The Soup Mix Matthew McConaughey Adds To Burgers For Extra Flavor

Matthew McConaughey has love for many traditional American foods — he's even spoken glowingly about ketchup. But the Texas-born actor is also a bit of a foodie, and he likes to give some red-white-and-blue standbys his own spin. McConaughey uses some unique ingredients in his tuna salad, for example (Peas and jalapeño chips are just two of them). And when it comes to burgers, McConaughey amps up the flavor by blending dry onion soup mix with the meat.

McConaughey revealed the tip in an "America's Test Kitchen" video when asked how he'd want a cheeseburger if it was his last one. He confirmed that he likes a little onion soup mix mixed into ground beef with a high fat content. His ideal cheeseburger would also be topped with American cheese, shredded iceberg lettuce, thick red onion, pickled jalapeños, avocado, spicy Texas Heat dill pickles, and maybe bacon, on a soft white bun that's been steamed, not toasted.

While the piled-high cheeseburger is McConaughey's own creation, jazzing up burgers with onion soup mix has been around for a while. It provides a deep flavor that's distributed throughout the beef, and also seasons it thoroughly since it has a lot of salt. The classic brand is Lipton's, with ingredients including onions, salt, sugar, and soy sauce. Lipton's actually calls it Soup & Dip Mix since it's used so often to make chip dip. Onion soup mix is a secret weapon for meatloaf, and it lends oniony flavor to foods like mac & cheese, chili, or roasted potatoes.

Making burgers with onion soup mix is as simple as incorporating the powdered seasoning into the raw ground beef before cooking the patties. Some recipes also add a little water, including Lipton's, which suggests mixing two pounds of ground beef with one soup mix envelope and ½ cup of water. If you want to try a different ratio with less or more soup mix, combine some of it with the ground beef, cook a little piece to taste it, then adjust to your liking. Lipton also has a few other Soup & Dip Mix flavors you can try in your burgers: Beefy Onion; Golden Onion; Onion Mushroom; Savory Herb & Garlic; and Vegetable.

Boosting the flavor of ground beef with added ingredients goes beyond onion soup mix. You can brown chopped onions to blend into the meat, or try the same with sautéed peppers or mushrooms, minced garlic, or fresh herbs like parsley, thyme, or oregano. Some of Matthew McConaughey's cheeseburger toppings could be mixed into the meat instead — like the pickled jalapeños or bacon — to incorporate the flavor all through the burger.

Instead of putting cheese on your burger, you could also mix shredded cheese into the ground beef. Or go Juicy Lucy style and stuff the center of the raw patty with cheese. This Minneapolis-born method (Of course, the real Juicy Lucy inventor is in dispute) will give your burger a gooey cheese filling that goes well with onion soup mix and just about everything else.