What can improve the taste of a hamburger?

Question

Besides the usual lettuce,mustard,etc?

Answer 1

First of all I NEVER add anything to the ground beef! NOTHING! Chopped or diced ingredients like tomatoes onions etc., will always cause a tendency for the patty to break apart while cooking or eating, also you have to make the patty way too thick to prevent this! Egg, sauces, ketchup, etc will require the addition of bread or cracker crumbs - yecchhh! do you want a ground beef burger or a bread burger? Also the wet ingredients will cause the burger to "boil" itself from inside instead of searing and grilling properly.

Select the best lean ground beef, make sure the meat is well refrigerated (this helps when forming the patties), use folded wax paper to help to flatten and form the patties evenly. They should be large and "thinish" as they will shrink inward and fatten during cooking. When you have made the patties, you salt and pepper on both sides, (can also put garlic powder or sustitute garlic salt for the salt,) you can then freeze them using the wax paper to separate them in the freezer. (They will cook beautifully when frozen!)

All the flavoring you wish should be added after cooking: onion, tomato, lettuce, pickles, mushrooms, avocado, pickled jalapeños, mustards, relish, steak sauce, bbq sauce, green chili sauce, etc. (Cheese and bacon are added just before removing from the pan/grill so it melts perfectly on top and "sticks" the bacon!)

(Also I like to use Kaisar, sour dough or seseme buns, Mexican "telera" buns, bakery fresh hamburger buns, almost anything but the comercial bagged "hamburger bun" which is often dried out, too soft, badly sliced, filled with chemical preservatives and tasteless.........)

Answer 2

Nasty Burgers

1 egg
Crackers
Garlic Powder
BBQ Sauce
Ketchup
Any other spices you may want to add to the mixture.
** this is alot like mixing up meat loaf so there really isnt a set recipe, just eyeball it. and fix them like a regular hamburger.

If you dont think that sounds good - try some of these recipes:

Hamburger Casserole

1lb hamburger
1 can tomatoes (about 2 cups)
2 tsp. salt
1/2 C rice

Brown hamburger. Add tomatoes, salt, and rice. Cook gently in a large skillet, covered, until the rice is done and the liquid has cooked down. This dish can be made in about 35 to 40 minutes.

Hamburger Delight

2 lb browned hamburger
2 tbs. cumin seed
4 tbs. sugar
3 cans (8oz) tomato sauce
garlic or salt
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbs. oregano
2 tbs. chilli powder
2 cans (6oz) tomato paste

Add 6 paste cans of water. Simmer, add 2 cups cooked rice. Before serving on top of Frito or Doritos. Top with grated cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.

Smothered Hamburgers

Make hamburger patties and season with seasoning salt and pepper. Roll in flour. Brown in skillet. Mix the following:

1 can cream of mushroom soup
touch of pepper
touch of onion powder
1/2 C milk
touch of seasoning salt
1 C shredded cheddar cheese

Mix together and put in casserole dish. Add browned hamburger patties. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 min. Top with french fried onions. bake an additional 10-15 min.

Answer 3

Try the following:

1- Lipton's onion soup mix(the kind in the box in powder form)

2- A-1 steak sauce

Mash/mix it up in the Ground beef and make patties. It is the best hamburgers you will ever have!

Answer 4

Try A1 Sauce,French's Worchestshire Sauce or possibly Grey Poupon or McCormick Onion Bits.

Answer 5

Add a little bit of cumin powder to the ground beef before forming the patties. Also consider finely chopped onions or red onions in the mix.

Answer 6

At my house we make ranch burgers. Add a package of ranch seasoning, normally used for dips, to your hamburger meat. You called also use some finely chopped onions and/or some shredded cheddar cheese. These ingredients make for a different and oh so tasty burger. Enjoy!

Answer 7

If you dice various peppers including chile and jalapeno, and mix in with hamburger meat before cooking its keeps the hamburger moist and adds some wonderful flavor.

Answer 8

I'm afraid that "Don J" is right about this one. Adding things only serves to ruin the meat patty. I would just put salt and pepper on as he suggested and then add the flavors with sauces!

Answer 9

a friend of mine will mix in diced onions or diced bell peppers in the meat before forming the hamburger patties and that adds a good flavor.

Answer 10

Add different seasoning blends or spices to the meat. Try some BBQ sauce, or Tabasco sauce if you want something a little more daring.