This Ground Beef Patty Mix-In Proves Simple Ingredients Give The Best Flavor

If burgers are a staple of your dinner routine, you know that it's a big step to move from pre-made patties to assembling them yourself from ground beef. And when you do, you might find that your first patties may taste bland. That might have something to do with how long they were browned, but it could also mean you're not adding enough seasoning to the meat. One tried and true way to boost flavor to ground beef is by mixing in cooked onions. The two have a long history together; for example, adding onions is considered a handy prep step that makes for better meatloaf. On that note, we spoke to Chuck Hayworth, private chef and COO at The Resort Chef in North Carolina, who told The Takeout about why cooked onions work so well with ground beef.

According to Hayworth, there's a science to why this combo works: "If onions are cooked properly with the patties, they slowly caramelize and infuse into the patties, giving them that sweet onion flavor," he explains. "The patties of course with this technique should be cooked low and slow." A slowly cooked onion will begin to brown, causing simple sugars in the onions to bloom and sweeten the vegetable, and in turn, the ground beef. You can taste the difference with the first bite of the burger.

Adding onions is a fairly straightforward process. You simply need to dice or mince onions into small little cubes and mix them into the raw burger patty along with all of your other seasonings before you cook it. If the diced onions don't seem to be cooking properly in the burger mix, you might try sautéing them first. There are others ways to get creative: A combination of onion powder and garlic powder will add a similar flavor, while canned French onion soup can make smash burgers extra juicy if you add it to the hamburger recipe.

It's also important to note that there's a difference between red, white, and yellow onions when it comes to flavor. Hayworth says that he prefers to use sweet Vidalia onions for his burger patties when they're in season, because these highly sweet white onions are high in sugar but don't have a sharp taste. Hayworth also touches up these onions for the burgers: "Level up with one teaspoon of brown sugar and a touch of balsamic vinegar or sweet white wine vinegar. This works especially well when onions are older or not in season," he says. Vidalias are also a great choice as a burger topping; it is a softer onion with a less sharp crunch than other varieties, and blends well into the burger.