Double Smash Cheeseburgers Dipped in a Creamy Garlic Pan Sauce ᝰ.ᐟ

Today we’re making dipped smash burgers! I’ve been seeing these all over my feed, so of course I couldn’t resist trying them. These are double smash cheeseburgers with caramelized onions and all the classic toppings, cut in half and dipped in a creamy garlic pan sauce. I make the sauce in the same pan right after searing the burgers so it picks up all that flavor, and I add a splash of pickle brine for a little tang and to help tie it into the burger even more. The goal was to keep the sauce relatively simple in ingredients so it complements the burger without feeling too heavy or overwhelming.

Few Tips ᝰ.ᐟ

• Use 80/20 beef. The fat keeps a thin smashed patty juicy, fries the edges into that crispy, lacy crust, and leaves behind the flavorful fat and fond your sauce is built on. Anything leaner dries out fast, and anything with a higher fat content will just fall apart on you.
• Keep the beef cold until it hits the pan. Cold fat stays solid longer, so the patty holds together when you smash it and gets a deep crust before the inside overcooks.
• Use a stainless or carbon steel pan, not nonstick. These pans hold and conduct high heat well, which is what drives the Maillard reaction, the browning process that turns the surface of the beef deep brown and creates a beautiful caramelized crust on our patty. The correct pan will also let the food stick just enough to leave behind fond, the browned bits that give the pan sauce all its flavor.
• Smash right away and only once. The patty needs to be pressed as soon as it hits the pan, before the bottom sets. Pressing again later just squeezes out the juices.
• Toast the buns with mayo. It browns more evenly than butter and creates a toasty barrier that keeps the bun from getting soggy when you dip them in the pan sauce!
• Bring the stock and cream to room temperature. Cold liquid slows the sauce down, and cold cream is more likely to break when it hits a hot pan with acid in it (from the brine).
• Add your cold butter off the heat and stir it in really well. Cold butter melts slowly, and stirring it in vigorously helps it blend into the sauce instead of separating. This is what emulsifies the sauce and gives it that glossy finish. And it also thickens it up a bit so it clings to the burger when you dip. If the sauce is too hot or the butter isn’t stirred in well, it can separate and get greasy.
• Taste before you salt the sauce. Between the reduction, salted butter and pickle brine, it often doesn’t need any extra.

Process ✮⋆˙

Dipped Smash Burgers

Double Smash Cheeseburgers Dipped in a Creamy Garlic Pan Sauce ᝰ.ᐟ

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Dinner

Servings 2 to 4

Ingredients

  

Caramelized Onions

• 2 large yellow onions thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp salted butter
• 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 1 tbsp sugar

Burgers

• 720 grams 80/20 ground beef, cold (80/20 is important here!!)
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt for the patties
• Freshly ground black pepper for the patties
• 8 slices American Cheese
• 4 brioche buns
• mayonnaise for toasting and for the burger itself
• 1 large tomato thinly sliced
• 4 leafy lettuce leaves
• 16 dill pickle chips

Pan Sauce

• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 tbsp dill pickle brine room temperature
• 360 ml vegetable stock room temperature
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 180 ml heavy cream room temperature
• 4 grams fresh chives minced
• 4 tbsp salted butter, cold and cubed
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

 

Caramelize the onions

• In a large stainless or carbon steel skillet over medium low heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, salt and sugar and cook, stirring every few minutes, until deep golden and jammy, 35 to 45 minutes. Add a splash of water whenever the bottom gets too dark and scrape it up. Scrape it up once more before you transfer the onions to a bowl.

Burgers

• Divide the beef into 8 loose balls (about 90 g each) and keep them in the fridge. Lightly salt the tomato slices and lay them on a paper towel. Have the lettuce, pickles and cheese ready by the stove.
• Spread the mayo on the cut sides of the buns and toast them cut side down (in the same skillet as the caramelized onions) over medium heat until deeply golden and crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside.
• Grab a clean, dry stainless steel pan! We won't be adding any oil or fat to the pan before smashing down our patties. The 80/20 beef releases plenty of its own fat as soon as it hits the hot pan, and starting dry gives the meat direct contact with the surface for the best possible crust.
• Turn the heat to medium high and let the pan get hot. (preheat for 5 minutes). I personally like to do one patty at a time. If I'm making a smash burger, I want a beautiful caramelized bottom, and the best way to get that is to give the patty the entire surface of the pan to itself.
• Using a grill/burger press if you have one (if you don't, a wide, sturdy spatula will do) and a square of parchment so it doesn't stick if necessary, smash the patty down as thin as you can get it. It's okay if bits of your burger separate a bit once smashed. Smashing it down in the hot pan creates a caramelized web on the bottom of your patty, and it will all be basically intact once you flip it over.
• Season the top with salt and pepper. Cook without moving until the edges are lacy and the bottom is deeply browned, about 2 minutes.
• Scrape under the patty to keep the crust, flip, and top with a slice of cheese. Cook until melted, 30 to 45 seconds. Stack the patties in pairs on a plate and tent loosely. Repeat with the remaining beef. If the fond starts looking close to black between patties, lower the heat a little.

Pan sauce

• If you have quite a bit of rendered fat from the burgers left in your pan, the avocado oil is not necessary. But if you dont have much fat left In your pan:
• Once all of your patties are seared off and stacked, add the 1 tbsp of avocado oil. Lower the heat to medium, add the shallot and cook until translucent and soft, about 2 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Deglaze by adding the pickle brine and scrape up all the fond. Add the stock and Dijon. Simmer until reduced about a third, about 7 minutes.
• Stir in the cream and simmer gently until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 2 to 4 minutes.
• Now, throw in your fresh chives and let them simmer in the sauce for 30 seconds.
• Turn off the heat and immediately add your cold butter. Mixing vigorously until completely incorporated, and your sauces glossy and has thickened. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. I found that I didn't need any extra, but that is all up to your preference!
• Add your sauce to the bottom of the serving plates of your choosing.

Let's build our burger!

• Now for the fun part! On each toasted bottom bun, layer mayo, pickles, lettuce, tomato, a double patty stack, a generous spoonful of caramelized onions, then the top bun.
• Cut each burger in half, dunk the cut side into the sauce, and eat right away.

Keyword dinner, pan sauce, smash burger