Blackstone Smash Burgers
Make your favorite flavorful thin and juicy burgers on a flat top grill with this easy Blackstone smash burgers recipe! You can’t beat a mouthwatering burger in 10 minutes or less with only a few simple ingredients! No griddle? You can also make perfect smash burgers in a cast iron skillet. It’s seriously the easiest and best burger!
When you smash burgers against an oiled hot griddle, you get what’s called The Maillard Reaction. This chemical reaction occurs when the amino acids in the meat react with the high heat surface giving the delicious browned beef its distinctive flavor. It creates a thin crispy crust hamburger patty and a very flavorful burger. You end up with a homemade burger just like you’d find at your favorite classic diner.
Blackstone smash burgers are perfect for busy weeknights. They’re excellent, served with buns or lettuce wraps and a variety of your favorite toppings, including cheese! There’s no returning to your old cooking method with one bite of a juicy smashed burger. You get perfect burgers cooked in under 10 minutes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Hot and juicy homemade smash burgers in 10 minutes or less.
- Only 3 ingredients, including homemade or store-bought burger seasoning.
- Who doesn’t love a hot and juicy griddle burger?
- This method makes perfect thin burger patties to serve any way you like.
- Make it a single or layer it up for double smashed burgers!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground beef – For the juiciest burgers, an 80/20 blend is the ideal lean-to-fat ratio and is recommended. However, we use 90/10 with great results, since there’s still enough fat for a juicy griddle burger. Extra-lean ground beef is tricky to keep moist, and it isn’t nearly as flavorful. I don’t recommend anything leaner than 90/10 for smashing.
- Burger seasoning – Try my homemade burger seasoning, or you can use your favorite store-bought hamburger seasoning blend.
- Cheese– We love sliced cheddar, but go with your favorite cheese variety here or leave it off altogether.
- Hamburger Buns– Brioche buns are my go-to for the best texture and flavor. Go with your favorite burger bun option. Pretzel buns are also a tasty choice!
- Avocado oil – To coat the griddle and keep the patties from sticking. You can go with your favorite oil here. Olive oil is another good option, just make sure it has a high smoke point.
Grab My Favorite Tools For This Recipe
These tools are definitely optional, but helpful when making this recipe. We usually melt the cheese without the dome, but I know a lot of folks love using it. An infrared thermometer is a very useful tool for checking the griddle surface temperature and also checking the accuracy of your oven temp. *Affiliate links
- Burger Press
- Parchment Paper Sheets
- Melting Dome
- Infrared Thermometer (for testing surface temp)
How To Make Blackstone Smash Burgers
Step 1: Preheat the griddle. Power on the griddle and set to medium-high heat (about 400 degrees F.). Let the griddle preheat while you prepare the patties.
Step 2: Make smash burger patties. Season the ground beef with the burger seasoning, if desired, and loosely roll into 3-3.5 oz size balls of meat. You don’t want to pack the meat too tightly, like a meatball, just enough to hold together for easy smashing. Like this…
Step 3: Toast the buns. Place buns on the griddle (you can spritz them with avocado oil spray or spread on a little butter) and toast until lightly golden on each side.
Remove the toasted buns from the griddle and set them aside.
Step 4: Cook the burgers. Add a little avocado oil to the griddle and spread with a large spatula until the surface is evenly coated. Drop the balls of ground beef onto the hot griddle, one at a time, and press down for about 30 seconds with an oiled spatula or hamburger press over a piece of parchment paper to smash them flat. A burger press will help you get those nice crispy edges.
Once you smash them, leave them alone to cook for 1-2 minutes. Season with burger seasoning, if desired.
Once they are nice and golden brown on one side, carefully flip the patty being sure to scrape up all that crispy goodness, and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes more. Top with cheese and cook until melted. Tip: Don’t smash the burgers after the first press or they will lose the juices. Serve with all your favorite burger toppings.
Recipe Tips
- If using two spatulas to smash the burgers, make sure to spray them with cooking spray first to prevent sticking. An easier method is using a piece of parchment paper in between a burger press or spatula to keep the meat from sticking. I love small square parchment sheets for this!
- It’s very important to resist the urge to continue smashing after the initial press. Give them a good hard press for 30 seconds at the get-go and leave them be until they are ready to flip. Don’t smash after the flip, just allow them to finish cooking to keep those tasty juices locked in.
Variations & Serving
Cheese & toppings – Sliced cheddar, swiss, pepper jack, American cheese, and pimento cheese are yummy options. You can also use soft, crumbled cheese like blue cheese or feta. As for your toppings, stick with the classics -lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard, mayo, and your favorite burger sauce, or upgrade your burger with premium toppings like:
- Crispy Bacon
- Guacamole
- Fried Egg
- Jalapenos
- Salsa
- Barbecue Sauce
- Chili
- Sauteed Onions & Mushrooms
Sides – Serve with my favorite strawberry spinach salad, griddle-cooked potatoes, air fryer sweet potato wedges, or zucchini tots, and make it a meal.
Storing & Freezing
Storing: Keep any leftover cooked hamburger patties refrigerated in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Freezing: Place the patties in a freezer-safe container or resealable bag separated by parchment paper, and freeze for up to a month—Thaw in the fridge before reheating. However, smashed griddle burgers are best fresh!
Recipe FAQ
You definitely want to oil the cooking surface with a thin coating of oil prior to cooking to prevent the beef patties from sticking to the griddle. This will also make them easier to flip. Any oil that has a high smoke point will work well for this purpose.
The ideal cooking temperature for smash burgers is 400F ( medium-high).
Beef patties should be smashed to about ¼ inch thickness to achieve those delicious crispy edges.
More Delicious Burger Recipes
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Blackstone Smash Burgers
Equipment
- Flat top griddle
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground sirloin beef 80/20 beef is usually recommended for the juiciest burger, but we make these with 90/10 beef and they're a bit leaner but still juicy and delicious!
- homemade burger seasoning optional, to taste
- 4 oz sliced cheddar cheese or cheese of choice
- 4 burger buns *brioche buns are our favorite or you can go with a lettuce wrap for a low-carb version
- avocado oil for oiling the griddle.
- Your favorite burger toppings: lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, cooked bacon, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the griddle to medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
- Loosely roll the ground beef into 3-4 oz size balls. You don't want to pack the meat too tightly, like a meatball, just enough to hold it together.
- Place the burger buns on the griddle (you can spritz them with avocado oil spray or spread on a little butter) and toast until lightly golden on each side. Remove from the griddle, wrap in foil to keep warm, and set aside.
- Add a little avocado oil to the griddle and spread with a spatula until the surface is evenly coated. Drop the burger balls onto the hot griddle, one at a time, and press down for about 30 seconds with an oiled spatula or griddle press over a piece of parchment paper to smash them flat. Once you smash them, leave them alone to cook for 1-2 minutes. Add a little burger seasoning to each patty, if desired.
- Once they are nice and browned on one side, carefully flip the patty being sure to scrape up all that crispy goodness, and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes more. Top with cheese and cook until just melted. You can use the dome for this, but it's not required, since the cheese will melt quickly on the hot burger patty. Tip: Don't smash the burgers after the first press or they will lose the juices.
- Serve with all your favorite burger toppings.
Notes
- If using two spatulas to smash the burgers, make sure to spray them with cooking spray first to prevent sticking. An easier method is using a piece of parchment paper in between a burger press or spatula to keep the meat from sticking.
- It’s very important to resist the urge to continue smashing after the initial press. Give them a good hard press for 30 seconds at the get-go and leave them be until they are ready to flip. Don’t smash after the flip, just allow them to finish cooking to keep those tasty juices locked in.
Nutrition
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Thank you for the heads-up Suzii!