Diner-Style Burgers

By Sam Sifton

Updated Aug. 1, 2024

Diner-Style Burgers
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(2,778)
Comments
Read comments

This is the traditional, griddled hamburger of diners and takeaway spots, smashed thin and cooked crisp on its edges. It is best to cook in a heavy, cast-iron skillet slicked with oil or fat, and not on a grill. For meat, ask a butcher for coarse-ground chuck steak, with at least a 20 percent fat content, or grind your own. Keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook, and try not to handle it with your fingers — use an ice-cream scoop or spoon instead. Plop down a few ounces in the pan, smash it with a spatula, salt it, let it go crisp and flip. Add cheese and get your bun toasted. The process moves quickly.

Featured in: Deconstructing the Perfect Burger

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

    or to print this recipe.

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 to 8 servings
  • ½teaspoon neutral oil, like canola, or a pat of unsalted butter
  • 2pounds ground chuck, at least 20 percent fat
  • Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
  • 8slices cheese (optional)
  • 8soft hamburger buns, lightly toasted
  • Lettuce leaves, sliced tomatoes and condiments, as desired
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Add oil or butter to a large cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet and place over medium heat. Gently divide ground beef into 8 small piles of around 4 ounces each, and even more gently gather them together into orbs that are about 2 inches in height. Do not form patties.

  2. Step 2

    Increase heat under skillet to high. Put half the orbs into the skillet with plenty of distance between them and, using a stiff metal spatula, press down on each one to form a burger that is around 4 inches in diameter and about ½ inch thick. Season with salt and pepper.

  3. Step 3

    Cook without moving until patties have achieved a deep, burnished crust, a little less than 2 minutes. Use the spatula to scrape free and carefully turn burgers over. If using cheese, lay slices on meat.

  4. Step 4

    Continue to cook until meat is cooked through, approximately a minute or so longer. Remove burgers from skillet, place on buns and top as desired. Repeat process with remaining burgers. Serving two hamburgers on a single bun is not an outrageous option.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

4 out of 5
2,778 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Susanne

I love this burger but a way to achieve the same result without any splatter from oil or butter is the Mark Bittman steak technique where you heat the cast iron pan on high for 3 minutes or so until very hot, even smoking, add some salt to the bottom of the pan, lower the heat to med high and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side. No splatter and a crisp, perfectly done burger. Add cheese as Sam suggests if you like.

BR

One issue.

If you like cheeseburgers, and I do, the cheese won't melt sufficiently unless you overcook the meat, which is no good. So I put a cover over the pan as soon as I flip and put the cheese on.

Jim

To keep the burger from sticking to your spatula when you smash, place a small piece of parchment paper on the burger before pressing down.

Ryan M

I learned how to make a smash burger from this recipe and it’s been my go-to for an easy dinner for years. My wife didn’t like burgers until I started making them this way. I installed an exhaust over my range primarily so I can keep making this without setting off the smoke alarms. I use a cast iron skillet and don’t add the beef until the skillet is smoking. I don’t touch the beef with my hands. Instead, I cut into 1/4 lb chunks with a large metal spatula that I then use to smash the chunks in the pan. To me this recipe is more about teaching the technique and the toppings are up to you.

CJ

Finally a recipe that shows me how to scale down from 8 burgers to 4. In case there's only two of us at the cottage.

PPS

Not sure why, but this is the perfect method for cooking burgers!!! I was super impressed that simply using an ice cream scoop, cold ground beef, salt, peeper and, of course, butter resulted in such deliciousness!

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.