Homemade Smashburger Spicy Cowboy Burger

The Homemade Smashburger Spicy Cowboy Burger is simply the best with barbecue sauce, cheddar, jalapeno, bacon and crispy onion strings.

Have you noticed a LOT of burgers floating around the web this month? Well, it’s Burger Month 2016 and everyone is going burger crazy. Restaurants have specials, recipes abound using Certified Angus Beef® and of course food bloggers have to get in on the action…including me! I’m in a group originated by Kita from the site Girl Carnivore and for the second year she has put together a group of us that are offering one or two recipes every single day through May with our best burgers. Find us on social media using #BurgerMonth and get ready to drool!

Last year I thought I had made the most amazing Lamb and Goat Cheese Burgers with Cabernet Barbecue Sauce and knew it would be tough to top it. Still, I had a recipe in mind for this year but everything changed when I stopped by a new Smashburger near me and tried the Smashburger Spicy Cowboy Burger. Oh my YUM! I knew right away my plans would change and I would have to recreate this for the WORLD!

Smashburger originated in Denver and we were lucky to have one put in close to us at my old house. While I don’t eat out often I have to admit that once I visited there that I was smitten. Burgers close to the ones from my old haunt Steak n’ Shake in St. Louis where I grew up plus fried onions rings that were perfect? I knew I would be adding it to my short list of places to go…and then I moved. So when I spied one while out shopping recently I had no control and my car just happened to head in that direction. It knew.

Featured right next to the cash register was a poster for the Spicy Cowboy Burger. Funny how my first restaurant visit when I moved to Denver saw me removing jalapeno peppers from the meal and now every day is opposite day; I get excited about a burger with a bit of heat. The fellow behind the cash register thought it a bit too spicy and that actually sealed the deal for me. It was everything I loved. A super thin quick cooked burger with barbecue sauce, cheese, bacon, jalapeno and then stacked with their famous onion rings. What is there NOT to love?

I made them last week and had a neighbor over for dinner to ‘taste test.’ My friend Amy is out of town and I figured her husband Casey and their son Lee could use a home cooked meal. I could only prepare one burger at a time and I considered it some measure of success that Casey almost completed his double burger before I was done with Lee’s dinner. When I couldn’t find any hamburger buns that were pretty enough for prime time I made my own and the boys noticed; a great burger bun does make a difference! You do not have to make your own but it sure was fun. And they sure are good.

There is a technique to making a Smashburger that is best explained in this video from one of the owners. While I used a cast iron skillet and then a smaller skillet as my ‘smasher’ it’s important to smash, count to ten. cook another two minute and then flip your burger and cook for one more minute. I found that the ONLY way to get cheese melted was to immediate cover the burger with a small bowl once I flipped it; this thing goes quick!

I’m just featuring a single but if  you know something with a huge appetite, just make two patties with cheese and stack them with the rest of the ingredients. Casey is over today helping me plant some trees…I think he is still trying to burn off those calories from last week!

Join the fun won’t you? Take a peek at Kita’s #BurgerMonth 2016 page for all of the burgers made during the month; it will be updated as new ones publish…you’ll have ideas to last all summer.

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Smashburger Spicy Cowboy Burger

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Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 4 minutes

Total Time 19 minutes

Ingredients

• 5 oz Certified Angus Beef®
• Melted Butter
• Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder to season
• BBQ Sauce, use your favorite brand
• 3 Tbsp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded and set out to come to room temperature
• 2 bacon strips, fried
• 1 Jalapeno, sliced and sauteed briefly in bacon drippings
• Crispy onion strings, See notes

Instructions

1. Form beef into round ball. Brush melted butter on griddle or cast iron skillet and put the meat in the center. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the burger and immediate press as hard as possible with a second small skillet or pan to flatten the meat; hold for 10 seconds. Upon removing the parchment you should see the fat bubbling up all over the burger. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder; cook for another two minutes and then flip over.
2. Quickly spread some barbecue sauce on the burger, top with the cheese and cover with a heat safe bowl to help melt the cheese. Cook for just ONE minute.
3. Top burger in order with sauteed jalapeno slices, bacon, and fried onion rings.
4. Devour.

Notes

One note. DO NOT OVERCOOK. This gets done fast so have everything ready to go and don't cook longer than specified. The meat will be done all the way through but super juicy; cooking any longer and it will just be a piece of super dry beef.

I have made and loved the Fried Onion Strings from The Pioneer Woman. I make one batch of her recipe and it was enough for generous amounts on 4 large burgers with a few to munch on too. Perfect! Here is the link to her printable recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/onion-strings-oh-yeah-baby/?printable_recipe=9883

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size:

1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 996Total Fat: 68gSaturated Fat: 30gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 32gCholesterol: 233mgSodium: 2235mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 3gSugar: 17gProtein: 65g

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