Creative Savory Dinner Inspiration for Passionate Home Cooks

There is no end to the variety of scrumptious hamburgers you can make, but here are 12 that will make your mouth water.

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt composes a column for The New york city Times on food and science, and he develops recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is also the creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and post become part of, our series on kitchen area fundamentals.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food writer and cookbook author, I have actually invested the last 20 years of my profession rigorously researching and checking dishes, techniques and widely accepted kitchen area knowledge to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've run numerous burger joints and even composed a month-to-month column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Lab, in which I isolated and tested every possible variable that can impact the flavor and texture of a burger.

Here are the most crucial tips I've discovered for enhancing your hamburger experience, whether in the yard or the kitchen area. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Bold Savory Dinner Ideas for Busy Home Cooks

In bread, this can be a great thing, but with burgers, overhandling can develop an undesirable thick texture. (Integrating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or extra seasoning, like onions and herbs, also forces you to exhaust the meat and distract from the beef flavor, so skip it.) Salting the beyond your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Salt breaks down muscle proteins and helps them to link more easily. This is a good idea in sausages, which must have a firm texture, but with hamburgers, you want looseness. A burger needs to be tender, with a lot of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Browning your patties deeply makes the most of flavor. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Whether you're making a big burger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash hamburger on a frying pan, browning is flavor, and high heat is essential. For thicker grilled or griddled burgers, wait till your pan or grill is hot before adding the patties, and cook them up until they're well browned on both sides.

This optimizes flavor while keeping juiciness. Preparing your buns ahead of time lets you get to eating a lot faster. Credit ... Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Do not let your patties relax on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Burgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have actually had a chance to drip out.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Better Temperature Management for Better Seared Patties

Upgraded May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI've always been a hamburger lover. If there were any little melty American cheese leavings stuck on the wrapper, I 'd drag my french fries through them (I still do this).

Catch me on the ideal day and I might confess that a cheeseburger is my preferred food. Even if you do, it's most likely we do not have the very same idea of what makes the best hamburger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some brand-new ones and continued to end the ones I understand people like but I simply. do not. get. Yes, I understand your favorite isn't there. Maybe we have different taste. Maybe I haven't attempted your favorite burger. Maybe I'm out to get you (simply kidding).

There's one ideal burg out there for everyone. Let me share with you what makes the best hamburger for me. Let's begin with the patty. Can I say I'm growing a little fed up with smashburgers? The very best ones unbelievely stay juicy with just a tip of flaky char around the edges, but regrettably, a lot of locations go too difficult on the smash.

When I bite in, I require to see a little sparkle, some glistening from the beef and possibly a little grease running down the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I constantly choose a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty needs to be burnt to help lock in the juices, however not too crusty.