Prepare for a flavour explosion with our cheddar-stuffed beef burgers made with lean beef mince and deliciously melty smoked cheddar. Topped with mouthwatering caramelized balsamic red onions, this burger will be sure to impress.
I’m not going to lie. I think this is the best burger recipe I have ever, ever created. Ever. And I’ve made a lot of burgers in my time.
A decent beef burger starts with a good-quality beef mince—like Aberdeen Angus steak mince—the best you can afford, lean if possible.
And cheese.
A burger needs cheese.
This is the way.
What you’ll need
for the burgers
- 2 tsp butter
- 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
- 500 grams Aberdeen Angus beef mince
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1/2 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 small egg, beaten
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 tbsp smoked cheddar cheese, grated
for the caramelised red onions
- 1 large red onion, sliced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tsp dark muscovado sugar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- pinch of sea salt
to serve
- burger buns
- sliced tomato
- lettuce leaves
- mayonnaise
- tomato sauce
- smoked bacon rashers
↓ Jump to the full, printable recipe. ↓
Instructions
To prepare the caramelized red onions:
- Heat the butter and oil in a skillet over medium heat until it produces a haze.
- Add the finely sliced onions and cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. If they start to brown, turn the heat down.
- After ten minutes, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes. When the onions are softened, add the brown sugar and stir well. Add the balsamic vinegar, stir well, and set aside.
To prepare the burgers:
- Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small skillet and gently fry the onion until it softens.
- Stir in the smoked paprika and cook for another minute.
- Transfer to a large bowl and let cool to room temperature.
- Add the beef mince, remaining spices, salt to taste, egg, and tomato puree, and combine well using your hands.
- Divide the mixture into four even balls.
- Press a hole into the centre of each ball using your thumb and place one tablespoon of grated cheese inside.
- Mould the beef mince around the cheese so it is completely encased, then flatten it into a one-inch-thick burger shape. Repeat with the remaining balls.
- Heat a non-stick grill pan over medium-high heat. Fry the burgers on each side for 8-10 minutes, turning only once.
- Serve immediately on toasted burger buns with sliced tomatoes, salad, caramelized red onion, and your desired condiments.
Ground beef contains fat and water; when it is cooked, the juices created by the melting fat and water are released, causing the proteins to shrink. This can result in a burger that shrinks, ending up too small for the burger buns and, frustratingly, too thick to eat easily.
How to stop a beef burger from shrinking
1. Use the best cut of minced beef that you can find with no added water.
2. Cook your burgers over a slow heat, turning them only once halfway.
3. Don’t press the burgers with a spatula when cooking – you want to retain all those tasty juices!
4. Make your burgers slightly larger than you want, as there will inevitably be a slight shrinkage as the meat cooks.
5. Press a little dimple into the centre of the raw beef burger before cooking. This dimple will even out as the burger cooks.
Another common complaint is that beef burgers can be overcooked on the outside yet still undercooked in the middle.
To avoid this, cook your burger over a slow heat and invest in a digital meat thermometer. This avoids the need for guesswork or cutting into the burger (releasing those lovely juices) while cooking to see if the burger is ready.
For a well-done burger, you’re looking for a temperature of 71°C.
Tips for assembling and loading up a beef burger
- Toast your burger buns on the cut side under a grill (or use a bagel setting on your toaster, if you have it).
- To make crispy bacon, place your smoked bacon rashers on a cold grill pan and switch the heat to medium-high. As the bacon heats, it will release fat, which will help it crisp and caramelise nicely. Turn a few times until it’s as crispy as you like, and drain on a kitchen towel before serving.
- Add a slice of cheese to the top of your burgers at the end of cooking before you take them off the heat to rest. The heat of the burgers will melt the cheese nicely, but not too much.
- Add balsamic caramelised red onions (jump to the recipe below).
- For visual appeal, why not serve your loaded-up burger held together with a steak knife, as pictured above?
Recipe Difficulty Levels
Easy
Requires basic cooking skills and ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen.
Moderate
Requires more experience, preparation and/or cooking time. You may have to source special ingredients.
Challenging
Recipes requiring more advanced skills and experience and maybe some special equipment.
Cheddar-stuffed beef burgers
Ingredients
for the burgers
- 2 tsp butter
- 1 medium brown onion finely chopped
- 500 grams lean beef mince Aberdeen Angus
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1/2 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 small egg beaten
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 4 tbsp smoked cheddar cheese grated
for the caramelised red onions
- 1 large red onion sliced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tsp dark muscovado sugar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- pinch Shetland sea salt
to serve
- burger buns
- sliced tomato
- lettuce leaves
- mayonnaise
- tomato sauce
- smoked bacon rashers
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Equipment
Instructions
To prepare the caramelized red onions:
- Heat 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until it produces a haze.
- Add 1 large red onion finely sliced, and cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. If they start to brown, turn the heat down.
- After ten minutes, sprinkle with a pinch Shetland sea saltand continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes. When the onions are softened, add 1 tsp dark muscovado sugar and stir well.
- Add 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, stir well, and set aside.
To prepare the burgers:
- Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp butter in a small skillet and gently fry 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped, until it softens.
- Stir in 1 tbsp smoked paprika and cook for another minute.
- Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.
- Add 500 grams lean beef mince, 1/2 tsp garlic granules, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, 1 small egg, beaten, and 2 tbsp tomato puree, and combine well using your hands.
- Divide the mixture into four even balls.
- Press a hole into the centre of each ball using your thumb and place one tablespoon of 4 tbsp smoked cheddar cheese, grated, inside.
- Mould the beef mince around the cheese so it is completely encased, then flatten it into a one-inch-thick burger shape. Repeat with the remaining balls.
- Heat a non-stick grill pan over medium-high heat. Fry the burgers on each side for 8-10 minutes, turning only once.
- Serve immediately on toasted burger buns with sliced tomato, lettuce leaves, caramelized red onion, and your desired condiments.
Vanilla Protein Cheesecake
Oh wow that does look amazing. I really, really love caramelised red onions and they look so delicious on this! And really fancy a burger this weekend.
Lovr a good burger. Will add some blue cheese on mine ☺
This sounds like it could possibly be the best burger in the world, it looks simply delicious! Definitely one I want to try!
I don’t know how this tastes but it certainly looks like the best burger you’ve ever created! When I’m home I’ll try to persuade my mum to buy some good quality beef so I can try this for myself!
These sound delicious! My husband loves to put cheese in his burgers so this would def be one for him!
This sounds delicious – some of my favourite tastes in one dish – yum! I will definitely try this. Kaz x
WOW! This is definitely my sort of recipe. Putting the cheese inside the burger is a stroke of genius, teaming it with the red onions too…. heaven! x
This sounds amazing! I love a decent burger and your description really made my mouth water! I love Schwartz herbs and spices. It’s the only ones I have on my spice rack.
This looks so yummy! I am a fan of burgers anyway, but with melted cheese and those onions…. I am drooling at the thought!
That looks mouthwatering delicious! I could just eat that now for lunch. Thanks for sharing.
I’m being a vegetarian myself, but I can see my husband would love this recipe as he likes his burgers. 🙂
Mookieslife
I am a vegetarian but I bet this would taste nice with a quorn burger too mmmm. You should do some veggie recipes in the future 🙂
I have full plans to go vegan for the month of August. You’ll get bombarded by veggie recipes then! But yes, my blog seems rather meat-centric just now!
Oh my, this is my kind of meal. Looks delicious.
Oh wow… 🙂
Oh this would be a really fun recipe to try. That smoked cheddar does sound really good .
This looks delicious! Great recipe! Xx
I must say that sounds and looks amazing. Bookmarking for when I get the ingredients in.
It looks amazing! I can never resist a good burger. In fact I wanted to make one for the ebook but was told someone else was already doing a burger! It’s lucky you got there first as this is absolutely mouthwatering!
I’ve been drooling over this on your social all day – I’ve also had my readers drooling after sharing it! It’s AMAZING! H x
i love the look of this although i would switch the smoked with just normal chedder xx
I saw this one Instagram I think it was and so caught my eye – it looks absolutely delicious! x
I love putting cheese in burgers, I love caramelized onions, and I really love Aberdeen Angus beef so this recipe just looks like heaven to me!
I love that your bun is upside down. Each layer of flavor shines through and looks so delicious.
Great burger recipe, I love making my own burgers as they have so much more taste than shop bought ones. Putting cheese inside sounds like the best idea ever x
What an awesome looking burger. I cannot wait for BBQ season….unfortunately we just got dumped on with lots of snow….which really sucks. I will print for later….hopefully not too much later cause it sounds so good.
Can I say yum anymore? This looks divine!
What a delicious sounding dish!!! Absolutely makes me want a burger, NOW! 🙂
Yum! Those caramelized red onions look almost better than the burger itself! Now that it’s warming up outside, I can’t wait to GRILL. These burgers would be perfect for a backyard BBQ!
When we ate meat, we always stuffed the cheese inside the burger rather than putting it on pot. It was a nice surprise when you bite in to it.