamburger doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. You only need a handful of seasonings and some good ground beef. The beef you use for burgers makes all the difference.
What type of beef is best for burgers?
A lot of my recipes call for lean ground beef. Not this one! The best beef for making hamburger patties is 80% lean and 20 % fat ground beef. You really need the fat in the meat to make juicy flavorful burgers.
The Best Hamburger Recipe
*Note: The full printable recipe card is at the bottom of this post.
- Add 80% lean ground beef to a large bowl.
- Add Worcestershire sauce, seasoning salt, garlic powder, and pepper.
- Mix with your hands until well combined.
- Divide the beef into fourths.
- Use your hands to form 4 hamburger patties 3/4 inch thick.
- Use your thumbs to make an indention in the middle of the patties.
- Grill over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side.
- Serve on hamburger buns.
- Top with your favorite traditional burger toppings (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, etc.)
How to make a great Cheeseburger.
This burger recipe makes awesome cheeseburgers! Just add a slice of cheese to the top of each burger patty about 1 minute before they are ready to come off the grill. This will give the cheese enough time to melt. I highly recommend sliced provolone cheese on these.
What should I serve with hamburgers?
Watch the step by step recipe video for The Best Classic Burger below.
The Best Classic Burger Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds 80% lean 20% fat ground beef or ground chuck
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Optional: 4 slices of cheese
- 4 hamburger buns
- Optional: hamburger toppings - lettuce tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to 375 degrees F (medium-high).
- In a large bowl, add the beef. Sprinkle evenly with the Worcestershire sauce, seasoning salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Use your hands to mix the ingredients until they are just combined.
- Divide the meat mixture into fourths. Take 1/4 of the meat mixture and use your hands to press it into the shape of a hamburger patty that is about 3/4 inch thick. Make an indention in the middle of the patty to prevent bulging in the center of the hamburger as it cooks. Repeat with the remaining meat mixture, making 4 hamburgers.
- Place the burgers on the grill. Cook 4-5 minutes on the first side. Flip the burgers over and cook an additional 4-5 minutes, until the burgers have reached the desired doneness.*
- If adding cheese, lay a slice of cheese on each burger patty about 1 minute before taking the burgers off the grill, so the cheese has a chance to melt.
- Serve the burgers on hamburger buns with optional hamburger toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Check out all of my great ground beef recipes.
Doug M says
It sounds so simple but it sure does make a big difference! (I’m actually eating this recipe as I type this!) Good point about the 80/20 but I would add that ground CHUCK makes the best hamburgers. What I’m wondering is, if it’s okay to freese the other 3 patties (with the blended ingredients) since I only wanted one? Thanks Amanda 🙂
Angela Weathers says
If your meat was already frozen, no don’t freeze again,but you can freeze the cooked Pattie and use when ready.
Fiona Manoon says
Looks Delicious. !!!!
I loved your presentation .
Great Work . Thanks for sharing .
Your post is amazing . Your have shared this amazing recipe quite nicely that it sounds so easy to make.
Thanks !!
Reid Smith says
At a minimum, 80/20 is the way to go. When I can find it, 70/30 is even better. As my butcher says, fat is flavor. Don’t scrimp on it. Pat Lafreida makes a brisket/short rib grind that is commercially available here in central Conn that is excellent.
rachel frampton says
I’ve been wanting to make a really delish burger for my whole family since my birthday is fast approaching. I’ll keep in mind to choose 80% lean and 20% fat ground beef for the pattie. This sounds amazing, but maybe there’s also a handcrafted restaurant that I can find just in case I wouldn’t be able to perfect this recipe on time.
Patti says
Grilled this burger, way too salty!
Sam says
Add less salt then…
Ryan H says
Hi Patti – try leaving the salt out of the mix, and instead salt to taste as you lay them on the grill.
Christine says
Did you put in garlic salt instead of garlic powder?
Cakes says
Agreed! I’d probably go with half the amount of salt called for.
Margie Tabory says
Can we fry this? How long?
Elizabeth says
Easiest, best tasting burger mix, hands down. SO easy.. you can’t mess this up! Truly! Perfect amount of seasoning.
Kyla Mills says
This is the best burger recipe I’ve tried: simple ingredients that lend just the right amount of flavor to the ground beef, yet don’t overpower that classic burger taste. This is NOT ‘meatloaf on a bun’, folks!
I made this for my husband and myself today, and will be adding it to the rotation of meals I make for our farm crew during summer and fall harvests! Thank you😋
K lehman says
I’m trying with 85% hopefully it good
Claire says
For 2.25 lbs of beef I used 2.5 tbsp of Worcester sauce, 1.75 tsp salt, 0.6 tsp pepper (and I forgot the garlic salt!) and it turned out delicious.
Sara says
Can I just pan fry them with the same results?
Krista Rowe says
Yes. However you cook it does not lessen its goodness, I pan fried mine, next time I may grill it , preferably in daylight. It’s delicious!
Helen says
I’ve only pan fried this recipe and everyone in my family loves it. It does take longer to cook though.
The Biffster says
I used this recipe to make burgers for my family this past weekend, and everyone agreed that they were damned tasty! The combination of the sauce and spices greatly enhances the flavor of the ground beef. Highly recommended!
Valerie says
They were so good! Easy to make and I got 5 burgers out of it. Yum.
Chandra Phillips says
I made these burgers last night and they were so delicious! My usually picky 4 year old devoured his entire burger so fast, and he usually isn’t too fussy about burgers. I used pink Himalayan salt instead of seasoning salt, only because I didn’t have any on hand, but they were still fantastic. Thank you for this simple, yet delicious burger recipe, I will definitely be using it over again and again. 🙂
Krista Rowe says
Best tasting hamburger I’ve ever had; granted I don’t do a lot of red meat, but with increased exercise, I needed protein, so I hunted down a recipe that was hopefully the best ever recipe, and I was NOT disappointed. My new fav!!!
Gavin Guyette says
the burgers have great flavor and there super easy to make! it’s our family’s new favorite dinner meal!
Obadiah says
We didn’t have Worcestershire sauce so I just used the other ingredients + a pinch of onion powder and a pinch of brown sugar. Pan-fried for about 8 mins and they turned out fantastic. Thank you so much! This made our week! Burgers are a must for quarantine.
Christine says
Best burger ever! I also added 1 teaspoon onion powder & brushed outside with oil so they wouldn’t stick to grill. Thanks for sharing!
Rik Valentine says
Thanks for the extra tip!
Erin says
These were incredible.
Emily S. says
Used 2 lbs of ground sirloin with the same measurements for the spices, and the burgers turned out really great! Very easy to put together. Made six very delicious patties. A total hit with the family. This will be my go-to burger recipe from here on out.
Sara says
These were great and fast!
danny orlando says
Usually, I don’t add anything to make a burger, but tonight I thought I would try something new. I’m glad I did. It was delicious and I’ll use this from here on. Thanks for your recipe.
justine says
Amazing and great!
KK says
So easy to make and amazing turnout! Can’t stop raving about it. 5 stars all the way!!
Rik Valentine says
Made these for my family tonight. Definitely a fantastic burger. Will definitely make these again. Everybody loved them.
Katherine Lemoire says
My husband i love the recipe. i make larger batch and freeze them.
Sharon Kallini says
What kind )brand salt seasoning do you use?
Angela Weathers says
I use Johnny’s salt
Nichia says
Holy Moly!!! The BEST burger EVERRRR! FULL OF FLAVOR! I followed the recipe as directed and added a pinch more of spices because I was using 2.34lbs of 80/20 meat. (after I patted up the burgers I put them in the fridge for a hour b4 grilling) This will be my 2 go 2 hamburger recipe. Thanks a bunch, we enjoyed!