Free recipe American

Double Smash Cheeseburger

Name: Double Smash Cheeseburger
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/3 cup mayonnaise; 2 tbsp ketchup; 1 tbsp yellow mustard; 1 tbsp dill pickle brine; 1/4 tsp garlic powder; 4 potato buns, split; 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted; 1 1/2 lb ground chuck, 80 percent lean, cold; 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 8 american cheese, slices; 1/2 small white onion, very thinly sliced; 16 dill pickle chips; 1 cup iceberg lettuce, shredded

Two lacy-edged smashed beef patties layered with melted American cheese, pickles, onion and tangy burger sauce on a toasted potato bun.

By Priya Hollis, Head of Shop & Product Published July 9, 2025

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Prep: 15 min
Cook: 15 min
Total: 30 min
Servings: 4
Level: Easy

Smash burgers prove that thin can beat thick. Pressing cold balls of ground chuck hard into a screaming-hot skillet creates maximum contact with the pan, which means a deeply browned, crispy, lacy crust on every patty in about two minutes.

Stacking two thin patties with cheese melting between them gives you the juiciness of a thick burger with twice the crust. A soft potato bun, crunchy pickles, raw onion and a tangy homemade sauce keep things classic.

This is fast, hot cooking, so set everything up before you start: sauce made, buns toasted, cheese unwrapped, toppings ready. A sturdy metal spatula and a square of parchment paper make smashing clean and easy. Serve with fries and a cold drink.

Crispy lacy-edged patties
Tangy homemade burger sauce
Ready in 30 minutes

Directions

Whisk together the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, pickle brine and garlic powder to make the burger sauce.
Divide the ground chuck into 8 loose balls of about 3 oz each. Keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook.
Brush the cut sides of the buns with melted butter and toast them in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat until golden, about 1 minute. Set aside.
Increase the heat to high and let the skillet get very hot, about 3 minutes.
Place 2 to 4 beef balls in the skillet, spaced well apart. Cover one with a square of parchment and smash it firmly with a sturdy metal spatula into a patty about 1/4 inch thick, pressing for 10 seconds. Repeat with the others.
Season the patties generously with salt and pepper and cook without moving until the edges are lacy and the bottoms are deeply browned, about 2 minutes.
Scrape under each patty with the edge of the spatula to keep the crust intact and flip.
Immediately lay a slice of cheese on each patty and stack one patty on top of another. Cook for 30 seconds more, until the cheese melts. Repeat with the remaining beef.
Spread burger sauce on both halves of each bun and layer the bottom bun with lettuce, onion and pickles.
Set a double patty stack on top, close with the top bun, and serve right away.

Test-kitchen tips

The burger sauce keeps for 1 week in the refrigerator. Make extra for dipping fries.
Use 80 percent lean beef and keep it cold. The fat renders into the pan to fry the edges, and cold meat holds together when smashed.
Smash a few paper-thin slices of onion right into the raw patty before flipping for an Oklahoma-style onion burger.