For The Juiciest Burgers You've Ever Had, Add This Umami Ingredient To Your Mixture

A cheeseburger fresh off the grill has got to be the ultimate crowd-pleasing food. The seared edges, the molten cheese, the soft bun soaking up savory juices — it's what you reach for when you want absolutely everyone to have a good time (vegetarians can also be made happy with a veggie-friendly twist). While you can't go wrong with it, there's also nothing wrong with jazzing up the classic a little. So here's an idea we bet you've never thought of: mixing chopped-up mushrooms with the ground beef for a super juicy, umami-inspired burger.

Mushrooms owe their savory depth to glutamates — the compounds that define umami flavor (and the namesake of MSG). Mince them into ground beef and they boost the meat's natural taste without overpowering it, adding complexity that doesn't announce itself. There's also an extra bonus: as the patties cook, mushrooms release moisture slowly, helping to keep the meat succulent instead of letting it turn into a rubbery mess.

You can use whatever mushrooms you have on hand for the job — white mushrooms or Baby Bella are popular and cheap. Pulse whatever you got in a food processor until they're minced up,  then work the mushroom powder into the beef with all your planned seasonings. That's literally it! All that's left to do is pressing the beef into patties and they're basically grill-ready.

If you try and love this umami burger so much that it becomes a regular thing at your backyard barbecues, we have some other suggestions. Try adding some garlic and shallots to the ground beef — they'll give you pungency and sweetness in one move. Fresh thyme rounds it out with herbaceous notes. Pair it all with the mushrooms and you've built something that can easily stand up to what the fancy burger places are offering.

One thing to watch: mushroom burgers cook differently. The moist mushrooms can make the patties quite fragile — they could break in half when you try to flip them. The fix for this is surprisingly simple: keep them on the grill for a tad longer. Aim for 10 degrees higher than the internal temp you're aiming for an all-beef burger (so 140 to 145 degrees rather than the usual 130 to 135 degrees for medium-rare).

For toppings, Swiss and sautéed onions both lean into what the mushrooms already do — pure savory depth and can help amplify it even further. On the other hand, if you want balance instead of a double dose of umami, go the other way in the flavor spectrum and sprinkle on sharp cheddar or fresh arugula. The cheddar brings salt and bite. The arugula's peppery freshness cuts right through. Either approach works for a burger that'll make every regular cheeseburger taste plain by comparison!