A high-street fast-food restaurant inspired these beef burgers. It’s a homemade combination of their famous burger sauce and the chopped salad in their cheeseburger.  

What are Beef Burgers?

Writing a section asking what a beef burger is seems silly, but in case you’ve been living under a rock, here we go. A burger is a type of food consisting of meat, usually ground and moulded into patties, sandwiched between bread.  

The burger is said to have originated in hamburger, Germany, hence the name hamburger, despite the classic burger containing no ham. When cheese is added, it’s called a cheeseburger.  

In the UK, a burger refers to the ground meat rolled into its burger form and the bun and fillings. A whole piece of chicken, either grilled or bread and fried, is also called a chicken burger when served between bread. While in the US, it’s called a chicken sandwich.  

Components of these Beef Burgers

Beef Patties – All you need to make these burgers taste nice is adding salt and pepper to good ground meat. Lean mince seems fashionable nowadays, but low-fat beef mince produces a dryer patty. For the perfect burger, look for beef mince with a fat content of around 20%.  

Burger Sauce – You can buy burger sauce from the shop, but I find them quite sweet. The pickling liquor from the gherkins gives the sauce an acidic tang. When writing this recipe, I struggled with the choice of mustard. English mustard is spicy and provides the sauce with a kick. In contrast, American-style mustard is a little sweeter and helps balance some sharper flavours in the sauce.  

Gherkin Salsa – This salsa was inspired by the cheeseburger and its chopped onions in the classic high-street fast-food burger. It’s as easy as dicing everything into small chunks and allowing it to sit in the smallest amount of lemon juice so the flavours develop.  

Garnish

 Burger buns – I prefer my buns toasted and find a smear of butter prevents them from tasting dry. I’m using sesame-seeded brioche buns, which are rich and sweet, but any soft bun will work.  

Lettuce– I’m using little gem here as I prefer it for its crunch. But any lettuce will work. It’s all down to personal preference.  

Cheese – I must confess, a guilty pleasure of mine is the fake plastic cheese that we often find at barbecues and loaded onto burgers. I justify it by asking why you’d waste a good cheese by melting it. Fake cheese turns into a gooey mess when hot, which is perfect for burgers. However, I’ve opted for cheddar slices, as they have a strong, sharp flavour which contrasts nicely with the brioche bun.

Beef Burgers with Burger Sauce and Gherkin Salsa

These beef burgers were inspired by a high-street fast-food restaurant. It’s a homemade combination of their famous burger sauce and the chopped salad in their cheeseburger.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Calories 632 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 500 g Beef Mince Preferably more than 5% Fat
• Salt to Taste
• 2 Tsp of Sunflower Oil

Burger Sauce

• 2 Tablespoon Tomato Ketchup
• 4 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise
• 2 Teaspoon of American Mustard
• 2 Teaspoon of Gherkin Pickle Liquor

Gherkin Salsa

• 50 g Gherkins Finely Diced
• ½ White Onion Finely Diced
• 5 g Fresh Dill Chopped
• Juice from ½ Lemon
• 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
• Pepper to Taste

Garnish

• 4 Sesame Seeded Buns Cut in half.
• 15 g Butter
• 8 Slices of Cheddar Cheese
• 8 Crisp Baby Gem Leaves

Instructions

 

• Make Gherkin Salsa by mixing the ingredients and leaving it in the fridge for at least 1 hour to allow the flavours to mature. If possible, leave overnight.
• Make the burger patties while mixing the beef, spices, and salt. Separate the beef mix into 4 balls, approximately 125g and roll into a thin flat disc the same length as the burger buns. Refrigerate for 30 mins.
• For the burger sauce, mix the ingredients together and season to taste.
• Remove the burgers from the fridge and heat the oil in a griddle pan over high heat.
• When the pan is hot, sear the burgers for 2 minutes on either side or until the burgers are cooked through. Press down on each burger with a spatula for 10 seconds to prevent them from rising in the middle.
• Top the burgers with cheese, then leave them to rest for 1 minute, then toast the buns lightly under the grill. To achieve the perfect colour, brush with butter or oil.
• Spread the base with Burger Sauce, Gherkin Salsa, Gherkins, and Lettuce, then a cheese covered beef patty.

Keyword Beef, Burger, Fakeaway, Fast Food, Homemade, Mince