7 Recipes to Make for Hamburger Month

It seems that the food holiday business is preparing us for grilling and outdoor eating season a little early. Because while it’s only just now getting nice enough outside to do such things, May is officially known as National Hamburger Month. There are so many different ways — both inside and out — to make a burger that there is a burger out there waiting for everyone, no matter food preferences or allergies. A common thing to order when you’re out, they can be difficult to make correctly at home. But here are 7 recipes that will get you restaurant-quality burgers every time:

Perfect Burger {via bobby flay}
For the ultimate bare bones burger, we’ve got to turn to Bobby Flay. As not only an accomplished chef but the owner of a chain of restaurants centering around burgers, he knows what he’s talking about. There is nothing funky going on in this recipe — it’s just simply ground meat, salt, pepper, and cheese if you want it. But that’s the point: a good burger should be able to stand on it’s on. You can add extra stuff, but it’s not necessary. He includes 3 different ways to cook the burger, I always use a saute pan and get the “perfect” burger every time.

Image Credit: jessica merchant

Thin Double Burgers {via the pioneer woman}
If you are craving a fast food style double cheeseburger, this recipe will get it to you at home in an impressively small amount of time. The key here is to use a lot of strength to push the patties really, really flat as soon as they hit the heat. This is the reason why we exercise, right? All those pushups to have enough arm strength to make perfect fast food hamburgers? The good news is that if you aren’t the exercising type OR all your arm work still doesn’t give you enough strength to flatten the patties, Ree shows a hack you can use with a coffee mug or measuring cup. Burgers for all arms!

Bacon, Onion & Cheese Stuffed Burgers {via sunny anderson}
Burgers can be turned into just about everything but stuffed burgers are an extra-special variety. Especially when said burgers are stuffed with bacon, onion, & cheese. It’s essentially like taking the toppings that you would normally put on your burger and putting them inside instead, which totally eliminates the risk that you’ll loose all the toppings the minute you take a bite into your burger (the worst). I love this recipe because the onions get sauteed in the bacon grease…take that in for a second…not only are you getting onions and bacon but you are getting the former cooked into the latter.

BBQ Chicken Burgers {via how sweet eats}
I mentioned earlier that burgers can be a lot of things and this is one of those maybe-not-the-usual-but-try-it-anyway-i-promise-it’s-delicious things. Ground chicken gets a bad rep for being tasteless and dry, but if you use it correctly, it actually serves as the perfect (healthy) base for lots of flavor. This recipe is a great one for proving those chicken haters wrong. The meat is seasoned with paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper [i]then[/i] you get to top it with bbq sauce and melted cheese. It’s a delicious burger and you won’t be missing the ground beef at all. In fact, if you want to still take the healthy route but would rather use something other than chicken, ground turkey would work fine here too.

Crispy Quinoa Patties {via sally’s baking addiction}
Another non typical but still delicious “burger” recipe! So this recipe isn’t meant to trick anyone, and I wouldn’t say you are serving burgers and then make these because you might get some upset people. What I would do is say you are making quinoa burgers, ignore anyone who has complaints, serve these anyway, and wait for the apologies from the people who didn’t think they’d like them but actually loved them. Quinoa’s star has risen over the past few years but not for false reasons — it truly is a wonderful grain. It’s versatility is proven in this recipe, as you get to mix it with spices and turn into a patty that doesn’t really resemble quinoa at all. The only caution I have for you is to put these on the saute pan and then DON’T touch them until one side has completely cooked. You need that sear to hold them together, because they do tend to want to fall apart.

Image Credit: elli o.

Caesar Burgers {via kraft}
The first time I heard of a caesar burger was the first day that I had one, and it happened at the aforementioned Bobby’s Burger Palace. It’s not a regular burger on the menu but one of the special “burger’s of the month” so unfortunately it’s not still available, but it’s okay because this recipe gives it to you without having to leave your house. It might sound a little odd (a type of salad burger?), but it’s delicious. I enjoyed it so much when I originally had it that I immediately started thinking about how I needed to recreate it at home. This recipe from Kraft is really close to the burger that I had at BBP. If you love a caesar salad, I think you’re gonna love a caesar burger, and really recommend you try this out soon.

Tennessee Burger {via myrecipes}
I can’t quite figure out why this burger is referred to as the “Tennessee burger” because I don’t think that this is a state endorsed method of making a burger. But it really should be because it’s worthy of such a title. Bourbon + bbq sauce + bacon + meat = yes please, all day, thank you. Out of all the recipes here, this ingredient list is the longest, but don’t freak or skip anything because all the flavors make this one incredible burger. It’s very flavorful and I think it’ll become a repeat burger recipe in your kitchen.

What’s your go-to burger order?

Featured image is by Niklas Rhose.