I grew up in a state famous for “butter” burgers yet it never occurred to me to make one at home until I read a blog about them on Honest & Tasty. The author, Bita, lived in Chicago for a spell and in her Homemade Butter Burgers post talks about how she and her husband would drive up from Chicago to Milwaukee just to have Butter Burgers at Kopps. Reading the blog I instantly loved the post and the author. Anyone who will drive an hour and a half to two hours to get a burger and frozen custard knows my heart.
I had some extra kobe beef in my fridge after making Arugula Burgers the other day and wanted to find another burger recipe to use it up. So Butter Burgers it happily was. My recipe is based largely on Bita’s recipe with a few tweaks. Though Bita is right that butter burgers are traditionally cooked through instead of medium or medium rare, I don’t care for well done burgers in normal instances. And anyway, I tried to cook the burgers longer but as you can see from my pictures, I failed miserably. I used a half pound patty but would suggest either quarter-pound or third-pound patties.
ingredients.
- ½ lb ground chuck
- ½ lb ground kobe beef
- 3 T. Butter, diced
- vegetable oil or butter
- 3 to 6 slices of cheddar or American cheese
- 3 Hamburger Buns
- additional toppings such as caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, sliced pickles, raw onions, bacon, avocado, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, etc.
directions.
- Heat a large non-stick pan at medium heat or just above medium.
- Combine both beefs, sea salt, and black pepper until ingredients are incorporated. Take 1/3 of mixture and push 1 table spoon of diced butter into it. Form into a patty and set on a plate. Use a burger press if you have one. Continue with remaining beef.
- Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or butter to your pan. Place patties inside the pan and use a spatula to smash the beef down and thin out the patty slightly. After about 4 to 5 minutes or until beef is mostly cooked, flip and add 1 to 2 slices of cheese per burger.
- Cook for about 4 to 5 more minutes covering the top of the pan with a lid to melt cheese. Add pre-cooked bacon at this step if you’re using it.
- Cook the insides of buns in the pan at the end for about 30 to 60 seconds to warm up and slightly brown the bread.
- Remove patties and buns from pan. Top the bottom of the buns with the cooked patties and whatever toppings you’d like. Spread mayonnaise, ketchup or mustard (if using) on your top bun and top the burger. Eat immediately and enjoy.
I recommend using a mixture of ground chuck and kobe beef or even all ground chuck. Ground chuck has a high fat content and I swear makes the best tasting burger.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 