The Easy 4-Ingredient Burger Mix-In That'll Have Chefs Knocking At Your Door

While purists may believe that burger patties should consist of only meat and seasonings, working with delicious add-ins is a non-traditional move worth trying. It builds intriguing flavors and textures right into the meat for a bolder taste in every bite. To get started, consider a four-ingredient formula that would have any pro chef begging to know your secret: cheddar cheese, bacon, ranch seasoning, and sour cream.

This might sound like a lot to cram into a burger, but home cooks and recipe developers across the web can't get enough of this four-ingredient formula, including people who thought it sounded weird at first. Bacon, cheddar, and ranch is already a widely-beloved flavor trio, and you better believe that the sharp, savory cheese; tangy, herbal ranch seasoning; and salty, crispy bacon is thrice as nice when married with a beefy burger mix. The sour cream, meanwhile, adds extra fat to the patties, creating a rich flavor and moist, juicy texture. Incidentally, multiple celebrity chefs use these ingredients to spice up their burgers – Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse are both bacon fans, while Stephanie Izard layers sour cream into her burgers.

Ingredient amounts vary from recipe to recipe, but it is recommended to go with a 85/15 blend of ground beef because of the added fat. Don't just mash it in all willy-nilly, though — your mixing technique really matters for burgers like these.

After dumping these add-ins into your burger mixture, you might feel inclined to knead it vigorously, but resist the urge. Even with fatty add-ins like sour cream, cheese, and bacon, overmixing burger meat will make the patties tough, dry, and dense. Mix the beef with the extras until just combined, and don't try to shape tightly-formed pucks. Loosely pack the meat into roughly even patties (or balls, if you're making smash burgers).

To cook bacon, cheddar, ranch, and sour cream burgers, many fans take the smash burger route to maximize the crispy crust that forms as the cheddar melts and oozes out a bit. Roll the beef into spheres, lay them on a super hot griddle or pan, and smash them at that exact moment for perfect results. Other cooks form the cheesy, bacon-y burger mixture into thicker patties for a hefty, juicy bite. This is the way to go if you want to toss them on the grill.

With so much flavor built-in, all you need to finish these burgers is a toasted bun and a little sauce — but what's the fun in that? Feel free to top them with extra cheddar, bacon, and ranch dressing, or raw onions for a sharp bite that balances the richness. Or, try some mix-ins that seriously spice up your burger. Mixing a few diced pickled jalapeños into the beef, then putting more slices on top, would result in spicy, cheesy, meaty heaven on a bun.