Top-Rated Savory Dinner Recipes for 2026

There is no end to the number of delicious hamburgers you can make, but here are 12 that will make your mouth water.

J. Kenji Lpez-Alt writes a column for The New York Times on food and science, and he develops recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is likewise the creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs a professional chef, food author and cookbook author, I've invested the last 20 years of my career rigorously investigating and testing dishes, strategies and widely accepted cooking area wisdom to find out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I have actually operated numerous burger joints and even wrote a monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Laboratory, in which I separated and checked every possible variable that can impact the taste and texture of a burger.

But that doesn't indicate you can't go for something much better. Here are the most crucial tips I've found for optimizing your hamburger experience, whether in the backyard or the cooking area. Working hamburger too much can trigger it to become dense. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Chef-Level Cooking Techniques for Superior Homemade Burgers

In bread, this can be a great thing, however with hamburgers, overhandling can develop an unwanted dense texture. (Incorporating extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional spices, like onions and herbs, also requires you to overwork the meat and distract from the beef flavor, so skip it.) Salting the exterior of your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Salt breaks down muscle proteins and helps them to connect more easily. This is a good idea in sausages, which need to have a firm texture, but with hamburgers, you desire looseness. A burger ought to be tender, with a lot of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Whether you're making a huge hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash burger on a frying pan, browning is taste, and high heat is crucial. For thicker grilled or griddled burgers, wait until your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and prepare them until they're well browned on both sides.

This optimizes flavor while preserving juiciness. Preparing your buns ahead of time lets you get to eating so much faster. Credit ... Bryan Gardner for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Don't let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or even worse, a steam table). Hamburgers are at their finest fresh from the fire, before any juices have had an opportunity to leak out.

Smash BurgersCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Restaurant BurgerCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Thick Backyard BurgerCredit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Follow,,, and.

Choosing High-Quality Beef for Savory Burgers

Updated May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI've always been a burger lover. If there were any little melty American cheese leavings stuck on the wrapper, I 'd drag my french fries through them (I still do this).

Capture me on the best day and I might confess that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. Really, I may say that on most days. And you might state the exact same. But even if you do, it's most likely we do not have the same idea of what makes the ideal burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, added some new ones and continued to leave off the ones I understand individuals like however I simply. Maybe I have not tried your favorite burger. Maybe I'm out to get you (just joking).

Let me share with you what makes the best hamburger for me. Let's start with the patty.

When I bite in, I require to see a little shimmer, some shining from the beef and perhaps a little grease diminishing the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I always go with a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty must be burnt to assist lock in the juices, however not too crusty.