I know you know how to make a cheeseburger … but as it turns out, I have some tips you might find useful! From the best beef to the best bun to the best cheese, today’s burger recipe also comes with your choice of burger sauces: a tomato one or my quick creamy Special Burger Sauce. Plus, homemade fries!

The only questions left are really, single or double cheeseburger?? Stove or BBQ??

Cheeseburger recipe

Anybody who claims the sight of a big juicy cheeseburger doesn’t get their blood pumping is either made of stone or a vegetarian! 😂

And anybody reading this is neither of those things, right?? 😂 We are people who hold burgers like we are clutching onto dear life, like this! ⬇⬇⬇

And we are people who go gaga over sights like this (noting that in no way does the following represent reality because I mean, who cuts burgers with a knife??):

Pictures, done. On to business then – how to make them!

What you need for a great cheeseburger

Here is (in my humble opinion) what you need to make a great cheeseburger:

1. The beef: No need to get (too) snobby

My simple view: The better the beef, the better the flavour, but I would never turn my nose up at a burger made with everyday supermarket beef. Here’s my skinny on beef:

• For company: 50/50 brisket and chuck with 20% fat, ground to order by the butcher. Brisket brings really good beefy flavour, and chuck for texture.

• For the everyday: Standard beef mince from the grocery store still makes a great burger. Mince can be a mixture of any cuts and offcuts but is usually predominantly chuck. Fattier mince = juicy and more flavourful. Leaner mince = still fine but not as juicy. You pick (guess which camp both my feet are in! 😂)

• Single vs double cheeseburger: The decision is entirely up to you. I use 150g / 5 oz per patty for a 10cm / 4″ wide bun, so just double up if you want a double. Yes, a double is big and mighty and indulgent…. but it’s such a good treat!

2. The cheese: Processed for authenticity!

For the truly classic cheeseburger experience, we need processed cheese. Nothing oozes, stretches and runs the way proper, luridly orange processed American cheese does when it melts. Natural be damned – we’re in this for the nostalgia and the authenticity!

These days in Australia, there’s even cheese helpfully labelled “Burger Slices” so we can’t get it wrong!

That said, don’t let my loyalty to processed cheese stop you from using any melting cheese you want. Swiss, cheddar, tasty, colby, gruyere – or an even fancier cheese if you so desire / your wallet stretches that far!

3. The bun: Soft and white

Soft white buns, preferably with sesame seeds, are in my opinion the only way to go. Soft is essential so it becomes one with everything jammed inside. There is a time and place for crusty artisan breads, but now is not it!

There is also a time for wholemeal breads, seeded breads and olive studded breads – but again, now is not the time! 😂 (But really I jest – use whatever bread you want.)

As for size….

I always hunt down burger buns around 10cm / 4″ in diameter. Why? Because I like my patties to cover the bun from edge to edge, and it becomes a little more logistically challenging to make patties larger than 10cm when you factor in a 25% diameter shrinkage as they cook.

Nothing is more irritating than taking a giant bite of a burger only to end up with a mouthful of juicy air sandwiched between two pieces of bread.

So my rule of thumb is 10cm / 4″ of so. It’s a safe size, and also a practical size in that it’s a filling meal for one person. Even for someone with a hearty appetite such as myself.

4. The green stuff and pickled stuff

• Lettuce – Cos/romaine and shredded iceberg lettuce are about as classic as you can get with burgers. If you want to get gourmet with baby greens, rocket/arugula, spinach or even kale, go right ahead (I promise I’m not judging you!)

• Onion – Raw red onion rings are my onion of choice. I like the bite and freshness they bring as a foil to all the fatty beefiness of the burger. For those who find them too harsh, alternatives are to dice them then scatter just a bit on your burger, or cook ordinary (not red) onions instead.

• Tomato – As with the onion, tomato brings moisture and a touch of welcome freshness to this stack of goodness.

• Pickles (BIG!) – Opt for big gherkins rather than small ones, else you’ll end up with a burger scattered with dozens of tiny little gherkin rounds! And that ain’t cool.

5. The sauce

And last but not least, the sauces. You can absolutely stick to the tried-and-true ketchup / mustard script. But today, I’m also sharing two homemade burger sauces:

1. Special Burger Sauce – An orange-hued, mayonnaise-based sauce that’s a blatant copycat of a popular burger sauce sold at grocery stores; and

2. Tomato Burger Sauce – Essentially a quick tomato chutney. But it has a more savoury flavour which I think suits burgers better than traditional chutney which is traditionally quite sweet and flavoured with distracting things like ginger, chilli and cardamom.

More burger sauce options

• Ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce) – straight out of the bottle, just as it is!

• Mayonnaise – plain (the Special Burger Sauce is a flavoured version)

• Yellow mustard – I’m talking the bright yellow stuff, sometimes labelled “American mustard”. (Caution: Don’t accidentally get the bright yellow Hot English Mustard which is spicy!)

• Barbecue sauce – See my Barbecue Pork Ribs recipe for a classic homemade Barbecue Sauce recipe.

• Thousand island sauce – A creamy pink sauce made with mayonnaise and ketchup that’s popular with seafood (Aussie favourite prawn dipping sauce!). Recipe here.

OK! The ingredients done, let’s move on to the cook part!

How to make great cheeseburgers

If a BBQ isn’t an option, switch your range hood to max and cook on the stove in a heavy cast iron skillet. Give your non-stick pan the night off – it doesn’t cope well with high heat cooking!

1. The cheeseburger patty

1. Form patties – Separate the beef into 4 mounds, or 8 if making double cheeseburgers. Gently roll each mound into a ball (not firmly, we want tender patties not rock hard ones!) then press down into a patty that is slightly wider than the burger bun, to factor in cooking shrinkage.

   As noted above, I like using buns that are maximum 10 cm / 4″ wide so the patty is proportionally a good size and thickness. If your buns are much larger, I’d recommend using more beef else you’ll end up with wafer-thin patties, or patties that are way smaller than your buns!

2. Tip #1 – Dent your patty in the middle. Thinning the centre of the patty compensates for the tendency of the patty to dome up in the middle as it cooks. It also reduces the overall patty shrinkage during cooking. Doing this means there’s no need to squash the burger to keep it flat and even as it cooks (losing precious juices!) Use your fingers or the back of your hand to press a dent into the centre of the patty. A neat trick I picked up from Bobby Flay many years ago!

3. Photo 3: The dent – Here’s what it looks like. It doesn’t need to be even or deep, just a slight inwards curve, so the patty is shaped a bit like a red blood cell.

4. Tip #2 – Salt JUST before cooking. My second key tip is to only salt the patty just before cooking. If you salt your patty ahead of time and leave it sitting around, the cooked patty ends up much firmer. This is because the salt acts on the meat proteins and changes their chemistry. Go ahead and give it a go, if you want to see it for yourself! I salt mine while the skillet is pre-heating.

2. Cooking the patties

1. Cast iron skillet – Preheat oil in a heavy-based cast iron skillet over high heat until it is very, very hot. Why a cast-iron skillet? Because it’s made for high heat fast cooking so we can get a great caramelised dark brown crust without overcooking the inside. This burger patty cooks in 3 minutes flat!

   Don’t have a cast-iron skillet? You can use a non-stick frying pan but just heat the oil until hot, not smoking. Don’t cook it as aggressively as I do in the recipe video below (ie. very, very hot skillet) or you may damage the non-stick coating. You probably won’t get quite the same colour on the crust but avoid the temptation to cook for longer as you’ll end up with overcooked insides.

   BBQ/Grilling option – see box below for directions!

2. 3-minute cook – Place 2 or 4 patties in the skillet (depending how many fit) and cook the first side for 1 1/2 minutes, pressing down LIGHTLY with a spatula. Note the emphasis on “lightly”! Nobody likes dense, hard patties where all the juice has been squeezed out during the cooking phase!

3. Flip & cheese – Flip the burgers then immediately top with cheese and cook for another 1 1/2 minutes.

4. Melted! And look at that. A perfectly cooked patty and melted cheese draped over it. A flawless burger!

How to BBQ/Grill cheeseburgers

Better than cooking indoors! If your BBQ hot plate / grill is well-seasoned, you won’t need oil, especially given the beef patties are quite fatty too. If your BBQ isn’t well-seasoned, then brush lightly with canola or vegetable oil (or use a scrunched up paper or two).

Preheat your BBQ on high heat until you see wisps of smoke, ie. very hot. Then simply cook the patties per the recipe directions (1 1/2 minutes on each side). You can also toast the buns on the BBQ by placing the cut face down on the grills.

3. Assembling cheeseburgers

This is the order in which I like to build burgers because I think it’s the most structurally stable. Anybody who’s bitten into a giant burger only to have a slice of tomato jettisoned out the other end knows exactly what I’m talking about!

1. Toast the buns under the grill/broiler for a few minutes until light golden. I only do the cut face because I like to keep the round outside faces soft. Using your BBQ? Just pop them face down straight onto the grill.

2. Smear with sauce of choice. In the photo above I’m using my homemade tomato chutney burger sauce and in the video you’ll also see me using my creamy pink Special Burger Sauce. No need to choose – sometimes I use both. 🤷🏻‍♀️

3. Lettuce → tomato → patty – I put lettuce down first because it kind of “sticks” to the sauce followed by tomato then the patty (or patties!)

4. Gherkins → onion – Next, gherkins are scattered across the cheese (they kind of naturally adhere which is nice) followed by onion.

5. Sauce on lid – Finally I also usually smear the sauce on the lid though if I’m feeling extra saucy I’ll spoon additional sauce straight onto the burger stack instead or (gasp shock horror!) as well. 😇

6. Jam the lid on top then demolish your burger!

It’s your burger – you do you

I know this cheeseburger recipe contains clear statements regarding what I think makes a great cheeseburger. However, I don’t believe in burger dogma. I’ve always been a firm believer that you should never let anyone tell you what you should or should not put in your burger.

So really, make yours how you wish. Ignore all my tips, do what you want. And share your Great Burger tips in the comments below! – Nagi x

PS. If accompanying crispy French fries is on your list of “non-negotiables” for burger meal bliss, I wholeheartedly agree. My long-awaited French fries recipe has finally arrived! I promise you will love them. They are a game changer. 😇

Watch how to make it

PS. I filmed this during a time when there were national supply issues with some lettuces, so I had to resort to butter lettuce. Nobody panic, I survived.

Also – Crispy French Fries recipe has been published! Make it!

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Cheeseburgers (double or single)

Recipe video above. This cheeseburger recipe assumes your bun is 10cm/4" wide. If it's larger, you may want to scale up the beef so you don't end up with wafer-thin patties or a burger patty that's much smaller than your bun. Nobody likes biting into bread with no beef!!

Slather with sauce of choice though for a really great burger experience, try my Special Burger Sauce (quick, no cook) or my Tomato Chutney for Burgers.

Course BBQ/Grilling, Mains

Cuisine Western

Keyword cheeseburger, Hamburger recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Resting 3 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 755cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Single Cheeseburgers:

• 600 g / 1.2 lb beef mince (ground beef) , at least 20% fat (Note 1 for quality)

Mighty Double Cheeseburgers:

• 1.2 kg / 2.4 lb beef mince (ground beef) , at least 20% fat (Note 1 for quality)

Cooking:

• 1/8 tsp each salt and pepper PER burger
• 2 – 3 tbsp canola oil

Everything else you need:

• 4 soft burger buns or rolls , around 10cm/4″ wide (Note 2)
• 4 – 8 slices burger cheese (American) or other cheese or choice (Note 3)
• 8 cos/romaine lettuce leaves , torn to size (or shredded iceberg)
• 2 large tomatoes , cut into eight 7mm/ 1/4" slices
• 1 red onion , finely sliced into rings (Note 4)
• 2 large gherkins , finely sliced (Note 5)

Sauce options:

• Special Burger Sauce (creamy orangey/pink one, quick no cook)
• Tomato chutney for burgers
• Ketchup
• Mustard

On the side:

• French fries (and it’s epic!)

Instructions

• Patties: Separate the beef into 4 equal portions, or 8 if making double cheeseburgers (do it!). Gently roll each portion into balls then press down into round patties that are slightly larger than your bun to allow for shrinkage (12 cm / 4.7" wide, 1 cm / 0.4" thick for a 10cm / 4" burger bun).
• Prepare: Get all your burger bits and pieces out and ready to use. Don't salt your beef until just before cooking (it toughens the meat).
• Toast buns: Preheat the grill to high. Place the bread cut face up on a tray and toast for 3 to 5 minutes until light golden. (If using BBQ, place cut face down on the grill). Set aside.
• Dent patty: Sprinkle one side of patties with half the salt and pepper. Flip, then press a dent into the middle of each patty. (Prevents patties doming when cooking and reduces shrinkage!). Sprinkle this dented side with the remaining salt and pepper.

Stove:

• Preheat 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot – smoking hot! (Note 6)
• Cook: Cook 2 to 4 patties (whatever fits in the pan) for 1 1/2 minutes. Press down lightly with a spatula (not too hard else the meat juices squeeze out!). Flip, then immediately top with a slice of cheese. Cook for another 1 1/2 minutes (cheese will melt by itself!) then transfer burgers to a tray to rest for 3 minutes.

BBQ/Grilling:

• Preheat: If your BBQ hot plate/grill is well seasoned (ie oiled), there is no need to oil before cooking. If not, lightly brush with vegetable or canola oil (or use scrunched up paper towel). Then preheat your BBQ on high until very hot and you see wisps of smoke.
• Cook the burgers per above directions for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, topping with cheese as soon as you flip, then resting for 3 minutes. (You can also toast the buns on the grill (face down on the grills, 2 – 3 minutes.)

Assemble:

• Slather the base of the bun with your sauce of choice. My order of assembly: lettuce, tomato, burger (x 2 for double!), gherkins, onion, sauce on bun lid, jam it on top of the stack.
• DEVOUR with French Fries on the side.

Notes

Batch cooking: If you are making a big batch, keep buns and cooked patties warm in a 50°C/122°F oven while you continue cooking.

1. Beef quality:

• My favourite blend for flavour and juiciness – 50/50 brisket and chuck, ground to order from the butcher, with 20% fat.
• Supermarket mince – Nobody in my circles turns their nose up at burgers made with supermarket beef mince. The trick is to follow my specific direction to salt it just before cooking as the patty is far more tender once cooked. And also, lean = less flavour and less juicy (fat is where beef flavour is).

2. Burger buns – See intro for commentary. Brioche buns are premium, else any soft white buns that aren’t too gigantic (why-oh-why are Aussie hamburger buns so BIG?? So hard to cook hamburger patties that size!). Doesn’t have to be called hamburger buns, you can just get soft white rolls (best to skip crusty/seedy/wholemeal/fancy stuff).

3. Cheese – for a true cheeseburger experience, opt for the processed cheese! Sold in Australian grocery stores helpfully labelled “burger cheese”, see in post for photo.

4. Onion – If you’re not a fan of raw onion (I personally like how it breaks up the richness of the burger), you can either dice then scatter over the sauce on the base of the bun (like McDonald’s does) or cook it in a little oil with a pinch of salt and pepper (I’d use brown/yellow onions instead).

5. Gherkins – large is just more practical so you only need a few slices to cover the burger. If you only have the small ones on hand, slice them lengthwise rather than into rounds

6. Pan – If you’ve only got a non stick pan, that’s fine but just don’t cook your burger as aggressively as I do in a smoking hot skillet else you will destroy your non stick coating. You won’t get quite the same charring but it will still be delicious!

7. Nutrition – Per burger, counting burgers, toppings and buns only. Condiments including Special Sauce not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 755cal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 51g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 20g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 146mg | Sodium: 750mg | Potassium: 727mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1166IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 533mg | Iron: 5mg

Life of Dozer

Dear Dozer fans: Don’t miss Dozer’s cameo in today’s recipe video. Don’t worry about the recipe, just skip straight to 1 minutes 55 seconds to see Dozer.😂

And here he is, looking mighty unimpressed at the sad McDonald’s Big Mac I got for study purposes to compare Maccas’ special sauce to my recipe. (Spoiler: no comparison!!!)

The post Cheeseburger – double or single appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

A great homemade burger sauce is an easy win to shift a big juicy burger from yum territory to holy-crapola-this-is-amazing land! Besides, when a burger sauce recipe is this easy and so much better, nobody has an excuse to resort to those squeezy bottles of overly-sweet sauce sold at grocery stores…..

I have two go-to burger sauce recipes: a tomato chutney-like one (25 minutes on the stove) and this creamy one (a quick 20 second mix job). You probably figured why the latter is especially popular in my circles. 😂

Copycat Heinz Secret Burger Sauce

This burger sauce is a copycat of Heinz Secret Burger Sauce. Except theirs includes acidity regulators (260, 330), stabilisers (412, 415), and preservatives (202, 224), to name a few of the more tantalising ingredients on the label.

This burger sauce recipe does not.

Even using store-bought mayonnaise, which I have done so here, this sauce still leaves the Heinz stuff in the dust! (I really need to pop a mayo recipe on my website, don’t I??!)

Sauce talk: Different sauces for burgers

With the rise of gourmet burgers, you see all sorts of condiments, sauces and relishes on hamburgers these days! But here’s a core list of my favourite burger sauces I use:

• Ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce) – Straight out of the bottle, just as it is!

• Mayonnaise – Plain, or flavoured like this Special Burger Sauce recipe (see below).

• Yellow mustard – I’m talking the garish yellow stuff, sometimes labelled “American mustard”. (Caution: Don’t accidentally use the other bright yellow mustard, Hot English Mustard, which is spicy!)

• Creamy burger sauce (this recipe) – A mayonnaise-based savoury burger sauce, usually with little bits of gherkins in it.

• Tomato burger sauce (chutney/relish, recipe here) – A slightly chunky style sauce that’s similar to tomato chutney except not as sweet and with less earthy spices like cardamom, ginger etc.

• Thousand Island sauce – A creamy pink sauce made with a mix of mayonnaise and ketchup that’s popular with seafood (Aussies’ favourite prawn dipping sauce!) Recipe here.

• Barbecue sauce – See my Barbecue Pork Ribs recipe for a classic homemade Barbecue Sauce recipe.

Ingredients in homemade burger sauce

Here’s what you need to make this burger sauce.

• Sweet gherkins – These are gherkins that are (as the name may give away!) sweet as well as tangy rather than just tangy. Substituting with any gherkin / pickled cucumber will work fine here, but one that leans sweet is best if you want to replicate the store bought burger sauces.

• Juice from gherkin jar – We to use some of the pickling juices for tang and flavour in our sauce. A neat trick!

• Mayonnaise – I like using whole egg mayonnaise for a smoother, more rounded flavour. Hellmans and S&W are two popular brands here in Australia. Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise is extra-creamy and also great, albeit more expensive. Substitute with any ordinary mayonnaise, but the flavour may be slightly sharper and sweeter.

• American yellow mustard – We’re after that artificially bright yellow stuff here which adds flavour and colour warmth to the sauce. Not to be confused with hot English mustard which is a similar colour but very spicy! Substitute with any smooth mustard, like Dijon.

• White wine vinegar – Brings the main sharpness to the sauce. Substitute with apple cider vinegar. If you’ve only got ordinary white vinegar, reduce by about 1/3.

• White sugar – We need a little sweetness to balance the sauce. I just use white but brown will work fine too.

• Spices – Paprika (which makes the sauce a bit pinky), onion powder and garlic granules (substitute with garlic powder). Onion and garlic powder can be substituted with more of the other.

How to make special burger sauce

It’s very technical … dump and mix. 😂 We need more recipes like this!!!

Using the burger sauce – double up!

I was born with the instinct to double up – sauce on the bottom lid and smeared on the top lid or drizzled over the burger patty stack piled up in the bun. I can’t imagine just smearing it on the lid or base of the bun – am I wrong??

I know you know how to mix together a bunch of ingredients but I made a quick little how-to video for you anyway. Mainly as an excuse to show off how good hamburgers are with homemade sauce.

I hope you give this a go one day! Let me know in the comments below if you do. – Nagi x

PS. And if you want a Cheeseburger to slather this on, just head right here.

Watch how to make it

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Special Burger Sauce

Recipe video above. A great homemade burger sauce is an easy win to elevate a big juicy hamburger from yum to holy crapola, this is so good!!! Dead easy and so much better than store bought. Slather on your favourite burger (here are all my Burger recipes) or try the Cheeseburger recipe pictured in post!

Want a tomato one? Try this Tomato Chutney for Burgers.

Makes just over 3/4 cup, enough for 4 – 5 burgers.

Course Sauce

Cuisine Western

Keyword burger sauce, hamburger sauce

Prep Time 5 minutes

Servings 4 – 5 burgers

Calories 220cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole egg mayonnaise (Note 1)
• 1 tbsp American yellow mustard (Note 2)
• 2 tbsp sweet gherkins finely chopped (Note 3)
• 2 tsp gherkin juice (from the pickle jar) (Note 4)
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar (Note 5)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic granules (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Cups – Metric

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or jug and stir until smooth.
• Use for burgers – browse my Burger collection or try the latest and greatest Cheeseburger! I generously slather on the base bun as well as the lid (or drizzle the stack).

Notes

1. Mayo – whole egg has a smoother, more rounded flavour than non-whole-egg mayo. I like Hellmans and S&W. Ordinary mayo works fine too, kewpie is also great!

2. Mustard – not to be confused with hot English mustard which is the same colour but very, very spicy! Sub with any other smooth mustard.

3. Sweet gherkins are gherkins with a touch more sugar. Ordinary gherkins will work fine too.

4. Pickle juice – This is the juices from the pickle jar.

5. Vinegar – apple cider vinegar is the best substitute, otherwise any other clear vinegar. If using ordinary distilled white vinegar reduce by a touch (it’s a bit sharper).

6. Storage – Should keep for the shelf life of the mayonnaise. 

7. Nutrition per serving assuming 5 servings.

Nutrition

Calories: 220cal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 251mg | Potassium: 27mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 165IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg

Life of Dozer

A typical early evening stroll – he disappears off into the distance then I have to use the maximum zoom on my phone to locate him (yup, he’s peeing). 😂

The post Special Burger Sauce appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

To accompany today’s cheeseburger recipe, here’s a tomato chutney designed especially to be a burger sauce. Having said that, I’ve been using it as an all-rounder condiment for everything from sandwiches to scrambled eggs, pork chops to chargrilled skirt steak! I especially like that it’s not as sweet as traditional tomato chutney.

Need a fast sauce for your hamburger? Try my Special Burger Sauce!

Tomato chutney burger sauce

This is a tomato burger sauce which is pretty much a tomato chutney. The main differences being that traditional tomato chutney is usually sweeter, and typically includes a good amount of onion plus spices like ginger, chilli and sometimes cardamom. Not really natural pairings with beefy burgers!

Instead, I’ve gone with more savoury flavourings such as Worcestershire sauce, paprika, onion and garlic powder.

Different in flavouring it may be, but this burger sauce is just as versatile as traditional tomato chutney. See the section below for suggestions for use!

Best sauce for burgers

With the rise of gourmet burgers, you see all sorts of sauces and relishes on hamburgers these days! But here’s a core list of burger sauces I use:

• Ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce) – straight out of the bottle, just as it is!

• Mayonnaise – plain, or flavoured like this Special Burger Sauce recipe.

• Yellow mustard – I’m talking the bright yellow stuff, sometimes labelled “American mustard”. (Caution: Don’t accidentally get the bright yellow Hot English Mustard which is spicy!)

• Creamy burger sauce (recipe here) – A mayonnaise based savoury burger sauce, usually with little bits of gherkins in it.

• Tomato burger sauce (chutney/relish, this recipe) – A slightly chunky style sauce that’s similar to tomato chutney except not as sweet and less earthy spices like cardamom, ginger etc.

• Thousand island sauce – A creamy pink sauce made with mayonnaise and ketchup that’s popular with seafood (Aussie favourite prawn dipping sauce!). Recipe here.

• Barbecue sauce – See my Barbecue Pork Ribs recipe for a classic homemade Barbecue Sauce recipe.

What goes in tomato chutney sauce for burgers

Here’s what you need for this tomato chutney sauce for burgers:

• Canned tomato – I like to use crushed as I think it’s got the best texture for the intended use. But diced will work too, though the sauce will look a little chunkier.

• Worcestershire sauce – A good hit of savoury flavour.

• Brown sugar – For sweetness, though you’ll find that this sauce is much less sweet than typical tomato chutney.

• Apple cider vinegar – This brings the tang to this sauce which works well together with all the rich juicy meatiness and cheesiness in burgers.

• Spices – These are the seasonings for this tomato burger sauce. We can be a bit flexible here:

  • Garlic powder – substitute with 1/2 garlic clove, finely minced, or more onion powder

  • Onion powder – substitute with more garlic powder

  • Smoked paprika – substitute with ordinary paprika

  • Mustard powder – use ordinary mustard spread instead (not a spicy one like Hot English Mustard, unless you’re intentionally trying to make it spicy!)

  • Celery salt – substitute with plain salt

How to make tomato burger sauce

Nice and easy – just place everything in a saucepan, stir to combine then simmer for 25 minutes on medium low until it reduces down enough so you can draw a path across the base of the saucepan.

Lovely concentrated tomato flavour going on here! Just what we want.

Batch size and storing

This recipe makes around 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) which is enough for 5 to 6 burgers. Not a big batch recipe like you’d ordinarily do for chutneys as I am sharing this recipe to be the sauce for Cheeseburgers which I also published today.

Storing – Store in sterilised jars for up to 6 weeks, or 1 week in normal containers, or 3 months in the freezer.

Ways to use this tomato chutney

As I mentioned at the beginning – and in fact, in the title (!) – this is a tomato chutney that was created specifically to be a sauce for slathering onto juicy burgers. Specifically, the big, juicy Cheeseburgers I also published today though you could also have a leisurely browse through my burger collection!

Having said that, as I also mentioned at the start, I’ve really enjoyed using this as a condiment much like any tomato chutney. In fact, possibly more because it’s got a fraction of the sweetness of traditional tomato chutney!

Here are the other ways to use this:

• In sandwiches (exceptional with Meatloaf sandwiches!)

• Dipping sauce – for things like beer battered fish, crumbed chicken tenders, beef kabobs

• Dolloping on – pretty much any roast, egg white or normal omelettes, plain poached or baked chicken breast, grilled sausages (yes!), a simple piece of pan fried fish or grilled steak (try skirt steak!).

• Crostini or any toasted bread – Either smear with something like ricotta then dollop over this tomato chutney, or smear with this chutney then scatter over crumbled marinated feta or goats cheese. YUM.

And that’s just a front of mind brain dump. Tell me in the comments below all the other possibilities I haven’t mentioned! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

It’s not a hard recipe, but I just wanted an excuse to show you how amazing a burger is with this tomato chutney!!

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Quick tomato chutney sauce for burgers

Recipe video above. We can do better than ketchup! This is essentially a tomato chutney but far less sweet and doesn't include ginger, chilli or other spices you often find in chutney (which I didn't want for a burger sauce). Use for your burger of choice and anything you'd ordinarily dollop/smear chutney on – see in post for extensive suggestion.

Makes 1 1/2 cups, enough to generously slather onto 5 to 6 burgers (But I'm quite greedy).

Course Sauce

Cuisine Western

Keyword sauce for burgers, tomato chutney, tomato relish

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Calories 65cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 800 g / 28 oz canned tomato , crushed or diced
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Mix all the ingredients in a medium saucepan.
• Simmer Bring to a simmer over medium heat then lower heat to medium low so it's simmering gently.
• Cook for 25 minutes, stirring regularly, until it reduces down and is thick enough so you can draw a path across the base of the saucepan (see video or step photos).
• Cool & slather: Transfer into a bowl. For use on burgers, cool then slather. Browse my Burger collection for options! If using to dollop or dip for any number of the other suggested uses in the post, use warm or cooled!

Notes

Substitutions (it’s a forgiving recipe):

• Brown sugar -> white sugar
• Garlic powder -> 1/2 garlic clove finely minced or more onion powder
• Onion powder -> more garlic powder
• Smoked paprika -> ordinary paprika
• Mustard powder -> 1/2 tsp any smooth mustard (perhaps not hot English mustard though!)
• Celery salt -> ordinary salt

Leftovers will keep for 6 weeks in sterilised jars, a week in the fridge in ordinary containers, or 3 months in the freezer.

Nutrition assuming 5 servings.

Nutrition

Calories: 65cal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 506mg | Potassium: 435mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 330IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 2mg

Life of Dozer

Yesterday – early evening stroll on the golf course. Shocked he didn’t roll in duck poo which is his usual MO.

The post Quick tomato chutney burger sauce appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Smashing mince into a wafer-like patty not only cooks it faster, it’s an express ticket to flavour. Crispy, charred burger edges PLUS dinner in 10 minutes flat!

Find the recipe on page 84 of Dinner.

This is a cookbook exclusive recipe!

This recipe is exclusive to my debut cookbook Dinner which includes a how-to video for every recipe. Just scan the QR code!

Just to explain….

I know, it’s confusing! You’re so used to getting recipes on my website – there’s over 1,200 of them, after all. And here you are looking at a tasty recipe video and I haven’t provided the recipe. 🙀

I’m not just doing this to torture you, I promise.

This page exists to display the how-to video for this recipe which I exclusively created for my debut cookbook, Dinner. Every recipe in the cookbook has a tutorial video. To watch it, you simply scan the QR code with your phone or tablet and it will take you straight to the recipe video like the one shown above!

Curious about my cookbook?

• Read the cookbook overview

• Browse all cookbook exclusive recipes here

• Read the Cookbook Tales. Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of dirty dishes!! And quite a lot of Dozer. 😂

Stay tuned for more on this page! Some cookbook exclusive recipes will have extra information added as well as extra tips. I am also looking at enabling comments for selected recipes so I can answer reader questions about cookbook recipes. I’m just a little snowed under during this launch period – book tours, getting 131 recipe videos out, launching the book overseas. Please bear with me! – Nagi x (10 October 2022)

Just to explain….

I know, it’s confusing! You’re so used to getting recipes on my website – there’s over 1,200 of them, after all. And here you are looking at a tasty recipe video and I haven’t provided the recipe. 🙀

I’m not just doing this to torture you, I promise.

This page exists to display the how-to video for this recipe which I exclusively created for my debut cookbook, Dinner. Every recipe in the cookbook has a tutorial video. To watch it, you simply scan the QR code with your phone or tablet and it will take you straight to the recipe video like the one shown above!

Curious about my cookbook?

• Read the cookbook overview

• Browse all cookbook exclusive recipes here

• Read the Cookbook Tales. Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of dirty dishes!! And quite a lot of Dozer. 😂

Stay tuned for more on this page! Some cookbook exclusive recipes will have extra information added as well as extra tips. I am also looking at enabling comments for selected recipes so I can answer reader questions about cookbook recipes. I’m just a little snowed under during this launch period – book tours, getting 131 recipe videos out, launching the book overseas. Please bear with me! – Nagi x (10 October 2022)

The post 3-Minute Double Smash Burgers appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.