If you are going to make Shake Shack Burgers at home, the best recipe is to grind the burgers fresh and smash them on a sizzling hot grill. This copycat recipe for burgers and Shack Sauce is so amazing. You can easily make them the Shack burgers at home, especially if you don’t have a Shake Shack around the corner!
Table of contents
Watch How We Make Shake Shack Burgers
The Shake Shack Review
The Shake Shack burger has become iconic. Hard to believe that a simple Hot Dog stand in New York’s Central Park could grow to a nationwide chain. But that’s the awesome power and reputation of Union Square Hospitality.
Shake Shack has modeled their franchise after classic American roadside stands and this smashed burger technique is found all the way from New York to California along highway 66.
We loved the simplicity of this burger. The Shake Shack Burger brings us back to the basics of burgers. A great sear on the patty combined with crunchy pickles makes this burger one of the best from the chain restaurants.
How To Cook The Shack Burger At Home
This copycat recipe takes some liberties as usual because the secret blend of ground beef and the secret sauce remain under lock and key. But, every ingredient for the burger can be found in your hometown grocery.
A popular brand of custom blender burger meat found in the meat section is from Schweid and Sons as well as a package from Wahlburgers. They come in proportioned burger sizes, so you may have to weigh the burgers to get them to the right size.
Starting with fresh ground beef, we prefer the chuck, sirloin, short rib blend. If you can’t find this blend then an 80-20 ground Black Angus chuck blend will work nicely.
How To Make The Shake Shack Sauce
The sauce is a secret sauce, but is just a mix of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, ketchup, pickle juice and red pepper. But what a mix it is! Just the right amount of everything. I do believe however that a pinch of sugar would make it just about the perfect burger sauce.
Martin’s Potato Roll
It seems so simple, but potato buns take the burger to the next level with their deep flavor and buttery goodness. We’ll increase that goodness by grilling them with more butter to a golden brown.
Sometimes the burger is too big for the bun. Sometimes the bun is way too large for the burger. But, the Martin’s roll and the size of the burger make for the perfect bun to meat ratio. It’s just the right size!
If you can not find Martin’s brand, then any potato sandwich roll will do. However, a potato roll is a must if recreating the Shack Burger at home. Potato rolls are pretty common in the grocery stores these days and the store brand will do in a pinch.
Toppings For The Shack Burger
The toppings for our copycat Shack Burger are 2 slices of plum tomato and a shaped piece of leafy green lettuce. Also, a health dose of shack sauce and 1 slice of American cheese.
We don’t have a lot to say about plum tomatoes other than they are hearty and hold up well. They fit nicely as well. I know that in summer, I always buy my tomatoes from the local produce stand. But, we are talking copycat here folks, so go with the plums.
No onions and no pickle. Perhaps burger heresy. If you wandered into a Shake Shack and ordered this burger with onions and pickles, I’m sure they would be happy to oblige. So if you want to do that at home, be my guest.
There you have it. The Shake Shack Burger. Not so quick !
What Is A Smashed Burger
Every counter and drive in uses a heavy griddle for frying up burgers and pancakes as well as eggs and all things griddled. Maybe it is generations of flavors that makes everything just amazing! Cast iron is the way to go if you can.
The key to a smashed burger is well, smash it! Use a mounded ball of ground beef, gently pressing into a puck, and place onto a 375 degree griddle or cast iron pan, and SMASH the burger down with a heavy spatula. The sound of the burger sizzle is impressive. Music to my ears!
These burgers are not half pound heavyweights. Typically, a smashed burger is no larger than 4 ounces in weight and only take 2 to 3 minutes to cook. Cook the burger on one side for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, then flip. Flipping the burger is important and you want to scrape up every bit of crusty burger goodness.
Add the cheese slice to the burger and then cook 1 more minute. No resting required. As soon as that burger is done, get it off the griddle and onto your waiting dressed bun.
The origin of fast food burgers! Fast to cook and easy to eat. No complaints from the burger purist department.
Copy Cat Shack Burger Recipe
Equipment
- Griddle or cast iron pan
Ingredients
Shack Sauce
- 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Ketchup
- 1/2 tsp Pickle juice
- Pinch Cayenne pepper
For The Shack Burgers
- 16 ounces Ground beef see notes
- 2 tbsp Butter melted
- 1 head Leaf lettuce
- 2 each Plum tomatoes
- 4 slices American cheese
- 4 Martins potato rolls
Instructions
Make The Burger Sauce
- Combine the mayo (1/2 cup), ketchup (1 tsp), mustard (1 tbsp), pickle juice (1 tsp) and cayenne(pinch) in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes for best flavor.
Make The Burgers
- Slice the tomato and tear off portions of leaf lettuce. Each burger will get 2 slices of tomato and 1 piece of shaped lettuce leaf. Tear the leaf lettuce to fit the burger bun.
- Open the buns, but do not slice them in half. Leave the burger buns with the hinge attached. Brush the buns with melted butter and grill on a griddle that's has preheated to 375 degrees or medium high heat. Watch carefully so they do not burn. Look for a golden brown color to develop.
- Roll the burgers into balls (4 ounces), but do not pack the burgers tightly. Place the balls of burger meat on the hot griddle and smash down to form a 4-inch patty. You can use a burger press or a weighted spatula.
- Lightly salt and pepper the burger and flip after 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
- Flip the burger and add American cheese (1 slice). Cook for 1 more minute.
- Assemble the burger by spreading the copycat shack sauce (1 tbsp)on the top bun, followed by the leaf lettuce and then the sliced tomatoes (2 slices). Place the burger on the bottom bun with the cheese facing up and close the sandwich. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
When we were done the amazing smell and taste of the caramelized beef was the shining star of this recipe. This is definitely one delicious burger. It’s going in our street food hall of fame!
About Throwdown Kitchen
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