Smash burger
Smash burger
Thin smashed beef, frilly crust, American cheese, pickles — the diner burger the internet would not leave alone.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Smash burger.
0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
A smash burger is a ball of fatty mince smashed hard onto a ripping-hot plancha so it gets lacy, brown edges. Salt, American-style cheese, pickles, onion, a soft bun. Smash sauce is mayo, ketchup and pickle brine if you want the viral one. This is not a thick steakhouse patty. Thickness is the enemy of crust. Ball fatty beef mince, salt the outside, and smash it hard onto a ripping-hot cast-iron pan or plancha so it spreads thin and the edges go lacy and brown. Do not press again once the crust has set. Flip, cheese, and stack on a soft bun with pickles and onion. A sauce of mayonnaise, ketchup and pickle brine is the viral smash sauce if you want it; it is not a heritage condiment. One or two thin patties beat one fat one. Serve at once; the bun should steam slightly. If the pan is not hot, you will stew grey mince. Work in batches. Smash burgers are diner technique, not a new species of cow. Keep the mince simple: salt, beef, heat. That is the whole craft.
Ingredients
- Beef, mince, about 20% fat, in 4 balls300 g
- Bread, soft potato or burger buns2 bun
- Melting cheese2 slice
- Pickles8 slice
- Onion, shaved thin¼ small
- Salt4.9 ml
- Black pepper1.2 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Heat a cast-iron pan until it almost smokes. Toast buns. Smash each ball thin with a spatula or a second pan. Salt.
3 minWatch: Do not move them until the crust sets.
Step 2
Flip after 60–90 seconds. Cheese. Stack two patties per bun with pickles, onion, and a sauce of mayo-ketchup-pickle brine if you want the clip.
4 minStep 3
Eat immediately. Smash burgers wait for no one.
Adapt this recipe
The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 October.
Substitutions
American cheese → Cheddar
Less diner-melt, still a burger.
Tips
- 80/20 mince. Lean mince is a sad disc.
- Parchment between spatula and meat helps the smash.
History & culture
US diner and Oklahoma-onion-burger cousins. Chains trademarked the smash; home cooks with a cast-iron pan already knew. United States diner cooking and Oklahoma onion-burger cousins sit behind the hashtag. The 2010s and 2020s made the lacy edge the whole story on video, which is why it feels new to people who grew up with thick backyard burgers. It is not a colonial American dish and not a regional protected speciality. It is griddle craft that went fashionable. Eat it with your hands over paper. Fancy brioche is optional and sometimes worse than a cheap soft bun. Cheese should melt. People who want a pink centre in a thick steak burger are ordering the wrong plate. This one is about crust, salt, and speed. Pub menus copied it because it sells. That is allowed. Hands, pickles, and a soft bun are the whole ceremony.
Thin griddled burgers are older than the hashtag. The 2010s–2020s revival made the crust the whole story. Oklahoma smashed onion burgers, diner thin patties, and plancha cooking in steakhouses all precede the viral name. There is no nineteenth-century smash burger recipe waiting in a homestead manual. There is minced beef on hot iron, which is ordinary American lunch-counter history, then a social-media chapter that taught a new crowd to press hard. Cook it as that revival: honest about the trend, respectful of the diner. Fast-food chains arguing over who owns smash is commercial history, not culinary antiquity. Your pan at home is closer to the lunch counter than to a myth. Keep the timeline recent where it is recent. Lunch counters have been pressing mince onto iron for generations. Oklahoma onion smashes and diner thin patties sit behind the filmed technique that made lacy edges a personality in the 2010s. Homestead manuals do not contain a smash-burger chapter. Chains fighting over the word is advertising. Keep the recent bit recent, and the crust as the point.
Modern adaptation
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.
How long does Smash burger take?
20 min all in — 10 min prep, 10 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 2 burgers (double smash). Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk, Eggs. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Nut-free.
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Frying pan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
What can I use instead?
American cheese → Cheddar. Less diner-melt, still a burger.
What should I watch for?
Do not move them until the crust sets.
Any tips from this recipe?
80/20 mince. Lean mince is a sad disc. Parchment between spatula and meat helps the smash.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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