If you’re looking for a juicy, delicious, straight-up hamburger recipe, you can’t go wrong with this one. They are hands down the best burgers I have ever cooked. They’re Steak and Shake good. Since grilling season is about here, burgers will be a regular in our dinner recipe and this is always my go to recipe.
There are a few ingredients in these hamburgers that I’ve never seen in another burger recipe-Â bread, milk, and bacon fat. You won’t be able to detect the bread or the milk in the burger, but they really do help keep the inside moist and the added bacon grease allows the exterior to develop a wonderful, crispy char as well as a smokey flavor.
These burgers are so tasty they really don’t need a lot in the way of toppings. You’ll already have bacon to add to them since you need to fry some up to get the bacon grease to add to the ground beef. Add some lettuce, tomato, and onion for a super delicious burger. You might want to also cook up some slow cooker bourbon baked beans and jalapeno creamed corn to round out the meal.
Happy grilling!
Simply the Best Hamburgers
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon
- 1-2 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, 85-90% lean
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 4 buns
- toppings of choice
Instructions
- Fry bacon in large skillet until crisp, about 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
- Spoon 3 tablespoons of bacon fat into small bowl and set aside
- Place bread in small bowl and add milk. Let sit for 5 minutes. Mash with fork to form a paste.
- Place ground beef in large bowl and add salt and pepper, garlic, bread paste, and reserved bacon fat. Make sure bacon fat has cooled first. If necessary put in refrigerator for a few minutes.
- Using hands mix all ingredients together until evenly distributed.
- Divide into 4 portions. Form into balls and gently flatten into 3/4 inch patties. Try to make the center part a little thinner because it will poof as it cooks.
- Grill over hot fire for 7-10 minutes flipping once.
Nutrition
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Recipe Source: adapted from Cook’s Country
Made this recipe last nought and these are, by far, the best burger recipe! I topped this burger with smoked gouda and bacon!
grill 7 to 10 minutes flipping once? when do you flip? half way through 7 to 10 minutes or at the end of 7 to 10 minutes? taking out guess work for the clueless readers like me would be awesome help. thanks.
You should flip halfway.
By far the BEST burger recipe we’ve ever tried! Substituted melted butter for bacon grease and they were still full of flavor and moist. My kiddo says they’re her new favorite! Thank you so much!
What can you use if you don’t have bacon grease?
Burger was really good cooked on a sizzling cast iron skillet – It always strange to see the amount of people who post on a recipe who haven’t even cooked the recipe. “Looks good cant wait to try” is no benefit to the recipe post
About to give this recipe a try… sounds like it’s gonna be amazing. I’ll let you know how it turns out… Thanks for the recipe. 💖
Just found this recipe and fixed the burger for lunch!! Out of this world good!! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!!
These burgers are AMAZING. Supremely juicy and flavorful. I added worstichire and two spoonfuls of sour cream to my mix and sweet jesus, it was heaven. I didn’t know homemade burgers could be so good!
Fabulous idea to put the bacon fat into the burger patty. And the bread/milk makes total sense (I’ve seen it done in meatballs but never in burgers).
Thanks Bernard! It really does help flavor the burgers up to add bacon grease. Hope you get to try them soon!
I forgot to let the bacon fat cool down before using… ouch!
Amazing burgers! Just cooked them and it’s a fav! The only thing I did different was use a little melted butter in place of the bacon grease…. I didn’t have any bacon there for no grease. It was quick and simple without having to add 20 things just to make a burger. They were delicious thank you for the recipe!
Now this is what I call a great looking burger – my husband would go nuts over this:)
I love a great burger, and this looks just like that, Christin! You can never go wrong with bacon, either. 🙂
Ohhhh these burgers look bomb indeed! Never thought of adding milk, but it surely makes such awesome burgers!
Hope you have a nice week! xx
Your burger looks really delicious! 🙂 I’ll take two of those and some of your bourbon baked beans and corn too! Sounds great. I grilled salmon on the grill this evening, it was a great afternoon to grill wasn’t it? We have 81 degrees today.
Love a good burger! Everything is better with bacon, right? Looks delicious, Christin!
Did you say Steak-n-Shake good?! Well then I must try them!! I’ve never seen bread or milk or bacon fat inside a burger – what an unusual and smart way to keep them moist!
I can smell them on the grill already!
Looks good! I’m having grass fed burgers tonight 🙂
Juicy burger heaven! Yum! I feel like it’s time to turn on the grill… right now!
Wow this hamburger really looks like a king of hamburgers 🙂
Thanks Medeja! 🙂