Next Time You Make Burgers, Add A Spoonful Of This To The Beef For The Juiciest Bite (It's Already In Your Fridge)

A cursory search of hamburger recipes online turns up tens of thousands of results. With so many burgers around, finding the perfect recipe could be a never-ending task. But if you're looking for a delicious and unique one, this simple recipe only requires an unexpected extra ingredient that you may have never incorporated into a burger before: heavy cream.

You can add heavy cream to your favorite burger recipe without changing the basic preparation or try it out with a straightforward, no-frills burger to see how it affects the taste and texture. Start with about 1 tablespoon of heavy cream per pound of ground beef. Add salt and pepper to taste and that's really all you need before forming the mixture into patties. You could add other ingredients like grated or diced onion and seasonings if you want, too.

Adding onion and heavy cream was how influential food writer James Beard used to make hamburgers. According to Beard, the resulting burger was so creamy and tasty it didn't require condiments. The heavy cream ensures that the patty stays juicy as it cooks because it doesn't render out as quickly as fat does. The cream also makes the flavor richer and deeper than a patty made with beef alone. The burger comes out tender, with a crispy exterior when cooked in a skillet that contrasts with its moist, creamy inside.

The process of mixing the heavy cream into the beef is straightforward. To get the full benefits of adding the cream, you want to handle the mixture as little as possible. Overmixing burger meat can make the burgers tougher, so gently combine the cream, seasonings, and other ingredients just until evenly distributed. Then shape the mixture into patties.

Beyond James Beard's onion, other recipes incorporate ingredients like Worcestershire sauce to provide a hit of umami, or add-ins like steak sauce and breadcrumbs to make the burgers more like a meatloaf than a traditional burger. Since you're only adding a spoonful of cream, most recipes can be adapted to include cream. Be careful with recipes that already have a lot of liquid ingredients like sauces or eggs, and scale back some of those to prevent the mix from getting soupy, if necessary.

If you don't have any heavy cream, there are other dairy products that can be used as a substitute. A ½ cup of ricotta cheese makes for a juicy, tender burger. Sour cream can also be added to your raw beef if you're looking for a similar result with a touch of tanginess in the burger. In fact, many thickened dairy products will work in burger patties, including cottage cheese, evaporated milk, and plain yogurt. They'll all perform many of the same basic functions by enhancing the flavor and amping up the juiciness of the final hamburger.