Name: Bacon Blue Cheese Burger
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 53 min
Ingredients: 1/2 Red Onion (Thinly Sliced); Red Wine Vinegar (Enough to cover the Onions in a Jar); 2 lbs Medium Ground Beef (Highest quality you can find); 3 cloves Garlic (Finely Diced); 1 Tbsp Herb de Provence; 1 tsp Chili Flakes; 2 tsp Cracked Black Pepper; Salt; 8 Slices High Quality Bacon; Crumbly Blue Cheese; Pesto; Pea Shoots or Arugula (Optional ); 4 Burger Buns of your choice

Summer time means Burger Time! At our house, but also I think for most folks burgers are a true summer staple. When we make burgers at our place I always want them to be top notch. And these Bacon Blue Cheese Burgers do not disappoint! It’s honestly a pretty classic combination, but it’s hard to go wrong with a classic. I recommend finding the best bacon and blue cheese you can afford to really get the full awesomeness of these burgers.

Jump to Recipe

Take your burger game up a notch with these very classy Bacon Blue Cheese Burgers. Pickled red onions, creamy blue cheese, and crisp bacon perfectly compliment a big juicy burger.

I haven’t actually posted too many burger recipes before. Partially because there are a lot around, but mostly because I really want to love a recipe before sharing it. And as much as burgers are considered simple food, I think a good one takes care and practice. The first place you want to start is with the best beef you can find. Don’t be afraid of higher fat beef, the fat helps make the burger truly great.

Heart Valley Homestead Highland Beef

I recently had the absolute pleasure of meeting Becky and Jon from Heart Valley Homestead. If you aren’t following them on Instagram, definitely head over and follow them. They are local to the Ottawa valley and are starting their business of raising Highland Cattle for meat. There are a few homesteaders that I truly admire and am inspired by, and these two very quickly got added to that list. Their beef is for sure a favourite in this house now, so don’t be surprised if I talk them up a lot in future posts. If you’re able to get some of Becky and Jon’s beef, you should! Their beef took these Bacon Blue Cheese Burgers from great to awesome!

Now onto the beef! Highland beef is always medium, never lean, so it really is perfect for burgers. (Normally with lower quality beef I would add pork into the beef to help keep it moist.) With this beef there was no need, it’s marbled really nicely. The first tip for getting your burgers to maintain tenderness and moisture is not over handling the beef. It’s really tempting to mix and mix the beef when adding seasoning. And to press them hard into tight patties. But all that handling and pressing will cause your burgers to be dry and the patties to shrink a lot more.

Tips for Perfect Burgers

Gently break up the beef by just pulling it into small pieces, and almost letting it fall apart. Next add your seasonings. Hold off on salt at this point, or add just a touch of finishing salt. But most of your salt should be added to the outside of the burgers. Again, this will help to not dry the meat out. Sprinkle the seasonings on top and gently toss through the beef, sort of like you would toss a salad. But very gently! I can’t stress the gently part enough!

Shaping the burgers is a part where most people lose the tenderness in their burgers. Don’t press and squish the patties tightly together. Divide the beef into balls about the size of a softball (This recipe makes 4 pretty big burgers). As gently as you can, shape them into ¾” thick patties. They will be very delicate, and feel like they will fall apart. Resist the urge to press them hard. I shape mine with gentle pressure around the outside. Now for the all important indent. This will be the hardest you press on these patties. Using two fingers, press down into the center of the patty, about half way in. Make an indentation that’s about ½” in diameter. Indenting the center of the burger means it will cook through more easily, and prevent the outer edges of the patty from over cooking. This is particularly important with Highland beef; though it’s fatty, it can be over cooked easily. Having the indent means you lose less moisture and tenderness, while still ensuring fully cooked burgers.

Now, sprinkle the outside of your patties with salt, liberally, and set them aside to rest. Yes, to rest. Like pastry. You’ve just handled them a bunch, and no matter how gentle you were, you still will have caused the meat to tense up. Resting the patties allows the meat to relax again, which will help reduce shrinking.

Choose your Buns!

For these bacon blue cheese burgers, I recommend a sturdy bun. They are big and have a lot of toppings, and you don’t want to lose anything. If you feel like taking your burger game up another notch, you could make your own buns. My Sourdough Sandwich Bread recipe is the dough I use for our burger buns. The dough can be divided nicely into 6 buns. Egg wash the tops after they rise, and top with sesame seeds. Then bake at 375F for about 12 minutes, rotate, and bake until deep golden brown. (About another 12-14minutes) They are super chewy, and hold up really well to big burgers. They also freeze well, if you want to stock them up for future summer burger fun.

Serve up these burgers with fries, or salad, or just on their own!

As everyone is starting to bring in their spring harvests it’s time to get some yummy spring recipes on the go. My favourite spring time recipe is these French Style Peas. And of course it’s never too early to start rebuilding your jam supply, and in spring that means Rhubarb Cider Jam.