Why you’ll love this baked hamburgers recipe
The big game is right around the corner, and I’m dying to know what everyone is planning to eat. I could care less who’s playing. It’s all about the food for me. We all know there will be snacks, but when I’m hosting I always try to serve something filling – and these perfectly cooked burgers are my go-to choice.
This recipe makes 12 burgers, which makes it perfect for hosting, and you can cook them in the oven, which means you won’t miss any of the game and there won’t be any running out to the grill in the snow.
The key is cooking them in the oven is cooling rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. This lets the air circulate all the way around each patty so they cook evenly while allowing the grease to drip below, just like a grill.
More game day favorites: dairy free potato skins / quick & easy beer chili / fried onion strings
Ingredient notes:
- Ground chuck (80/20) – The fat content here matters. 80/20 keeps the burgers juicy as they bake. Anything fattier might cause a buildup of grease.
- Granulated garlic – I find it easiest to just use granulated or garlic powder to make burgers, but you can use fresh minced garlic if you want.
- Mustard – I always add a little bit to my burgers. It adds a subtle tang and helps bind the patties.
- Hot sauce – This is totally optional, but it adds a nice kick without making the burgers really spicy.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Melissa’s tips & tricks
- Make sure your rack is oven safe. Not all cooling racks are safe to put in the oven. If your rack has a non-stick coating, make sure it’s safe to use in the oven (not all of them are) or opt for a stainless steel or aluminum rack instead.
- Weigh your patties. Use a kitchen scale to make sure your patties are the same size for even cooking. You want each patty to be 4 ounces or ¼ pound.
- Use a meat thermometer. The easiest way to check for doneness is to use a thermometer. 155˚F–160˚F is medium. 165˚-170˚F will be well done.
- How to serve: I like to create an assemble your own bar so my guests can choose their own toppings – starting with burgers and buns on one side, leading through the different toppings and, on the other end, condiments and napkins.
Frequently asked questions
Yes — and they turn out great. Baking at a high temperature (425˚F) gives you a nicely browned, juicy patty without any flipping required. The rack setup is the key to making it work.
For medium, take the burgers out of the oven when the center reaches 155˚F–160˚F. This should take about 15 minutes. For well done, the center should be 165˚F, so you’ll need to add a few minutes of cook time – about 5 more minutes.
The patties can be formed and refrigerated up to 24 hours before baking — just keep them covered and separate with pieces of parchment paper if you need to stack them.
More beef recipes: shredded beef tacos / grilled beef satay / bolognese sauce / Guinness braised beef / Greek meatballs / diner style cheeseburgers
Baked Hamburgers
Ingredients
For the burgers:
- 3 pounds lean ground beef, 80/20
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic, or garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 – 2 teaspoons hot sauce, such as Tabasco
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425˚F and place an oven-safe cooling rack into a cookie sheet. This allows the air to circulate under the patties, and lets them cook more evenly.
- Make your burger patties. Mix the ground beef with the yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, granulated garlic, hot sauce and salt & pepper until evenly combined.Then, divide and shape into quarter pound burger patties.
- Bake your burgers. Place the patties onto the rack and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 155˚F – 160˚F for medium or 165˚F – 170˚F for well done.* Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.If you want to add cheese, do this with about 2 minutes left in cooking time to give it time to melt.Remove burgers from oven and allow them to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More things to cook in the oven: how to broil steak in the oven / crispy baked chicken wings / baked chicken fajitas / baked scallops / baked chicken kabobs
I made these tonight and they were great!!! Followed the recipe to the tee, will make again, thanks!
I have to say…some of you were not taught, “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. As for me, I’m very thankful for this recipe because the last time I tried to make hamburgers, I did it on the gas stovetop and you want to talk about grease going everywhere and smoke alarms going off…they were raw in the middle…and it took me forever to clean up. I cried. Not so with your recipe. I did not weigh my burgers, but I will next time. I used a pound of meat so I guesstimated 1/4 pound burgers. I cooked them on a Lodge cast iron grill pan and there was zero smoke. Smelled delicious while cooking and my pan was easy enough to clean with a chain mail type cleaning tool we found on Amazon. Only problem is they were over cooked. Easy solution, next time I will halve the cooking time and check with thermometer. I do not at all understand how someone could cook these at 425* and have raw burgers after 15 minutes. That’s wild. Thanks again for the recipe! I appreciate it!
I also ran into challenges with this recipe. I was prepared for the smoke, but after 10 more minutes, my burgers were still red in the middle. Is rack placement a factor? Next time I’ll use a lower temp and more time… or just grill.
I use this recipe often for either my oven or convection oven. I use a foil lined cookie sheet with a rack on top. Never a problem with smoke!!
I find it highly amusing that you recommend having vegan cheese as one of the available toppings… for a BEEF burger. 🙂
However, the burgers were decent enough even with cheese made from cows milk.
Using vegan cheese products is an easy way to ensure that it is dairy free!
Maybe if he knew how to run a computer he wouldn’t have pop ups LMAO
Why is everyone talking about add blockers and fire alarms? My only question is why are we using vegan cheese on BEEF burgers?
Sorry friend, but this is a dairy free blog, so we have to use vegan cheese on our burgers. You don’t have to though if you can have regular cheese, go for it!
Thanks for the recipe.
Are you sure cooking to medium for burgers is safe? It’s safe for steaks for sure, but burgers?
And why do you recommend Mexico avocados? Thank you.
Just made these for my family and they were SO GOOD! This will be my go to recipe for burgers in BBQ off season. Thank you!
I’m a bit skeptical on baked burgers compared to the grill or fried. But what do I know, I’ve never tried them, maybe they’re great. Guess I’ll have to give it a shot to find out, because I love burgers!
My apologies, I haven’t tried the recipe yet (sounds delicious and will follow up) however, I did want to say, whats more annoying than adds are all these clowns on here complaining about adds.. WOW!! What a bunch of oxygen thieves. Did you even try the recipe or just got on here to cry about adds and recommend pop-up blockers?? Make a burger, shove in hole and enjoy.. GEEZ 🙄