Smashburgers are one of my favourite meals and it’s cost effective. It’s an easy weeknight meal and can be done easily with a couple of ingredients. I’m not the biggest fan of those big burgers that fall apart as soon as you bite into them (those dirty burgers) and they are quite expensive to eat at a restaurant. Being able to do them on the pan with a stove is convenient, since being university students, you don’t have access to a grill unless you want to walk all the way to the UEA lake. 

But if you’re cooking for yourself, going to the lake isn’t all that worthwhile, especially after a long day of lectures and seminars. When smashburgers are done right, they are juicy and wonderful, and these can be done in the university halls’ induction hobs. 

Some important things to remember are: 

1. Don’t use beef that’s less than 20% fat. You need the fat in order to make the burgers juicy, otherwise, any leaner will make them dry. 80/20 is the ideal lean-to-fat ratio you’re looking for. 

2. Smash the burgers immediately in the pan as soon as you put the meat in, otherwise you’ll have meatballs instead of burger patties. 

3. I learned this trick from once upon a chef, where you don’t add salt to the meat mixture when you season it in a bowl. It makes the burgers not have a weird texture. 
    
     
    
   WHAT YOU’LL NEED: 

1. 500g of 80/20 ground beef 

2. Onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, pepper, and salt 

3. Burger buns 

4. American cheese 

5. Toppings of choice (optional) 
    
     
    
   STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS: 

4. Take your ground beef and combine the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper in a bowl. Remember to not add salt at this stage to the meat mixture. Season it to taste. 

5. Roll the combined meat into four (4) equal-sized balls. 

6. Heat up a pan on medium-high (or if in uni halls, maximum) and turn on the exhaust otherwise, the smoke might trigger the alarm. 

7. Add some oil to the pan. To know when the pan is hot enough, swirl the pan around and if the oil has a watery slide to it, the pan is ready. 

8. Add one patty at a time, take your spatula and really press it down. Once smashed, add salt, and repeat with the other patties until all of them are cooking in the pan. 

9. Cook each side for roughly 3 minutes then flip. Depending on your stove, this could take longer or shorter. 

10. Top the burgers with cheese and cover the pan with a lid to allow the steam to melt the cheese. 

11. Assemble your burger however you like and done! 

ADDITIONAL NOTES: 

If you don’t have the required seasonings, you can use a seasoning blend, such as the Schwartz All-American Burger Seasoning. It’s more cost effective than buying individual seasonings all at once, and it should (more or less) taste the same. Again, you can also add more seasonings, if you’d like. I like mine with dried oregano and thyme. 

Some burger topping ideas are: 

Heinz burger sauce, lettuce, tomato (with salt and pepper), and a fried egg. 

Avocado (with salt and pepper), lettuce, tomato, caramelised onions, and pickled jalapenos. 

Ketchup and mayo, lettuce, tomato, bacon, and pickled banana peppers. 

Photo Credit: Lin Vu