As we move into grilling season, everyone needs an awesome burger recipe in their back pocket. And this one is it. Ground chuck (I really recommend 85% lean, although I understand if you want to go a bit leaner) is perfectly seasoned to make THE BEST grilled hamburgers!
I actually discovered this recipe years and years ago, before I even had kids, in Family Fun magazine (I’m not even sure it exists anymore!) The guy who came up with the recipe was named Sam and christened them Samburgers, which is what we’ve always called them, but I’ve stopped telling people we’re having Samburgers for dinner because…well…they start looking at you kind of weird and I can’t go back to jail.
THE BEST Classic Hamburgers (Samburgers)
Description
This classic burger recipe will become a staple in your summer grilling rotation!
Ingredients
3 tablespoons A1 Sauce (or favorite steak sauce)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
¾ teaspoon dry oregano
1 tablespoon dehydrated onion
Instructions
Gently combine ingredients, handling as little as possible. Shape meat into the desired number of patties (4-6, depending on how large you make them.) Use your thumb to make an indentation in the top of each burger–this will keep the burgers from seizing up and becoming round while cooking.
Grill for about 7 minutes on each side over medium heat (or until they’re as non-pink as you want them.)
Notes
These can be made in advance and frozen between sheets of parchment paper or refrigerated for 1-2 days. If cooking from frozen, add a few minutes of cooking time on each side or thaw before cooking.
Questions & Reviews
Twelve years later and these are still terrific. I was a hard-core Family Fun subscriber back in the day, so this recipe (and others in my stash) makes me smile.
Delicious! Loved them for our first burger grill
I’ve been making these for the last couple years and we love them. It’s our go-to burger recipe.
Made these for our first burgers on the grill for the summer and they were a huge hit! I agree: no more plain patties. I doubled the recipes for the 6 of us and made 8 patties. Thanks!
Made these burgers tonight for dinner…HUGE hit at my house!! Thank you!
I made these the other day. They were fabulous!
This is on the menu for tonight and we cannot wait to eat. These are my husband’s favorite burgers, maybe even favorite grill-meal. I thoroughly enjoy them as well, being a carnivore through-and-through!
I just found your blog via make it and love it…this is the third recipe that ive made.these burgers were AMAZING!!!Made them for my family and we invited my hubby’s single friend over…the guys would not stop raving about how good they were! Thank you! I also just ordered your cookbook…cant wait to use it!!
First, I love your web site and just pre-ordered your book! Of all the cooking site I have tried over the years, I have been most successful with your recipes!
I mad the Samburgers tonight on the homemade buns. My 11 year old loved them and he usually does not like hamburgers at home. At one point he was enjoying it so much (moaning and sighing) that my husband said, "He's having a moment with the hamburger!"
queenskitchen–I would probably just use ketchup, another steak sauce, or BBQ sauce as a substitute.
Hope that helps!
Do you think I could sub worchestershire for the A1? Would it still have a similar taste?
Mmmmmm, these look good! My hubby is a burger man, he could eat them almost everyday of the week but I don't usually make them more than once a week (if I can help it : )). I like the combo of flavors here and will have to try it.
I also try to use the leanest burger meat I can find. I bought some not so lean stuff because of the great price, but regretted it later, when most of it melted away into grease, not leaving a whole lot of substance left! We usually only make 3 burgers (sometimes 4) out of a pound since they do shrink as they cook, 1 really big for dh, then 2 decent sized ones or 3 pretty small ones from the rest of it. We use big buns, the meat should fit the bun (or be a tad bigger)! This big, we usually only eat one each.
i have made these burgers many times and they are the best. always a favorite. way to go!!!
They look great! And you can go ahead right now and just tell me I'm really weird…but I don't like "thick" burgers. I prefer them more squished 🙂
mmmm. i love the flavor of that dehydrated onion flake.
Yum. Yum. Yum. I wish someone would come cook these for me tonight. I'm feeling lazy, but they look oh, so delicious.
These look delicious, I can't wait to try them! So smart to put all those flavors into the meat!
Everyone loves a good burger. This one looks great!
Oh my goodness… those pictures! It's only 10:45am here and a burger sounds sooo good now! We actually made these about a month ago and really liked them – just a bit too much A-1 flavor for us, but other than that the best homemade burgers we've had!
We had BBQ burgers for late lunch/early dinner (you know, after that 1pm church time slot!) yesterday but we just may have to have them again tonight or tomorrow!
– Jennifer
Okay I'm super hungry now!! I just want to eat my computer screen now.
This looks wonderful. Homemade buns are something I have to try!
We have been making these all summer. The burger is really good, but the homemade hamburger buns make it. Thanks for the great recipe.
Sara–it's just fry sauce, although you could definitely use Thousand Island with similar results! 🙂
ooh, those pictures are drool-worthy. Kate, what do you spread on your buns? Is that thousand island?
Is it weird that now I want to make hamburgers for breakfast? Yummy! Yummy! It is always so amazing to me that the simpliest recipes usually taste the best.
Holy moley, it is 3:11am and now I want a burger!!!
YUM!! I'm all about a good burger!
Those burgers look plenty delish! I may give these a try!
I made these the other night when my sister was here and they were super yummy! I was short on ground beef so I threw some ground turkey in there too and they turned out great- really flavorful.
I made these tonight for my husband who is very picky about his hamburgers and they were a hit! Thanks