National Hamburger Month: Easy Hamburger Recipes

The hamburger. Most of us know it as a beef patty, topped with a variety of toppings, sometimes including a piece of cheese, and sandwiched between two buns. The hamburger is basically an American tradition, and the image of someone flipping hamburgers over a grill is one that all of us are familiar with. It’s no surprise then that we’ve got a whole month to celebrate everything having to do with hamburgers. That’s right, May is National Hamburger Month, and I couldn’t be more excited.

No one can say for a fact who came up with the first hamburger in America, but one thing is for sure…we’ve come a long way since those burger beginnings. Nowadays, making a hamburger is almost an art, with people experimenting with new toppings, different meat (and non-meat) mixtures, different ways of sandwiching them, cooking them, and more. And while hamburgers may have had their start at cookouts, drive-ins, and hamburger stands, today they can be found on many different restaurant menus.

So, in honor of National Hamburger Month and my personal love for hamburgers (after all, they are a kind of sandwich…) I’m going to share some easy hamburger recipes and tips for you to try this weekend, this summer, or anytime you’re feeling like biting into a juicy beef patty.

Before I share some easy hamburger recipes with you, I think we need to talk toppings and what some of your favorites are. According to this infographic based on Weber’s 25^th Annual GrillWatch Survey, these are America’s Top 10 Burger Toppings:

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/fullpage/americas-top-10-burger-toppings-infographic-23815935

Pretty interesting! And it looks like most people will agree that ketchup is definitely a must-have on a hamburger, which makes me very happy. 🙂

Okay, onto the burgers! Here are 10 simple hamburger recipes from the Mr. Food Test Kitchen to get you started on your burger-making journey:

1) Good Old American Burger – When you’re craving the classic, this is the burger to make.

2) BBQ Chipotle Burgers – This burger is quite the cowboy. The ground beef is mixed together with chipotle adobo and barbecue sauce, so you get a taste of the southwest in every bite. Top it off with some coleslaw and this burger is basically a Texas native.

3) Taco Burgers – Mashups are always fun, and this is an easy one to do. I’d even top this burger off with my favorite taco toppings (guacamole anyone?). Hmm…and what about replacing the buns with soft tortillas?

4) Fiery Onion Cheeseburgers – There’s nothing like grilled, sweet onions on top of a burger, and this burger is covered in them. This burger recipe is not for the faint of heart though: it’s got chili sauce, green chilies, and Pepper jack cheese. Yum!

5) Caesar Burger – Who says you can’t enjoy your favorite dinner salad AND a burger at the same time?

6) BLT Burgers – I love that the BLT combination is in everything these days, including this burger recipe. The bacon is actually chopped and cooked inside the meat, which means you never have to suffer a bite without bacon. My mouth is watering already.

7) Mushroom and Swiss Burgers – Mushroom and Swiss is another combination that always goes well together. The mushrooms are sautéed with butter before being placed on the burger, so you know they’re going to be good.

8) Eggs Benedict Burger – I don’t need a lot of reasons to have breakfast for dinner or vice versa, but this burger makes it easy for it to seem okay. Fried egg on a burger? Yes, please.

9) Bacon Blue Cheese Burgers – I have a friend who swears by hamburgers filled with blue cheese. I think the sharp flavors of the blue cheese would go great with the ground beef. And bacon, well…nothing needs to be said about that. I’m going to have to try this burger recipe at home real soon.

10) Old-Fashioned Patty Melts – I left this one for last because it’s my personal favorite. Honestly, the last time the Test Kitchen made this stovetop burger recipe, I ate two of them in one sitting. I think I even took another one for dinner that night. Anyway, this recipe is fantastic. It’s got everything I love: cheese, onions, and crusty bread. It’s buttery, creamy, cheesy, and…okay, you just have to try it for yourself.

Now that you have all of these hamburger recipe ideas, you’re probably going to want to give them a try soon. Before you do, I suggest you check out this helpful page featuring tips and tricks for making sure you end up with flavorful and juicy burgers every time.

And in case you’re trying to cut back on eating ground beef, you’re following a vegetarian diet, or you’re just trying to mix up your menu, here are some other tasty burger ideas: