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Elevate your burger game with this delicious killer burger sauce recipe. Made with a secret blend of ingredients, this sauce will take your burgers to the next level.
This is it, the killer burger sauce recipe. If you don’t want dry, flavorless burgers, look no further for the best classic hamburger sauce.
Table of Contents
- Burger Sauce Ingredients
- How to Assemble the Perfect Burger
- Why Do Hamburger Patties Fall Apart?
- Can Hamburgers Be Pink in the Middle?
- What is the Difference Between Yellow Mustard and Dijon?
- What if I Don’t Like Pickles?
- The Perfect Sides for the Killer Burger
- Storage Tips
- More Homemade Condiment Recipes You’ll Love:
- More Easy Burger Recipes:
- Killer Burger Sauce Recipe
- 2 Secrets for the BEST Hamburger
- Teriyaki Pina Colada Burger
I’ll make this short and sweet since we’ve already talked about our two secrets for the perfect burger. We live by those secrets and sure enough our burger turns out every time. Dust off the grill and let’s make perfect burgers and then top with the best burger sauce you’ve ever had!
Burger Sauce Ingredients
So you’re probably wondering what goes into the best burger sauce. Well, let me tell you! Think Big Mac Sauce, In-N-Out’s special sauce or thousand island dressing, but made in the comfort of your own home. It’s easy and comes together in no time!
- Mayonnaise
- BBQ Sauce
- Ketchup
- Mustard or Dijon Mustard
- Sweet Pickle Relish
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Salt and Pepper
To make the sauce, whisk all the ingredients together and set aside until the hamburgers are ready to assemble. The measurements of each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.
How to Assemble the Perfect Burger
Forget the ketchup and mayo and go for a really good burger sauce. I am a huge fan of sauces and condiments but in the case of the burger, keep it simple, burger, sauce, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Besides the burger sauce, these are the other items you will want to make a drool-worthy burger…
- Brioche Buns: Always toast your buns. Always. Whether or not you use butter brushed on the inside and outside is up to you, but always toast those babies.
- Special Meat Blend: Burgers don’t want to be slow cooked so crank up the heat and quickly cook on each side. We do medium high heat for 2-3 minutes per side.
- Lettuce: We prefer butter or green leaf lettuce for the best texture, color and flavor.
- Vine Ripe Tomato: We slice the tomatoes thin using our favorite tomato knife.
- American Cheese: A processed cheese made from cheddar, Colby, or similar cheeses and gets extra melty and delicious.
- Butter: A little butter on the burger is always a good thing. Culvers butter burger converted us and we hardly ever make it without butter.
- Salt and Pepper: I cringe a little every time I see a burger get plopped on a grill without seasoning. Do you like your French fries without salt? Well meat needs seasoning as well.
Why Do Hamburger Patties Fall Apart?
It’s not about the fat content, honestly.
Just make sure you don’t have too many liquid-y things in there, like too much Worcestershire sauce or onions, but what’s also important is to make sure they are cold when you put them on the grill, AND do not keep flipping them. Hamburgers should only need to be flipped once.
That will make the burger fall apart for sure.
Can Hamburgers Be Pink in the Middle?
Yes, a hamburger that is pink in the middle can be safe to eat if it has reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. If my friend is doing it and I don’t know where the meat is from or it’s a basic store-bought prepared burger someone is cooking always go with well-done. Again, reading our post about the best burger is helpful.
I know we’ve all been taught to send back a pink burger but at a good restaurant or at home you actually should have a slightly pink center. Why? Well eating out you can’t control that’s it’s fresh, good meat being ground and that it’s been carefully prepared and cooked so it’s too risky. But when you use our special meat blend from our 2 secrets post you’ll have a perfect burger if you don’t cook it to well done. I know, it’s a little scary the first time but trust us. An over cooked burger is the same as an overcooked steak.
What is the Difference Between Yellow Mustard and Dijon?
Dijon mustard has a sharper, tangier flavor than yellow mustard.
What if I Don’t Like Pickles?
If you don’t like the flavor of pickles, then you can replace the pickle relish with a tablespoon of white vinegar. If it’s the texture of pickles that you aren’t a fan of, I would use the pickle juice just to get that pickle flavor in there, but like I mentioned above, I’m actually not a pickle fan, but I don’t even notice them in this sauce.
The Perfect Sides for the Killer Burger
I know you want the burger to be the star of the show, but a good side or two is always a good thing! Try our grilled corn or baked beans! If you want some extra flavor, go for our Elote grilled street corn or Elote corn salad!
And you can’t ever forget fries when you have a burger! Go for our perfect French fries with special sauce! And let me just add here that this classic burger sauce recipe is a great dipping sauce for french fries too!
Storage Tips
Extra burger sauce should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for up to a week.
Add a kick to your burger with this homemade killer burger sauce recipe. Made with simple ingredients, this sauce is sure to elevate your burger game to the next level.
More Homemade Condiment Recipes You’ll Love:
- Red Enchilada Sauce
- Tomatillo Cilantro Ranch Dressing
- Taco Seasoning
- Classic Pesto
- Pizza Sauce
- BBQ Rub
- Authentic Salsa Verde
- Restaurant Style Salsa
- Nacho Cheese Sauce
- BBQ Sauce
- Spaghetti Sauce
- Ham Dipping Sauces
- All CONDIMENT RECIPES!
More Easy Burger Recipes:
- Pimento Cheeseburger
- Teriyaki Burger
- Pepperoni Pizza Burger
- Hawaiian Turkey Burger Sliders
- Cheesy Lasagna Burger
- Oprah’s Favorite Turkey Burger
- Hamburger with Egg on Top
- Fajita Burgers
- ALL OF OUR GROUND BEEF DINNER RECIPES!
Burger Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- ½ Cup Mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons BBQ Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Ketchup
- ¼ teaspoon Mustard, or Dijon Mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Sweet Pickle Relish
- 3 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
- ¼ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, bbq, ketchup, and mustard.½ Cup Mayonnaise, 2 Tablespoons BBQ Sauce, 2 Tablespoons Ketchup, ¼ teaspoon Mustard
- Stir in the relish, Worcestershire, and seasonings.2 Tablespoons Sweet Pickle Relish, 3 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce, ¼ teaspoon Onion Powder, ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper
- Set aside until you're ready to assemble your burgers.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
2 Secrets for the BEST Hamburger
2 secrets for the best hamburger! Are you still buying ground beef in the package and pressing the meat out into a disc? Stop! Let’s try a new way.
Teriyaki Pina Colada Burger
this teriyaki pina colada burger is thanks to our 2 secrets for the best hamburger and I can’t stop making it.
Can you please provide more detail on “its not about the fat content, honestly”? Because it is literally all about the fat content. A true fresh burger has nothing in it except for possibly one egg for every 2 pounds of ground meat. A burger with a 95-5 ratio is going to be completely different than a burger with a 73-27 ratio. Must places famous for their burgers not only claim the grind as their success but also the balance of meat to fat ratio. Also a slow cooked burger is amazing if you sous vide a burger at 135 degrees for about 40 minutes, cool it and then finish it on a very hot grill the protein is going to be more relaxed and hold on to more of the fat and liquid in the meat protein and with the combination the Maillard reaction you have created on the surface with the very hot grill I guarantee you it will be one of the best burgers of your life. There are way too many personal opinions in here and not enough backed by facts. Also it is clear to me that you do not understand where e-coli comes from. It does not matter how old the meat it is. E-coli is found around the stomach of the cow and that area is scrap that is often tossed into ground meat and if the stomach is ever so slightly penetrated with the knife it could contaminate the batch with e-coli. But when you are using meat you have ground yourself or by a butcher like chuck, brisket etc there is no e-coli in that part of the cow. If a piece of protein is not fresh and has turned there is no safe temperature to cook it too. You cannot cook out time and temperature abuse. Also adding an indentation to the center of your burger is going to do absolutely nothing except frustrate you and waste your time.
It’s not that serious dude. Relax…
Recipe is amaaaaaaaaazing. So delicious!
Thank you so much Kelsey!
I appreciate Craig’s comment. I learned a bit and it is important to put the correct information out there, even if some don’t think it is a big deal.
Hi Stephanie, Craig is a great source of information! So glad he’s here to help. I do think there is a little misunderstanding though, so just in case anyone else reads who is required to be on a lower fat diet I have added a response as you can still keep a burger together even with lower fat, so they don’t have to miss out. 🙂 XOXO!
Hi Craig!! You clearly love food like we do. Thank you so much for your information. There might be a small misunderstanding though. We are discussing why a burger falls apart, and while I ABSOLUTELY agree that fat content makes a HUGE difference in the quality of burger, from flavor to texture, caramelization to binding it is not all about the fat when only talking about structure. Which is what I was stating. I’ve cooked enough burgers for those who need to keep things as low fat as possible and you can absolutely keep a low fat burger together. Lots of people say it is impossible because you’re using lower fat and this was merely to point out that’s not the case. Have you read our post on the best burger? I’m not exactly sure what has led you to talk about e-coli but I am very up to date on the facts about it. I went ahead and added a touch on temperature in case that’s what you are referring to. In fact, I’ve been lucky enough to travel the states and learn straight from the top chefs and beef council, we even work with beef, it’s what’s for dinner. 🙂 But I am glad you left this all here for anyone interested and so I could make that update. We can all learn from each other, and I’m all about a good environment where such respectful discussions can happen if we all breath out humility, kindness, and fact-based information. 🙂 Thank you!
I have made this recipe many times- enough that I really don’t have to reference the recipe any longer. It is very, very good. I love it on my burgers and dipping my fries in it. So tasty!
Yesssss it’s so good on fries too! So glad you love it! Thank you, Shannon!
Looks fabulous! Just have to correct one statement on this post. A pink burger will not reach the temperature of 160 degrees. 160 is a well-done burger. If you want it pink in the middle, you need to aim for medium-rare to medium, which falls in the range of 130-145.
Thank you Angie!
This really kicked our burgers up a notch last night and my husband used it again on his roast beef sandwich today and liked it on that too. Great recipe that we’ll use on our burgers from now on so thank you for it.
Yay! Love to hear that! Thank you Renee!
This is the art into the chaos of taste.
Thanks!
Too many pictures before the actual recipe. 0 stars.
Feel free to use the “Jump to Recipe” button!
You completely lost me by saying forget mayo and then including it, but also saying use American cheese. Crap recipe.
The post is saying to forget the tradition mayo and ketchup on your burger and upgrade your burger with this delicious sauce instead. And you can feel free to use whatever cheese you enjoy best. I love a good swiss cheese on mine occasionally.
Adam, You’re an idiot.
Ure so rude man, like wth
Delicious burger sauce… This will become an instant family favorite! thank you!
Yessss! Love to hear that!
Good Recipes
Thank you!
Being “fresh” has nothing to do with e-coli! Ground meat has more chance of carrying this bacteria since it is blended — unlike steak. If you brown the outside of steak you can kill the e-coli since it is only on the surface. But with hamburger, the e-coli is spread throughout the meat so if you don’t cook it all the way through you run the risk. This is nothing to play with — it is a deadly bacteria.
The sauce looks great and even though I definitely not a sweet pickle relish person, I’ll give it a try.