For my family, there’s something special about sinking our teeth into well-seasoned burgers at a nice restaurant. But like many people choosing to cook at home nowadays, we like to make our meals from the comfort of our own kitchen.
Recently, I came across Ina Garten’s recipe for high-quality burgers and knew I had to try it myself. Garten’s recipe calls for beef from Niman Ranch, a company with a network of US farmers and ranchers who work to humanely and sustainably raise livestock.
However, I had trouble finding Niman Ranch meat at the grocery stores near me, so I opted for grass-fed ground beef that was 80% lean and 20% fat.
I was excited to try Garten’s recipe and see how high-quality these burgers actually tasted. Here’s how it went.
I started by gathering the ingredients for the burgers and the caramelized-onion topping.
Garten’s burger recipe called for 2 pounds of ground beef, 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
Normally, I buy inexpensive ground beef, which costs about $4 per pound. But luckily, I found grass-fed ground beef at Walmart for just over $6 per pound, which worked perfectly for this recipe.
Per Garten’s instructions, I also planned to serve the burgers on English muffins and top them with caramelized onions.
So, I gathered halved English muffins, 2 pounds of yellow onions, 2 tablespoons each of olive oil, unsalted butter, and sherry-wine vinegar, half a teaspoon each of pepper and fresh thyme, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Next, I mixed the ground beef and seasonings with a fork.
In the recipe’s corresponding YouTube video, Garten mixes the burger ingredients with a fork to keep the meat tender. I’d normally mix burger meat with my hands, so Garten’s method was a departure from my usual process.
However, lightly mixing the ground beef, mustard, olive oil, salt, and pepper with a fork was surprisingly easy. I kept my hands clean, and everything in the bowl was well combined.
I used a food scale to evenly divide the ground-beef mixture.
Garten recommends making each burger about 1⁄3 pound, so I pulled out my food scale to ensure I had six evenly formed patties. I weighed each burger before placing it onto a plate.
This recipe yielded six burger patties — perfect for feeding a family of four and having leftovers the next day.
After shaping each burger by hand, I let the patties chill in the refrigerator for a bit.
In the video, Garten chilled the burgers in the refrigerator before grilling them, so I did the same. I figured this step would allow for the flavors of the mustard, pepper, and salt to meld with the beef.
I made my hamburger patties early in the afternoon, so I let them sit on a plate in the refrigerator for a few hours before dinnertime.
Next, I made caramelized onions to go on top of the burgers.
Garten’s burger recipe also included instructions for making caramelized onions using 2 pounds of sliced yellow onions.
Again, I broke out the food scale, thinly slicing the yellow onions until I reached 2 pounds. In total, I used about six medium-sized onions.
Between gathering the ingredients and slicing the onions, I’d already spent about 20 minutes working on one topping — this was more time-consuming than I anticipated.
I caramelized the sliced onions in a deep pot on the stovetop.
I added the onion slices, thyme, butter, and olive oil to a large pot, put the lid on, and let everything simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.
Then, I uncovered the pot and cooked the onions for about 30 minutes, occasionally stirring them to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of my pan. Once the onions were translucent and perfectly caramelized, I added the vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Finally, it was time to head to my patio to grill the burgers and toast the English muffins.
I placed the six burger patties on the grill, let them cook for about five minutes, flipped them over, and added the halved English muffins face-down on the grate.
After about five more minutes, the burgers were cooked to a perfect medium temperature. I placed them on a plate with the English muffins and brought them inside to finish garnishing.
All that was left to do was dress the burgers and serve them.
Garten’s recipe suggested topping the burgers with mayonnaise and caramelized onions. I dressed four burgers exactly as Garten recommended — slathering each with my favorite Duke’s Mayo and a heaping scoop of onions.
Because I had less-adventurous teens at my dinner table, I plated two burgers on regular hamburger buns and topped them with American cheese. I liked that the patties were simple enough to please picky eaters but still paired well with unique buns and toppings.
Garten has yet to lead me astray, and I’d make these burgers again.
The burgers tasted amazing — each patty was juicy and moist (probably from adding olive oil to the ground-beef mixture), with a slight tang from the Dijon mustard. The burgers had incredible grill marks and tasted charred and smoky.
The caramelized onions didn’t disappoint, either. The finished onions were caramelized, flavorful, and tangy, with the perfect amount of saltiness and spice from the black pepper.
I also thought the nooks and crannies of the English muffins paired perfectly with the mayonnaise. The creamy, tangy condiment settled nicely into the bread.
I’ve made a few other recipes from Garten this summer, and the celebrity chef has yet to lead me astray. These burgers will become my new go-to recipe, as the patties were simple to make and full of flavor.
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