Burger Seasoning Recipe

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Make a great burger taste even better with a few shakes of this homemade hamburger seasoning!  Shake it onto your raw burger patties before throwing them on the grill.  This versatile homemade Burger Seasoning recipe is quick to make, uses staple spices you likely already have on hand, and is also perfect for adding to your steaks, pork chops, kabobs, grilled veggies and more!

Homemade Hamburger Seasoning

A good burger seasoning isn’t the star of the show; it’s the bystander on the sidelines supporting the star (in this case the burger) by adding flavor to it without drawing attention to itself or dominating the burger’s natural flavors.  This homemade hamburger seasoning recipe plays that ideal supportive role in giving your burger a delicious flavor boost without taking over the show. But this burger seasoning isn’t for burgers only (though I sure do love it on burgers!), it’s a deliciously versatile seasoning blend that I like to keep on hand to bring life and flavor to a variety of dishes!

As with all seasoning blends, when it comes to flavor and freshness nothing compares to homemade. Making your own burger seasoning gives you complete control over what goes in it – and what stay out. That way you can choose quality ingredients and it also enables you to customize the flavors according to your preferences.

Burger Seasoning Recipe

To make this seasoning blend simple place all of the ingredients in a bowl or jar and stir or shake until combined.

Store your hamburger seasoning in an airtight container in a cool, dark place where it will keep for a few months.

Sprinkle a little on your burger patties just before cooking them, add this seasoning to steaks, pork chops, seafood, kabobs, ribs, and veggies, or keep it at the dining table as an all-purpose seasoning. See below for more ideas.

How to Use Burger Seasoning

As its name suggests, this seasoning is for adding flavor to those juicy burgers.  Sprinkle it on both sides of the raw burger patty and then proceed with grilling. But this seasoning isn’t just for burgers, it’s also fabulous on steaks, pork chops, seafood, kabobs, ribs, fries and veggies.  You can even keep it at the dining table as a delicious all-purpose seasoning for just about anything!

When to Add Seasoning to Meat

There is a cardinal rule when it comes to seasoning meat that is often ignored: Wait to salt the meat until just before cooking it.

In other words, do not mix the seasoning into the ground meat before forming the patties.  Form the patties first and then wait to sprinkle the seasoning on them just before you’re ready to cook them.  When it’s time to cook them, sprinkle one side with seasoning and place the seasoned side down on the grill or cooking surface.  Once that side is done cooking, sprinkle the top side of the patty with seasoning and flip it over to cook that side.

There is science behind when to add salted seasonings to meat, something America’s Test Kitchen has tested extensively.  Salt reacts with the muscle proteins in the meat, drawing out water and causing the proteins to dissolve.  This causes a structural change in the texture where the meat takes on a more sausage-like, springy texture rather than the tender, juicy result you want to achieve in a good burger.

For more delicious seasoning blends be sure to try my:

• Creole Seasoning
• Greek Seasoning
• Old Bay Seasoning
• Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
• Seasoned Salt
• Curry Powder
• Garam Masala
• Za’atar
• Chinese Five Spice
• Chili Powder
• Dukkah
• Mixed Spice
• Shichimi Togarashi
• Everything Bagel Seasoning
• Taco Seasoning
• Berbere

Originally published on The Daring Gourmet August 19, 2023