Butter Smash Burgers - GGG Winning Recipe - Grilled Cheese Social (2024)

Butter Smash Burgers are the best burgers in the game! They're crispy, meaty, buttery and super cheesy! I love this recipe so much that I actually won a Food Network Championship show with them! I like serving them on a toasted potato bun with American cheese, special sauce, tomato, onion and pickle - but you could use whatever!

If you've come to this page via google, you might not know that in addition to being a blogger, I'm also a professional chef!

And with that, I've been competing on Guy's Grocery Games on the Food Network for the last 4 years!

Every year or so, I get the call to return to the show and I'm always beyond pleased to do so!

3 years ago, I was asked to fly out for the Better Burger Grand Championship to compete against other GGG winning chefs.

I was so nervous to be competing against other winners but I knew I had to do it!

A week before I went out, we must have had hamburgers for every single meal.

At home, I whipped up so many different variations just to make sure I knew what worked and what didn't.

And if we weren't cooking, we were eating at places that were known for their burgers!

Out of all the burgers that we ate, my family and I came to the mutual decision that butter smash burgers were the best burgers of all time!

And we were right! I ended up winning $20,000 for my butter smash burgers!

And since I got asked to make these for a butter partnership on instagram, I figured I'd share the recipe here, too!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Grassfed Ground Beef - I think this works best but you could use any chuck you'd like. You can also try it with ground turkey!
• Salted Butter - don't skimp on the salted butter - If you have unsalted butter, just add a sprinkle of salt to it when you use it.
• American Cheese - Always a controversial cheese in my cheese world but you know what, it's my absolute favorite for smash burgers! If you don't like it, try cheddar, pepperjack, swiss or blue cheese. Use whatever cheese your heart desires!
• Potato Buns - I love potato buns but you don't have to use them. You can use any bun your heart desires, like regular ones or even brioche buns!
• Beefsteak Tomato - I love beefsteak tomatoes on burgers because they're the perfect size and it won't slip out while you're eating it. If you don't like tomatoes, it's no big deal if you leave them off.
• Dill Pickle Slices - I love dill pickles but you could use sweet too or just leave them off.
• Red Onion - red onion is queen in my book but you could use white, yellow or sweet if you'd like... or just leave it off if you don't!
• Special Sauce - My special sauce calls for mayo, ketchup, mustard, sambal and wickles pickles relish! If you don't feel like making it, you can either use a store bought brand or just use mayo, mustard and ketchup!

How to make Butter Smash Burgers

There are a few ways to make butter smash burgers - and it begins with how you're cooking them!

If you’re using a griddle, begin by preheating it over the highest heat possible. If you’re using a cast iron, heat the pan on high until it begins to smoke.

I personally use a Char Grillers Griddle and I love it so much!

While it's heating up, divide the hamburger meat into four balls and coat each ball with salt and pepper.

Once your cooking surface is hot, add a touch of oil. Use your spatula to brush it all over the surface.

Add your meatballs and a tablespoon of salted butter and let them sear 2-3 minutes. They're ready when a deep brown crust develops on the bottom.

Using a spatula and a press (or something heavy), place your spatula on one of the meatballs then put the press on top to flatten the burger as thin as it can get. Repeat this for all of the meatballs.

Once the meat is browned on the bottom, flip each patty over and immediately. Then add ¼ of salted butter and one slice of american cheese to each burger. Add another tablespoon of butter in between the burgers.

When the bottoms are browned, remove the burgers from the heat. Use your spatula to scrape up any remaining bits of meat.

Now add another tablespoon of salted butter and add the potato buns. Make sure the interior side is facing down on the griddle to toast.

After a minute or two the buns will be toasted and golden brown. Remove from the heat and assemble the burgers.

Add some of the special sauce to a bottom bun. Then add the cheeseburger and the rest of the ingredients. I do them in this order -, a slice of salted tomato, 2 pickle slices, a few rings of red onion and the top bun - which is also coated in the special sauce.

Repeat this process for all the patties then enjoy!

What to pair it with

Whenever we make butter smash burgers, we always pair it with my Mom's Macaroni Salad, watermelon with tajin or some Polish Cucumber Salad.

If you'd like more easy yet tasty sandwich recipes, try this turkey pesto sandwich or this turkey bagel sandwich!

Save this recipe for later

If you love pinterest just as much as me, then you will love these pretty little pinterest images for this Butter Smash Burger Recipe that I made just for you!

But if you don't use it yet - I highly recommend you try it out!

You can eitherfollow me on pinterestfor tasty daily inspiration or you could hover over any of these images and click the "pin it" or "save" button then save it to whatever board it fits!

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