Once you’ve mastered the basics of making a good burger patty and cooking it to perfection, you may want to start creating your own burger recipes. One of the great things about burgers is that they have a strong foundation to build any flavors that you enjoy on top of. Here are some ways to find your own burger recipe ideas.
5 Ways to Find Burger Recipe Ideas
1. Check out local burger restaurants
You might already know of some great burger restaurants in your area. You can also do a google search for burger restaurants near you or in any large city. You’re looking for a place that not only has burgers, but one that specializes in burgers, so they offer a wide variety of specialty burgers.
You can also search for “top burgers in (city name)” to find local publications or travel websites with a list of the top burger restaurants to check out.
Once you’ve found a few check out their menus to see the ingredients, they’re using and get some ideas for your own spin-offs. You can also search the web for any existing recipes to get an idea of how you might be able to replicate the burger if you’re not sure.
2. Consider some of your favorite foods
Think through some of your favorite foods you make, eat at restaurants, or have had when traveling. Consider foods from different regions and ethnicities as well. Since burgers are fairly simple by themselves, you might find you can turn one of these into a unique recipe.
Some examples on this website include the cuban burger, the quesadilla burger, and the pizza burger.
3. Think about foods that pair well together
You can broaden the scope of possible pairings by thinking of foods that go well together but may not be their own dish. For example, eggs and hashbrowns, pineapple and ham, barbeque and coleslaw, or turkey and cranberries. Often you can find creative ways to combine these elements to make great burgers. You can create unique toppings or even switch out the standard ground beef used in the burger.
Some examples include the Hawaiian burger, the thanksgiving turkey burger, and the green apple and brie burger.
4. Search Instagram and other social media apps
If you search social media for burger recipes, you’ll find a lot of great food photography and ideas for new burgers. Instagram and Pinterest are two particularly good sources. If you’ve followed suggestion number one to find some local burger places, they may promote a weekly or monthly special burger on their Facebook or Instagram page. Looking at the history of these can be a wonderful source of inspiration.
5. Search the web
Finally, you can search the web to find sites similar to this one with burger recipes, or even try searching for sandwich recipes. You’ll find a ton of different recipes that are ready to be made. Once you’ve made a few of these ideas, you’ll feel more comfortable branching out on your own or altering them to put your own spin on the flavor.
Naming Your Burger
After you’ve found some great ideas and created your own burger recipe, you might want to give it a unique name. You can do this if you have your own restaurant or are just having fun with family and friends.
You can come up with some ideas using a burger name generator or just consider the ingredients you’ll use in the burger.
You’ll find burgers typically have several variations of names, including:
- a basic name (guacamole burger)
- a person’s name (the Patrick deluxe burger)
- a creative name (the lumberjack burger)
- a punny name (the guac & roll burger)
If you’ve ever seen the show Bob’s Burgers, it’s full of good burger puns.
Conclusion
Making your own burgers is a blast. As you try things, write down some measurements if you’re making a sauce or mixing meats so you can dial in the flavor you’re looking for as you perfect the recipe. If you’re making a unique sauce for your burger, mixing a flavoring into mayo to make an aioli often works well (ketchup and mayo, siracha and mayo, etc). Have fun experimenting!
