Steakhouse Burgers
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
No need to go out—these homemade steakhouse burgers are tender, juicy, and full of flavor thanks to a few simple tricks. Easy enough for a weeknight, good enough for company.
Who doesn’t love a big, tender, and juicy steakhouse burger? Problem is, they’re difficult to replicate at home because most steakhouses blend different cuts of beef, like sirloin, chuck, and short ribs, to customize the flavor and fat content of their hamburgers. While it’s possible to grind your own meat or ask your butcher for a special blend, there’s an easier way.
By combining ordinary supermarket ground beef with a panade—or mixture of bread and milk—with garlic and scallions, this steakhouse-style burger recipe comes together in no time.
When my kids were little, this recipe made me a star among their friends. My daughter’s friend Allie nicknamed them “Segal Burgers,” and the name stuck. No matter how old everyone gets, they still ask for them! You can dress them up with condiments like ketchup, mustard, spicy relish, or mayonnaise, add a slice of cheese, or pile on bread and butter pickles, pickled red onions or caramelized onions—but they’ve got so much flavor on their own, you barely need anything at all.
“Best burgers ever! I served them on buns with cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes, and butter pickles, but I seriously believe they don’t need any dressing up—they’re that good.”
What You’ll Need To Make The Best Steakhouse Burger Recipe
- White Sandwich Bread & Milk: These two come together to form a simple panade—a soft paste that keeps the burgers juicy and tender. Use soft white bread with the crusts removed so it blends right in.
- Ground Beef: Stick with 80 to 85% lean for burgers that are juicy, flavorful, and hold together nicely.
- Garlic & Scallions: Add a fresh, aromatic boost that takes the flavor up a notch.
- Worcestershire Sauce & Ketchup: Bring in that classic steakhouse vibe with a hit of umami, a little sweetness, and just the right amount of tang.
- Kosher Salt & Black Pepper: Keep it simple—these basic seasoning bring out the best in the beef.
- Hamburger Buns: Go for soft but sturdy, and toast them if you like a little crunch to contrast the juicy patties.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step instructions
Step 1: Make the panade. In a large bowl, mash the torn-up sandwich bread and milk with a fork until you get a chunky paste.
Step 2: Add seasoning. Stir in the salt, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire, and ketchup until everything’s mixed together. Adding the seasonings to the panade first ensures they distribute evenly throughout the meat later without overmixing the beef itself.
Step 3: Mix in the beef. Add the ground beef and scallions (if using). Use your hands to mix just until combined—don’t overdo it. Mixing too much can compress the meat and make the burgers dense. Gently folding the mixture with your hands keeps the texture light.
Step 4: Shape the patties. Divide the mixture into 8 portions and roll into balls. Flatten into ¾-inch-thick patties about 4½ inches wide. (Keeping the burgers thick ensures a nice char on the outside without overcooking the inside.) Use a light touch when shaping the patties—packing them too tightly can make them tough. Press a little dent in the center of each one so they don’t puff up while grilling.
At this point, the uncooked burgers can be refrigerated for 24 hours or frozen for up to 3 months. Just pop them into the fridge to thaw overnight prior to cooking.
Step 5: Grill the burgers. Grill the patties for 2 to 4 minutes on the first side, until nicely browned. (Avoid pressing down on the burgers while they cook—it squeezes out juices and can dry them out.) Flip and cook a few minutes more, until they’re done to your liking. (The panade keeps them tender and juicy—even if you prefer your burgers well done—so they’re great for kids, grandparents, or anyone who’s not into pink centers.)
Pro Tip: While I never bother, you can use an instant-read thermometer to determine the doneness of your burgers. You’re aiming for 130–135°F for medium-rare, 140–145°F for medium, and 160°F for well done.
More Burger Recipes You May Like
Steakhouse Burgers
These steakhouse-style burgers are juicy, flavorful, and perfectly seasoned—sure to become your new go-to burger recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 pieces white sandwich bread, crusts removed and cut into ¼-inch pieces
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 3 pounds 80 to 85% lean ground beef
- 3 scallions, white and green parts, very finely sliced (optional)
- 8 hamburger buns
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to high heat.
- In a large bowl, mash the bread and milk together with a fork until it forms a chunky paste. Add the salt, pepper, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup and mix well.
- Add the ground beef and scallions and break the meat up with your hands. Mix everything together until evenly combined. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and form compact balls. Flatten the balls into ¾-inch patties about 4½ inches across. Form a slight depression in the center of each patty to prevent the burgers from puffing up on the grill.
- Oil the grilling grates. Grill the burgers, covered, until nicely browned on the first side, 2 to 4 minutes. Flip burgers and continue cooking for a few minutes more until desired doneness is reached. Before serving, toast the buns on the cooler side of the grill if desired.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The uncooked burgers can be frozen for up to three months. (Freeze the burgers on a baking sheet or plate so their shape sets, then transfer them to a sealable plastic bag for easy storage.) Defrost the burgers overnight in the refrigerator prior to serving and then cook as directed.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Serving size: 1 burger
- Calories: 517
- Fat: 27 g
- Saturated fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Sugar: 5 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 37 g
- Sodium: 567 mg
- Cholesterol: 116 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Followed your recipe exactly, and those burgers were awesome. Didn’t change anything like some of the reviews. Tried your Strawberry Rhubarb crisp and that was excellent too, thank you very much
These are seriously the best burgers ever! I follow the recipe, just cut back a tad on the salt. One question, can you recommend a non-beef substitution? We have Indian friends who love burgers and would love to make something comparable for them.
So glad you like these, Laurie! Unfortunately, I don’t know much about beef substitutes so I don’t have a lot of wisdom to share – sorry!
Not bad…but not a hamburger per se. It’s more or less meatloaf on a bun
Green jackfruit is a good meat substitute with a similar texture.
Try the Beyond Meat plant-based ground meat substitute. It’s kinda pricy but it’s a great sub.
Just made these burgers tonight…. Absolutely delicious!!!
I modified the recipe slightly by substituting Montreal Steak Spice instead of ground pepper, garlic powder and dehydrated onion as that’s what I had in the cupboard. Either way it would have been great. 3lb is just enough meat for the big eaters in my house. These were one of the best burger’s I’ve made in a while!!! 5++++
Excellent recipe! Much like I usually do them. I left out the bread and milk and that didn’t make a big difference. Thank you.
These are awesome, and make a fun project to do with others! You get 8 juicy burgers that are extremely thick. Only complaint is that these burgers end up being notably more expensive than your typical store-bought; however, the flavour difference is well-worth the price if you can afford it. Plus, you can make 12 thinner burgers instead of 8 thick ones if you absolutely need to.
Excellent recipe made a phenomenal burger. I cooked on my stove top griddle plate came out excellent!!
I was searching for a highly rated burger recipe when I came across this website. I liked the simplicity of the ingredients so I jumped to the reviews. I carefully read what people liked/disliked about the recipe. I saw that some complained about the salt content and I was on high alert to be careful with it. But while assembling the ingredients I realized where the confusion might lie. The recipe does NOT specify how many pounds of beef to use (it only states 8 patties). I knew this recipe asked for 3 lbs beef because someone asked that question. 2-1/2 ts (tea spoons) of salt are not too much for 3 lbs of beef (I used 2 ts salt). Also, if people put more Worchestire sauce than required or add other ingredients, that can increase the salt content.
So I followed the recipe pretty closely, except that I added a little high quality ground lamb to the ground beef to keep the burgers juicy and to enhance the flavor profile. I cooked them over the stovetop in a nonstick pan (slightly oiled) with the cover on. They came out juicy and very flavorful. Truly a high quality burger. I served them with home fries, cut and prepped by my 9 y/o. Everyone loved the dinner.
Thank you chef for a simple yet amazing recipe.
Perfect!
I didn’t add the scallions but did add a teaspoon of dry thyme.
AMAZING.
Wonderful, wonderful, a 1000 times wonderful. I am late to the game in terms of learning how to cook. As an adolescent and young adult, I never cooked cause I never thought about food till I was hungry and then it was too late to cook, by then I had to EAT! But somehow in God’s infinite wisdom, I have become the family cook for my wife and 2 children. I’m getting pretty good actually. But then a recipe like this changes everything. I thought my burgers were good. And they were.. fine. Not bad. But when I tried this impossibly simple and impossibly good recipe (and *cough learned about panade) my whole cooking reality changed. Opened. Broadened. You might say this is exaggerated, overblown hyperbole about a good burger. “How can a burger change the trajectory of someone’s life????” You might say.
Try this recipe to find out.
Would give it a family 5 but older sister farted on younger sister so she gave it an angry 3 lol. Great simple recipe and love that it uses ingredients found in most homes.
Tough but fair.