Homemade Hamburgers: Super Ranch Burgers

My husband loves cooking on the grill, and homemade hamburgers are among his favorite things to cook. And the kids and I are glad! We never get tired of eating homemade hamburgers because we can alter the hamburger recipes in so many different ways. We’re both pretty creative when it comes to cooking, and we’ve always experimenting with different herbs and spices and other additions to our hamburgers. You wouldn’t believe some of the things we’ve tried! In truth, some have turned out better than others. But I feel like if you don’t think outside the box sometimes, you might lose a chance to come up with a really great recipe.

Cory likes to make his burgers big and thick. His typical hamburger is a one-third pounder. We make six burgers from two pounds of ground beef. He usually uses ground chuck because it generally has more fat than ground round, so the hamburgers are moist and juicy.

Cory’s Super Ranch Burger Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground chuck

1 pouch Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 slices soft white bread, torn into small pieces

Red onion, sliced into rings and separated

Fresh cucumbers, sliced

Fresh tomatoes, sliced

lettuce

6 hamburger buns or rolls

Instructions: Combine ground chuck, ranch dressing mix, cream, egg, Worcestershire sauce, and bread. Form into six hamburger patties that are a little bigger in circumference than the buns or rolls you’ll be using. Place hamburger patties on a plate and leave in the refrigerator for one hour. While the hamburger patties are “curing,” get the grill ready.

Clean the cooking surface and start the charcoal. Cory like to grill his burgers on a relatively hot grill, just a little hotter than medium.

When the coals are ready, place the burgers on the grill and cook to desired doneness. We like our hamburgers to be well done, but you might not.

When the hamburgers are done the way you like them, remove them from the grill and place on buns. Top with red onion slices, tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers. You might also want to try using my spicy garlic ranch sauce on your ranch burgers. The recipe is below.

Spicy garlic ranch sauce for ranch burgers

Ingredients:

½ cup sour cream

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons buttermilk

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon fresh chives

Directions: Combine all the ingredients and refrigerate. We love the cool burger sauce on the piping hot hamburgers!