Craving a juicy, flavor-packed burger that's just as good as your favorite diner's? These BBQ Cheddar Burger Patties are filled with shredded cheddar, smoky BBQ sauce, and sweet griddled onions - all mixed right into the patty for maximum flavor.
🕒 Ready in 30 minutes | 🍔 Yields 10 patties | 🔥 Grill or skillet
Main flavors: BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, griddled onions
Best for: Summer BBQs, weeknight dinners, crowd-pleasing sandwiches
Recipe type: Homemade burger patty
The secret to keeping them ultra tender? A blend of ground beef and pork. Add a slice of melty cheese on top, tuck it into a toasted brioche bun, and you've got a burger night to remember.
Whether you're grilling for a crowd or just want to upgrade a weeknight dinner, this burger is a keeper.
Key Ingredients (and why they work)
BBQ Sauce - Pick a smokey BBQ sauce for best results!
Ground meat - This recipe uses a blend of ground beef and pork. The pork's fat content lends to a moist and tender patty as well as a flavor boost.
Seasoning - OK, this ingredient is a little controversial because I almost always prefer natural and scratch-made foods. Ranch flavor seasoning blends are not that. However, life is all about balance, and using premade Ranch seasoning powder saves time and gives the burger a crave-worthy flavor.
If you want to make your own seasoning blend, here is a simple Ranch seasoning mix you can probably make from what you already have in your cupboard.
Cheese - Grate the cheddar cheese by hand into a fine shred. This will better blend into the burger meat than the standard large shred. Avoid pre-grated cheeses, as they are often coated with an anti-clumping agent that hinders their ability to melt smoothly.
Griddled onions - Rather than a slowly cooked sweet and soft caramelized onion, griddled onions are cooked quickly over high heat to get some nice browning at the edges and a bit of softness while still keeping that fresh onion flavor.
Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.
Tools you'll need
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Parchment or wax paper
- Scale or trigger-style ice cream scooper (optional)
- Burger press (optional)
- Small nonstick skillet
- Spatula or wooden spoon
How to make BBQ Cheddar Burgers
Here's how to build your new go-to burger - juicy, cheesy, and way better than takeout.
Griddling the onions
- Warm a small nonstick skillet over high heat. Add a teaspoon of oil, the finely diced onion, and a pinch of salt. After a minute or two, stir the onions and lower the heat to medium-high.
- Continue to cook and stir until dark color forms at the edges. Add a tablespoon of water to the pan and stir until it evaporates. The onions should be ready in 5-7 minutes. Spread them out on a plate to cool while you gather your other ingredients.
Combining the ground meat and seasonings
To ensure a juicy burger patty, handle the ground meats as little as possible and keep them cold. Don't remove the meat from the fridge until right before you're going to use it, and return it to the refrigerator at any point when you're not directly using it. This keeps the fat in the ground beef and pork cold, so it doesn't melt away too quickly when you cook the patty. Here's what to do:
- In a large bowl, carefully pinch and break pieces of both beef and pork into the bowl. Then, sprinkle the ranch powder over all the meat. Next, scatter the cheese and pour the barbeque sauce all over. (Instead of dumping all the ingredients in one spot before combining.)
- Mix everything by gently tossing the ingredients together until it's all coated, then squish and kneed a couple of times until it's all combined.
Crumble the ground meats into a bowl.
Add the other ingredients by sprinkling them all over instead of dumping into a single spot.
Weighing the BBQ cheddar Burger Patty
When the burger patties are all the same size, they will all cook evenly and for the same amount of time. Here are a few options to achieve a well measured burger patty:
- Use a scale. This is the most accurate way to ensure consistently sized patties. Weigh out 4-ounce portions for a quarter-pound burger and 5.5-ounce portions for a third-pound burger
- Use a trigger-style ice cream scooper. Two scoops with a 2-oz trigger scoop make patties that weigh ~4.5 oz each.
- Use a rolling pin. Place the meat on a cutting board and roll it flat. Then, use your hands to form the meat into a rectangle. Next, use a knife to split it into even-sized portions. Eight portions will give you quarter-pound patties.
Kitchen hack from the professionals:
Cover the scale with plastic wrap to prevent cross-contamination and make cleanup easier.
Form the patties
Once you've measured out each portion of burger mix, here are a few options to form the patty. Be sure to keep the patties separate on a plate or stack them with parchment paper between each patty. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
- Use a burger press to make perfectly even burger patties.
- Roll the portion into a ball, then flatten it to your desired thickness. Press a thumbprint into the top of the patty, pushing about halfway down. This will help the patty stay an even size when being cooked.
Time to cook them!
- Cook these BBQ Cheddar Burger Patties on a grill, in a skillet, or on the griddle.
- They have plenty of fat in them, so no need for oil in the pan.
- If you cook it on the grill, cook it longer on the first side. The patty is very tender and can break if you turn it too soon.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these patties as single or double burgers on your favorite buns. I like to toast soft brioche buns with a swipe of butter - it adds a golden buttery crunch.
Ingredient Swaps and Variations
- For a much richer flavor, substitute unseasoned ground pork sausage for the ground pork.
- Instead of griddled onions, use crispy fried onions, like French's. Crush them up before adding them to the mixture.
- Swap the cheddar for another semi-hard cheese, such as Smokey Gouda, Provolone, or Swiss.
Storage Tips
- Refrigerate leftover burger patties for up to 2 days if they're raw and 5 days if they're cooked. Reheat leftover patties on the stove in a skillet on medium-low heat until warmed through.
- Freeze leftover burger patties on a parchment-lined sheet pan, then transfer them to a zip-top bag for up to 3 months.
FAQ's
Yes! You can form the patties a day ahead and refrigerate them until ready to cook.
Yes, though the pork adds extra juiciness and flavor. If you go all-beef, use 80/20 ground chuck for the best results.
Freshly shredded cheddar melts beautifully, but Gouda, Swiss, or Monterey Jack also work well.
Cook the burger patties to a minimum temperature of 155 °F (46 °C). Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat. Wash your hands after touching raw meat. Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods. Never leave cooking food unattended. Use oils with a high smoke point to minimize the formation of harmful compounds. Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove. See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
More sandwich recipes
Craving more comfort food?
BBQ Cheddar Burger Patty
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 four ounce patties 1x
Description
These easy-to-make burger patties are filled with griddled onions, shredded cheese, intense ranch flavor powder, and smokey barbecue sauce. Cheese lovers, this one's for you!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- ¼ cup smokey barbeque sauce
- 1 packet or 3 tablespoons ranch seasoning
- 1 small onion, finely diced, about ¾ cup
- 2 oz cheddar cheese, finely shredded, makes 1 scant cup (not packed)
- 2 teaspoons oil
Instructions
- Warm a pan on medium high heat, add 2 teaspoons of oil and the diced onions. Cook and stir for a few minutes.
- When the onions start to get darker color on the edges, turn the heat down to medium. Continue to cook and stir occasionally. After 5-6 minutes, add a tablespoon of water to the pan and stir until it's evaporated. Spread the onions onto a plate and put them in the freezer to cool quickly.
- Crumble the ground beef and ground pork into a bowl. Next, add the barbeque sauce, ranch seasoning, shredded cheese, and cooked onions to a bowl. Carefully and gently blend all the ingredients together.
- Weigh out the meat mixture using one of the techniques listed in the post. Then, press them into 4-5 ounce patties.
- Cook the BBQ Cheddar Burger Patties on the grill, in a frying pan, or on a griddle. Cook until they reach a minimum of 155°F. Serve with your favorite burger fixings.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Stove-top
- Cuisine: American
Adam Thielman says
Made this for our first BBQ of the season. It was a huge hit and everyone loved the taste of their burgers. First time I tried a beef and pork burger mix and I will for sure use this recipe again!
Summer @ The Measured Scoop says
I'm so glad you liked it! I really love the beef/pork blend because it helps keep the burger moist.