Here's co-founder of Honest Burgers, Tom Barton's recipe for the ultimate cheeseburgers. This signature Honest burger is beautifully tender and topped with British cheddar, bacon, pickles, onion relish, and lettuce.
Packed full of flavour and made only with quality ingredients, without a doubt, this is one of our favourite burger recipes. This recipe serves six so make sure you scale up or down depending on how many you are feeding.
In the video below Tom Barton explains how to use the right cut of meat; beef chuck and rib cap, and the ratios being 80% to 20% rib. He recommends using these cuts of beef over mince, as when the beef is minced it squashes a lot of flavour and goodness out of your burgers. Whereas if you chop up the meat yourself, similar to steak tartare, it brings out more of the beef's natural flavours and has a fresher, less rubbery texture.
Preparation: Before starting, it is important to make sure you have enough time to cook this dish. Without toppings and chips, it takes 20 minutes to prepare, plus chilling time. So we strongly recommend you prepare your chips, onion relish, and pickles before cooking your burgers.
Tom suggests heading to a local butcher so that your burgers are made with the highest quality beef that is freshly produced. He also says to use smoked streaky bacon rashers, as they have a higher fat content so they smoke and crisp up nicely, making them the perfect addition to your burgers. Alternatively, if you want to go for less fatty rashers of bacon, it is up to you.
Equipment wise for this recipe, we suggest using a good cast iron frying pan with a flat bottom and smooth non-stick finish, to ensure that your burgers are cooked evenly and do not stick.
You will also need to make sure that you have a very sharp big knife to be able to cut up your steak into thin pieces to start and then you will have to dice them into small pieces so that you are able to mix the meat together easily in your mixing bowl and mold them into your burgers.
Another tip from Tom is to try making your own homemade chips to go alongside these delicious burgers. Simply follow our easy chips recipe and leave the skin on to make them super crispy. It's up to you how you want to cook them, you can either put them into your deep-fat fryer or into your oven to cook. Once cooked, just top them with some crushed lemon zest, rosemary, and Maldon sea salt to elevate your chips and replicate the ultimate Honest Burger meal.
Also if you really want to push the boat out Honest style, why not make your own pickles and onion relish too? To make the pickles, follow our pickled cucumber recipe but instead add some dill and mustard seeds to your brine. Finally, to make the Honest Burgers onion relish, simply mix balsamic vinegar and sugar through your red onion relish to make the ultimate garnish to cut through your delicious, juicy cheeseburgers.
Watch Tom Barton makes these delicious cheeseburgers topped with crispy bacon
Ingredients:
- 800g Chuck steak, ideally grass fed with good marbling
- 200g Rib Cap, ideally grass fed, the fattier the better
- 6 x rashers good quality, dry cured smoked streaky bacon
- Salt & pepper
To serve:
- 200g red onion relish
- 300g cucumber pickles, sliced
- 6 x slices mild cheddar
- 2 x heads little gem lettuce, sliced finely
- 6 x good quality glazed burger buns
How to cook cheeseburgers
Step 1
First prepare your burgers. Take your sharpest knife and start cutting your chuck and rib cap into very thin slices, then cut your slices into strips. Line your strips up and then cut the meat into very small pieces. Your aiming for steak tartare consistency. Then mix all the meat together with your hands and take a small handful onto your chopping board and chop again with your knife, using a rocking motion with the blade. A very sharp knife is absolutely key here, a blunt knife wont work and will make the chopping quite dangerous.
Step 2
Once chopped, give the meat another mix with hands and then weigh out 150g and smash the meat in between your hands 5-6 times. This technique helps combine the meat and melt the fat so the burger is ready to then press into a patty shape, you can do this by hand or using a burger press. Aim for about 10cm diameter and 2cm thick. Leave the patties in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours. If they aren’t given time to set they will fall apart on the grill.
Step 3
Get your heavy-based frying pan or flat skillet on high heat. Add your burgers to the pan and give them a gentle press, this is to make sure the sear is perfect. Liberally season the raw side with salt and pepper and leave for 3 minutes. While they’re cooking add your streaky bacon to the same pan and cook till crispy, nothing worse than flabby bacon in a burger.
When ready to flip your burger make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan with your flipper, the sear is full of flavour so you don’t want to leave it in the pan. Then season liberally again and leave for 3 minutes on medium heat. This will give you a nice medium, obviously up to you how you like your burgers!
Step 4
Once ready, add a slice of cheddar and either cloche with a dome or put under a preheated grill until the cheese is melted.
Step 5
Add the bacon to the burger and leave to rest.
Step 6
Toast your bun and start building from the base up. First add the sliced lettuce, then enough pickles to cover the lettuce, then add your bacon cheeseburger, 30g of relish and your toasted bun top. Burgers done, dig in.
FAQs about cheese burgers
How to make the best cheese burgers
To make the best burgers, you have to make sure you have bought the highest quality beef and dice it as thin and small as you can. This is because when combined together, your patties should be an even mixture of lovely slow cooking beef along with elements of juicy fatty parts of your rib cap too.
You also should make sure you season your burgers heavily in salt and pepper either sides when on the frying pan. Tom suggests doing this while it is cooking, as if you season your burgers whilst preparing them, the salt will suck the moisture out of the meat and your burgers will then have a rubbery texture.
How to store burgers
When storing cooked burgers, it is essential that your burgers are put into your fridge promptly after cooking and they should not be left at room temperature for any more than two hours after cooking them.
As long as you follow this rule, you can store cooked burgers for up to 3-4 days in the fridge and up to 4 months in the freezer.
Simply just make sure to store your burgers in airtight containers or cover them well with cling film when keeping them in the fridge. If looking to freeze them, we suggest using freezer bags or airtight containers too.
How to reheat burgers
To reheat in the oven:
- Preheat your oven to 200°C.
- Put your burgers directly onto a baking tray.
- Heat the burgers on both sides-3 minutes each side.
To reheat in the air fryer:
- Preheat your air fryer to 200°C.
- Add your burgers into your air fryer basket.
- Set your timer for three minutes to cook on one side.
- Flip the burger over and set for another two minutes.
- Using a spatula, remove the burgers from the air fryer and serve.
To reheat in the microwave:
- Place your burgers on a microwavable plate.
- Cover with a damp paper towel.
- On a medium/low setting, heat your burgers for two minutes.
- If you have a food thermometer, check that your burgers are around 75°C.
- If they are not quite done, return them to the microwave and do 60 seconds intervals until they reach the right temperature and are then ready to eat.
To reheat in the pan:
- Place a splash of water in a non-stick frying pan and heat the pan over medium heat for around sixty seconds.
- Add your burgers to a pan and make sure they are evenly spaced.
- Heat your burgers on 90 seconds each side.
- If you have a food thermometer, check that your burgers are 75°C.
- If they’re not quite done, return them to the pan for twenty seconds on either side and serve once ready.
Our best cheeseburger recipes
1. Blue cheese burger with rocket
These tasty burgers are topped tangy blue cheese and fresh rocket. The perfect burgers to impress family and friends.
Get the recipe: Blue cheese burger with rocket
2. Vegetarian Juicy Lucy burger
Veggies don't worry we have got you. These Juicy Lucy burgers are the perfect veggie burger alternative, filled with cheesy brilliance.
Get the recipe: Vegetarian Juicy Lucy burger
3. Slider burgers
These juicy mini cheeseburgers served in small buns are really giving us ultimate McDonalds vibe right now. Perfect for kids parties.
Get the recipe: Slider burgers
4. Melting cheese burgers and potato wedges
This cheeseburger is gooey goodness. Paired with delicious potato wedges, they are a real crowd pleaser at any BBQ or family event.
Get the recipe: Melting cheese burgers and potato wedges
5. Basil and mozzarella cheeseburger
These burgers are great alternative to your traditional burgers. With an Italian twist, we are sure all the family will love them.
Get the recipe: Basil and mozzarella cheeseburger
Tom Barton, co-founder of Honest Burgers founded the business with university friend Phillip Eeles. The pair found themselves not wanting to end up in 9-5 jobs in London and instead wanted to pave their way in the London restaurant industry. So, in 2011 they started off making burgers for events and festivals and grabbed at the opportunity to open their first restaurant in Brixton in 2011. Now with 22 branches across London and parts of the UK, Honest Burgers is a recognised restaurant chain that is known for serving its customers quality meat burgers along with delicious homemade chips, relish, pickles and much more.
Related Features:
How to make hamburgers with Tom Barton