If you want to impress your guests at your next barbecue, make them this Grilled Ground Smash Burgers recipe. It’s a little more work than a traditional ground burger because it uses freshly ground beef recipe, but it’s worth it.
For more ideas, check out all of our grilling recipes.
Smash burgers have been growing in popularity lately. Some well renowned (SPELLING) burger chains built their business on this trend. So, of course, it was only a matter of time before everyone ditched the traditional burger to try a smash burger.
Not ditched completely, but maybe for a barbecue or two.
Smashed burgers have more surface area so they cook quicker than traditional burgers. They also have a tasty, even browned surface that’s just delicious. You can’t get that on a traditional burger.
Oh, sure, you can try for a crust like that. But, if you do achieve it, it will take a long time, which will cause your burger to dry out. And no one wants to eat that.
So smash burgers are in.
The smash is never identical from one burger to the next, unlike burgers when you use a burger press to assure they’re all identical. So, if you’re a perfectionist, this may be hard for you. But, trust me. It’s worth it.
Did you buy too much beef for this recipe and need to use it? Get inspired by our list of budget-friendly beef recipes.
Grilled Smash Burgers (with freshly ground beef) Recipe
Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.
Grilled Smash Burgers (with freshly ground beef) Ingredients:
- 4 pounds chuck pot roast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 16 hamburger buns
How To Make Grilled Smash Burgers (with freshly ground beef):
Chop the chuck pot roast into cubes.
Attach the fine meat grinder disc to the stand mixer meat grinder attachment and feed the meat cubes through the grinder.
Side note: If you’ve never ground your own meat before, be sure to check out our How To Grind Your Own Burger Meat post for tips and tricks before you start.
Weight out 1/4-pound of meat.
We use a stainless steel food scale, covered in plastic wrap, to do this. If you don’t have a scale, you can eyeball it.
Roll the meat into a ball and put it on a cookie sheet.
Continue until you’ve made 16 balls of meat.
Sprinkle the balls of meat with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
If you’re not going to cook your burgers right away, put them in the fridge. You want to cook burgers when the meat is cold. If you’re going to cook them right away, you can skip refrigerating them.
Take one of the balls of meat and put it alone on a cookie sheet.
Take a bacon press and smash each it.
Put the burger on a pre-heated grill. Cook for about two to three minutes.
When the edges start to brown, flip the burgers and cook an additional minute.
If you can get a good assembly line going, you can smash, grill, and flip the burgers in no time.
Serve with your favorite burger toppings.
Grilled Smash Burgers: Frequently Asked Questions
So many smash burger recipes call for cooking the smash burgers in a cast iron skillet. They say you can’t make a smash burger in a grill. And that’s just false.
Those recipes say you can’t smash the burger on the grill. They say, for the perfect smash burger, you should put the ball of meat directly on a pre-heated cast iron skillet, then smash it within the first 30 seconds that its cooking.
And, while that may be the best way according to experts, that’s not the only way … especially if you don’t have a cast iron skillet. Or if you’re making this for a crowd.
The cast iron skillet way can only make two burgers at a time. Any more and the cast iron skillet gets overcrowded. When you’re making these directly on a grill, you can make all 16 at once, which is a lot easier for the chef.
When you smash a burger, you give it more surface area to cook. That causes The Maillard Effect, which is basically a chemical reactions that happens when proteins are heated, causing them to brown.
This is different from the browning (aka caramelization) that happens when sugar is heated.
For more details, read this post about the Maillard reaction, which will explain it a lot better than I can.
Chuck pot roast is perfect for smash burgers. Meats with a higher fat content will produce a better smash burger. The fat melts as it cooks and adds to the juiciness, taste, and texture of the burger.
To make this exact recipe, you need to purchase the beef and grind it yourself. If you don’t have a meat grinder, but want to try this recipe, you can purchase ground beef at the grocery store. A 70/30 or 80/20 blend will work better than a 93/7 or a similarly lean meat.
If you want to try a smash burger, and don’t want to make it yourself, head over to Shake Shack, HWY 51, or Five Guys. Those are all known for smash burgers. And of course, so is Smash Burger. It’s right there in the name.
Other chains may make them, but they’re not as known for them as the chains listed above.
More Burger Recipes:
If you want to serve a variety of burgers at your next barbecue, we have some other recipes you might enjoy:
- Bacon-Infused Beef Burgers With Fresh Ground Beef
- Grilled Ground Sausage Burgers
- Mozzarella Cheese Stuffed Hamburgers On The Grill
- Bacon and Bleu Stuffed Burgers
- Cheeseburger Sliders On Hawaiian Rolls
Grilled Smash Burgers (with freshly ground beef)
If you want to impress your guests at your next barbecue, make them this Grilled Ground Smash Burgers recipe. It’s a little more work than a traditional ground burger because it uses freshly ground beef recipe, but it’s worth it.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds chuck pot roast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 16 hamburger buns
Instructions
- Chop the chuck pot roast into cubes.
- Attach the fine meat grinder disc to the stand mixer meat grinder attachment and feed the meat cubes through the grinder.
- Weight out 1/4-pound of meat. Roll the meat into a ball and put it on a cookie sheet.
- Continue until you’ve made 16 balls of meat.
- Sprinkle the balls of meat with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Take one of the balls of meat and put it alone on a cookie sheet. Take a bacon press and smash each it.
- Put the burger on a pre-heated grill. Cook for about two to three minutes. When the edges start to brown, flip the burgers and cook an additional minute.
Notes
We use a stainless steel food scale, covered in plastic wrap, to do this. If you don’t have a scale, you can eyeball it.
If you’re not going to cook your burgers right after you mold them, put them in the fridge. You want to cook burgers when the meat is cold. If you’re going to cook them right away, you can skip refrigerating them.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 361Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 119mgSodium 441mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 43g
Have you made these Grilled Smash Burgers with freshly ground beef? Let us know how it went in the comments.
Pam
Monday 14th of August 2023
I've never even used my grinder attachment for my mixer, now I know what I'll be making! These will be amazing on my new griddle too!