Extra-special.
Why does that sound weird to me? At first I wrote super-special but that seemed a little dorky, even for me. Hm. What I’m trying to say is… this sauce is bomb.
I am usually a YES, MOAR KETCHUP PLEASE type of burger eater. It’s not that I don’t love the rest of the flavours. The ketchup, to me, is just a… delicious food lubricant.
Wow, okay, I just said that. So, let’s move on…
If you put nothing else on your burgers this Canada Day (July 1st) or Independence Day (July 4th) or- really, any other day in the summer– just put this. I skip the mustard, ketchup (!), mayo and relish.
So you see, this isn’t really so much a burger recipe as it is a magic sauce recipe.
My husband and I call this ‘smashy sauce’ since I believe it was originally inspired by Michael Smith’s Smashburgers recipe. Then again…. smashy-sauce also sounds wrong. I wanna say that’s because of the show Jersey Shore?
Regardless.
Big Mac sauce this is not. While does contain all the creamy, pickled deliciousness of the Golden Arches’ ubiquitous special sauce, this one also contains a- slightly bizarre- secret ingredient: horseradish. Yep. Horseradish.
A lot of people, upon trying my all-time-burger-sauce for the first time, cannot place exactly what it’s made up of (and unless you share this recipe with them, they never need to know) (kidding, share this link a million times), so if you’re not a horseradish fan don’t be dismayed, you can cut the horseradish down to a teaspoon to reduce its punch. What we’re aiming for here is that gorgeous pairing of beef and horseradish. Gorgeous.
| Old-School Beef Burgers with Extra-Special Sauce | | Print |
- Burger patties:
- 800g ground beef chuck
- 1 tsp Montreal Steak Spice*
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- .
- (Extra)-Special Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp your favourite mustard
- 1 Tbsp horseradish
- 1 Tbsp sweet Bread & Butter pickles, finely chopped**
- 1 tsp your favourite hot sauce
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- .
- 4 brioche or pretzel buns, lightly toasted
- ¼ head Iceberg lettuce
- ¼ red onion, thinly sliced
- Dill pickles, sliced
- 1 tomato, sliced
- Ketchup (optional)
- 4 slices of your favourite cheese (optional)
- In a large bowl, gently mix the burger patty ingredients together with your hands until just combined- we don't want to over-work the meat, as it will become tougher the more we handle it. Divide into 4 equal portions but do not form patties.
- In a small bowl, mix all smashing sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- Heat a cast-iron griddle or large heavy skillet over medium-high until very hot, about 2 minutes. Lightly brush with vegetable oil. Place portions of meat onto the griddle (you might have to do this is batches or use two pans) and smash flat with a spatula to form 4"-diameter patties. Rough edges are a good thing here- they will provide extra caramelized bits! Cook without flipping until outer edges are brow- roughly 2 minutes. Flip patties and place a slice of cheese on top of each patty, if desired. Cook until cheese melts and burgers are medium-rare, about 1 more minute.
- Lightly toast buns and give both sides a healthy slather of the extra-special sauce. Top with a burger patty, lettuce, onion and tomato. Best enjoyed outside with a cold drink and a biiiig napkin!
** Yep, that's right. I use two different type of pickles in this recipe! Bread and butter pickes are so sweet they work perfectly in the smashing sauce but I find them a little too much to top a burger with. As a topping, I prefer a crisp dill pickle- better crunch and more tang to cut the richness of the beef.
I think I may have drooled a little when I first saw your Old School Burger. It looks seriously amazing! My husband keeps bugging me to make them for him! Yum!
So classic, so tasty! (with a twist 😉 ) Let me know what you think of ’em, Kate!