Plant-Based Double Smashie Burgers
By Joe GitterPublished on January 31, 2022
Time
1 hour
Yield
Serves 4
Ingredients
Burger Sauce
¼ cup plant-based or egg-based mayonnaise 2 tablespoons ketchup 1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar ½ teaspoon pepperBurgers
12 ounces plant-based ground meat 4 hamburger buns, toasted if desired1 ½ cups shredded iceberg lettuce ¼ teaspoon table salt ¼ teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 4 slices plant-based or dairy cheese (4 ounces)¼ cup finely chopped onion ¼ cup dill pickle chipsBefore You Begin
You can use any pie plate or baking dish to press the patties, but we prefer glass so you can see the size of the patty as you’re pressing.
Instructions
- Whisk all ingredients together in bowl. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.)
- Wrap bottom of Dutch oven with aluminum foil. Cut sides of 1‑quart zipper-lock bag, leaving bottom seam intact.
- Using your moistened hands, pinch off and roll ground meat into 8 balls (1½ ounces each). Enclose 1 ball in split bag. Using clear pie plate or baking dish, press ball into even 3½-inch-wide patty. Remove patty from bag and transfer to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining balls. Transfer patties to refrigerator and let chill for at least 15 minutes or up to 24 hours.
- Spread 1 tablespoon burger sauce over each bun bottom, then top with lettuce; set aside. Sprinkle patties with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12‑inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Using spatula, transfer 4 patties to skillet and weight with prepared pot. Cook patties until well browned on first side, about 1 minute. Remove pot, flip patties, and top with cheese. Cook until patties are just cooked through, about 15 seconds. Transfer patties to prepared bun bottoms.
- Repeat with remaining 4 patties. Stack patties and top with onion, pickle chips, and bun tops. Serve, passing remaining burger sauce separately.
for the burger sauce
for the burgers
Time
1 hourYield
Serves 4Ingredients
Burger Sauce
Burgers
Ingredients
Burger Sauce
Burgers
Ingredients
Burger Sauce
Burgers
Why This Recipe Works
There’s a reason beyond mere convenience why fast-food burgers are so beloved—it’s the particular combination of salty, crispy, sweet, sour, pickled, savory, and meaty that fast-food chains do so well. Here, we use plant-based meat to replicate that ultimate fast-food-style burger patty: pressed thin and deeply browned to crispy deliciousness. Cooking the patties in a blazing-hot skillet triggers the Maillard reaction, a process (signaled by browning) that causes the proteins and sugars in food to recombine and form hundreds of new flavor compounds. The result: super savory, drool-worthy burgers. To aid in the browning, we weight the patties with a heavy Dutch oven to ensure maximum contact with the hot pan. And since each patty is so thin, we double them up for twice the impact and a heftier burger overall. The rest is just a matter of slathering on the superquick fast food–style burger sauce and layering with your favorite burger toppings. Order’s up!
Before You Begin
You can use any pie plate or baking dish to press the patties, but we prefer glass so you can see the size of the patty as you’re pressing.
Instructions
- Whisk all ingredients together in bowl. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.)
- Wrap bottom of Dutch oven with aluminum foil. Cut sides of 1‑quart zipper-lock bag, leaving bottom seam intact.
- Using your moistened hands, pinch off and roll ground meat into 8 balls (1½ ounces each). Enclose 1 ball in split bag. Using clear pie plate or baking dish, press ball into even 3½-inch-wide patty. Remove patty from bag and transfer to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining balls. Transfer patties to refrigerator and let chill for at least 15 minutes or up to 24 hours.
- Spread 1 tablespoon burger sauce over each bun bottom, then top with lettuce; set aside. Sprinkle patties with salt and pepper. Heat oil in 12‑inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Using spatula, transfer 4 patties to skillet and weight with prepared pot. Cook patties until well browned on first side, about 1 minute. Remove pot, flip patties, and top with cheese. Cook until patties are just cooked through, about 15 seconds. Transfer patties to prepared bun bottoms.
- Repeat with remaining 4 patties. Stack patties and top with onion, pickle chips, and bun tops. Serve, passing remaining burger sauce separately.
for the burger sauce
for the burgers
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