The Best Smash Burgers [How To]

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Smash Burgers are my favorite of all burger varietals. A loosely packed, thin patty is “smashed” on a hot griddle, until its edges are crispy and delicious. This recipe for Smash Burgers consists of 100% grass-fed beef, a piece of American cheese, lettuce tomato; inspired by my Copycat Shake Shack Burger.

Smash Burgers with crinkly fries and a side of ketchup.

If you’ve never had a smash burger, you are in for a TREAT. I feel like in the past couple years, smash burgers have really had a moment. They’ve become insanely popular in restaurants. The best part about them is that they’re super easy to make at home–no grill required!

Serve these with a Honey Deuce Cocktail, a Caprese Salad and a Strawberry Cream Cake for the perfect summer dinner.

Ingredients for Smash Burgers

Meat – You can use ground meat you like. I prefer 100% grass-fed 85%/15%. But feel free to use ground chicken, turkey or vegan meat substitute.
Potato Buns – I love Martin’s Potato Buns because they help everything melt into each other.
American cheese – There’s something very unnatural and delicious about the way American cheese melts onto a warm patty. I love it so much.
Special sauce – Inspired by In-n-out, I love making a special sauce. It has pickles, mayonnaise and ketchup.
Pickles – I think these are a non-starter. These are an absolute requirement to making the most delicious burgers.

Please see recipe card for the rest of the ingredients and instructions.

What Are Smash Burgers

Your diner favorite! Smash burgers are usually cooked on a flat top or griddle (in our case we’re using a cast iron pan). The beef isn’t formed into patties; instead they’re sort of pucks or loosely gathered piles. When they hit the hot pan, they’re smashed with a meat press until the patty is nice and thin (about 1/2-inch thick). The edges are craggy and crispy. There’s NO spices, mix-ins, etc. They’re fairly simple. Just salt and pepper.

I like to make these year-around, but especially in the summer, and I love to serve them with a caesar salad on the side. And a big batch of watermelon margaritas don’t hurt either.

Smash Burger ingredients on a counter top.

How to Make Smash Burgers

Form your meat pucks. We want the meat to be loosely formed into pucks. This will help make it easier to smash.

2. Prep your toppings. Get everything ready – slice up the tomatoes, wash lettuce leaves, mix up your special sauce and get the pickles and cheese. This recipe goes quickly so make sure to prep everything in advance.

3. Toast your buns. I like to smother the inside of each bun with softened butter and lightly toast them in the pan.

4. Cook the patties. Turn the heat to high in a cast iron skillet. When it’s hot, add the cold puck of meat to the skillet. Top it with a piece of parchment. Smash it using a spatula or a meat press. You want the patty super thin!

5. Cook on the first side for 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for 2 minutes. Drape a piece of American cheese on top.

6. Assemble the burgers with burger sauce, the patty, pickles, lettuce, tomato, red onion and more burger sauce.

Tips and Tricks to Smash Burgers

Do not form the meat into patties – Biggest tip is to NOT, I repeat NOT form them into patties. Not doing this actually makes it way easier.
The beef should be cold, straight from the fridge. There’s no need to bring this to room temperature like you would, say, a steak.
If you don’t have a burger press, you can use a metal spatula. Press that spatula with the back of a wooden spoon! No fancy tools necessary.
Select your bun carefully. I think brioche buns are delicious. Regular burger buns work, too. But my favorite is a potato bun because of how soft and flavorful they are.

What to Serve with These Smash Burgers

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To Toast the Buns:

Place a pan over medium-low heat. You’re going to have to do this in batches. Add the butter and when melted, add as many potato bun halves, interior side down, as you can, and cook until toasted and lightly golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Repeat with the remaining potato buns until they’ve all been toasted. Add more butter to the pan, as needed.

To Make the Patties:

Portion out the 2 pounds of ground Wagyu beef into 4-ounce piles that are loosely packed (no need to form patties). I like to place them on a baking sheet since I needed to cook them in batches. Top each pile of beef with a few pinches of salt and a few rounds of freshly cracked pepper.
Place a cast iron over medium-high heat. Preheat the pan until hot and then add about a teaspoon or two of oil. Add two patties, spacing them about 4 inches apart, and then smash them flat with a spatula to form patties that are 4-inches in diameter. Cook until the edges are brown and craggy, about 2 minutes. Flip the patties, season with salt and pepper, and cook for an additional minute or two. Transfer to the baking sheet to a warm oven to keep warm. Repeat with cooking the patties until you’ve worked your way through all of the beef.
Remove the baking sheet with the patties from the oven and top each patty with a slice of American cheese. Transfer back to the oven until cheese is melted. American cheese melts pretty easily; you may need only 2 to 3 minutes in the oven.

To Assemble the Smash Burgers:

Add a swipe of mayonnaise to both halves of the bun. Add the patty, top with slices of pickles, tomato and lettuce. Serve immediately.

Tips and Tricks

Biggest tip is to NOT, I repeat NOT form them into patties. Not doing this actually makes it way easier.

The beef should be cold, straight from the fridge. There’s no need to bring this to room temperature like you would, say, a steak.

If you don’t have the perfect spatula for smash burgers (some restaurants have heavy smashers), don’t worry. I used a plastic pancake spatula, and then pressed that spatula with the back of a wooden spoon! No fancy tools necessary.

Select your bun carefully. I think brioche buns are delicious. Regular burger buns work, too. But my favorite is a potato bun because of how soft and flavorful they are.

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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