The Worlds Most Excellent Five Ingredient Hamburgers

One of the few meals my whole family will eat without complaint is hamburgers. The only caveat is that they must be these Most Perfect Hamburgers. The store-bought frozen pucks just will not do.

Luckily, these perfect hamburgers only require five ingredients. They are fast, easy, and taste as good cooked on the grill or in your cast iron pan. (Or any pan you choose. However, we try to cook everything in cast irons – check out my favorite here).

What are the five ingredients? You should have all of them in your pantry, fridge, and freezer. (check out my post about stocking your pantry/freezer here)

The Fab Five:

Ground beef – lean or extra lean, burgers made with 80% meat and 20% fat taste the best.
Egg
Saltine crackers – optional, and the burgers taste fantastic with or without them. But they help hold everything together and help the burgers stay moist.
Onion
Sea salt and Pepper

That’s it, that’s all folks.

The How:

1.

I like to use a mini chopper for my onions (this one is my favorite) for 2 reasons; 1. My eyes are super sensitive and I can barely see where I’m cutting when I cut onions, and 2. I love getting the onions all juicy for the burgers, it adds much more flavour. I also love to throw my saltine crackers in there after to absorb any remaining onion. Mix all ingredients, be sure not to over mix otherwise you will have dry burgers and divide into equal patties. Be sure to make an indent in the middle of each patty with your thumb to ensure even cooking and prevent your burger from shrinking. (Thanks Rachael Ray for the tip!).

*I know I have seven burgers here but I’ve been having to make a bit more since my oldest likes to take one for lunch the next day.

2.

Place on a heated grill or pan and season each patty with a sprinkle of sea salt. Cook for about five minutes per side until cooked. DO NOT FLATTEN YOUR BURGERS WITH A SPATULA! Okay, I’m sorry I got a little excited there. But for real, do not flatten your burgers while they are cooking, it doesn’t make them cook faster or taste better. All this does is squeeze out the juices that will make the burger taste delicious.

3.

After you flip the burgers add your favorite cheese if this pleases you. I love a good sharp cheddar or maybe some havarti.

Once your burgers are cooked serve them with your favorite condiments. I love to fry up some onions in butter and toast my bun in the onion pan, this is all I need to make me sublimely happy. The kids are happy with just a plain burger, sometimes without even a bun.