We all have those recipes that we couldn’t stand when we were kids that our parent’s would make and they thought it was awesome but we hated, for me it was my dad’s homemade burgers… stuffed with huge chunks of raw onion and green pepper… GREEN PEPPERS! I once saw Eddie Murphy describe exactly how I felt about my dad’s homemade burgers and I encourage you to watch, click here

He, he… sorry dad.

A burger recipe is like a little black dress, you have to have one that you can rely on in a pinch. This is just a very quick and simple burger that tastes beefy and delicious, the barbecue sauce keeps the meat nice and juicy while adding great flavor.

I use egg and breadcrumbs in this recipe for a couple of reasons, if I was making a high end burger with ground sirloin, chuck and brisket, there would be enough fat and flavor that you could keep it straight up meat. If you’re using just basic lean ground beef, you need to add a bit of moisture and flavor and in doing so, you need to add a binder.

My family and I do a lot of camping in the summer so I like to buy a big bulk pack of lean ground beef and then make a bunch of burgers. To do this, just set yourself up and make the burger mixture (double or triple the recipe as needed) and then cut some parchment or wax paper into squares big enough to hold each patty. After forming the burgers, place it on a parchment square. you can then stack the burgers and place them in a large ziplock bag and freeze. All of a sudden you have the same thing you would buy from the grocery store with none of the preservatives and they come apart easily even from frozen because of the parchment.

Make Ahead: This recipe calls for sauteed onions, it’s a good idea to cook the onions ahead of time and let them cool to room temp.

Basic Burger

Makes 8 (4oz) burgers

700g Lean Ground Beef

55g Bbq Sauce*, Cattle Boyz or KC Masterpiece Hickory work really well

15g Montreal Steak Spice

35g Egg, beaten

15g Sauteed Onion (cook 25g onion in 2 tsp butter until soft)

25g Bread Crumbs

Add all ingredients to a bowl mix gently with clean hands; try not to squish the meat, it will make it tough. The mixture will feel a bit wet at first even after it’s fully mixed, the breadcrumbs will continue to absorb the moisture so let it sit for five minutes or so before forming the burgers.

I use a 4oz scoop to get each burger the same size but you can just divide the mixture evenly or scale out 4oz balls. Form the burgers so they are an even thickness, they will shrink slightly on the grill. Cook on the grill or a flat griddle pan until the juices run clear, the time will depend on the thickness of the burgers.

Top with:

Special Not so Secret Burger Sauce

Homemade Burger Buns: This is just my soft dinner rolls recipe, the only difference is to flatten out the balls of dough with a rolling pin so you get the shape of a burger bun. To make it even better, use the leftover beaten egg from this recipe to brush on top of the unbaked buns and top with sesame seeds.