How 13 Celebrity Chefs Enjoy Their Burgers

One of the great things about watching celebrity chefs on cooking shows is that they understand that home cooks don't always want or have time to make elaborate gourmet meals. That's why many of the dishes they create are everyday meals that anyone can master, albeit with some creative twists. The humble burger is a favorite among celebrity chefs, and they're not shy about sharing how they enjoy this all-American classic.

Cooking stars love fast food just as much as the rest of us, and we know that some of the favorite fast food orders of several celebrity chefs are burgers. For example, In-N-Out burgers seem to be a top choice with everyone from Gordon Ramsay to Anne Burrell and Ina Garten. But how do celebrity chefs like their burgers when they're cooking for themselves or audiences? 

To discover which characteristics star chefs love in their burgers, we did a deep dive into celebrity chef interviews, clips of cooking shows, and musings on celebrity chef websites. We uncovered a wealth of information including how the chefs prepare their burger mixes, preferred proteins, favorite burger styles, top cooking techniques, and unique toppings. These are some of the ways 13 celebrity chefs enjoy their burgers.

A great burger starts with great meat. Most sources will tell you that the best ratio of lean meat to fat is about 80/20. However, Andrew Zimmern doesn't necessarily agree. On his website, he said, "I personally go for a 75/25 meat-to-fat ratio, 'cause I like 'em a little fatty. After the burger is cooked, the surface fat melts away, leaving you with a moist patty and the perfect amount of crust." To create the perfect patties, Zimmern grinds his own burger mix. His ideal combo is chuck, short rib, and brisket with ample fat.

Fat is important for beef burgers because it translates to juiciness. If you go too lean, you could end up with patties that are dry and tough. This is especially true if you're planning on grilling your burgers. Grilled burgers should always have a higher fat content than pan-fried burgers because you lose a lot of fat dripping through the grates. Keep in mind though that burgers with a higher fat content will drip more and that can cause flare-ups. To avoid this, Zimmern recommends cooking your burgers on indirect heat, then kissing them with flames at the end for extra char.

Who says that a good burger has to contain meat? Carla Hall has been very vocal about her love for the meatless burger trend. In an interview on "Varney & Co.," she said that she loves burgers but can't have them after 2 p.m. because her body doesn't process them well. Therefore, meatless burgers are her solution to late-night burger cravings. When asked if she liked faux meat, she told the host that she loves the meaty texture and umami flavors. "It's delicious," she said.

Hall also loves veggie burgers made with legumes, grains, and vegetables. On an episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate," she raved about a veggie burger from plant-based restaurant Shouk in Washington, D.C. that featured wholesome ingredients like flaxseed, lentils, black beans, beets, chickpeas, and mushrooms. For Hall, the key to a great veggie burger is balance of flavors and textures. For example, she's been known to pair spicy black bean burgers with sweet peaches. She also likes to add fun toppings to her veggie burgers like ripe avocado, sun dried tomatoes, pickled veggies, and fresh cilantro.

When preparing burgers, flavor may be the main focus for many home chefs. And while that's definitely a key factor to a great burger, Anne Burrell believes that texture is also incredibly important. When demonstrating how to make her killer turkey burgers on the "Rachael Ray Show," one of the first things she said was, "We always think of textures when we're eating everything." Her trick to add some crunch factor to her burgers is coarsely chopped water chestnuts.

Another technique Burrell uses to add contrasting textures to her burgers is toasting the hamburger buns. She said, "It keeps my burger kind of crunchy and all the moisture stuff in there." Like many of us, she can't stand when you get to the end of a burger and the bun is pretty much disintegrated. In addition, Burrell likes to keep moist toppings like tomatoes and onions away from the bun. She adds them to the turkey patty, then tops them with lettuce, which acts as a moisture barrier for the bun. She also adds mayo to the buns, which can help repel moisture thanks to the oil content.

Tyler Florence is a familiar face on the Food Network, having starred in numerous cooking shows. He's also famed for his successful restaurants like Michelin-recommended Miller & Lux where he serves an uber-indulgent burger. When the Michelin Guide asked the chef about Florence's secrets to the absolute best burger, he revealed that in addition to using a flat top grill, he incorporates a major umami booster to the mix. He said, "I also love to add finely chopped or ground bacon into the burger grind, which adds depth of flavor and texture."

While many people add bacon as a burger topping, Florence's method of adding it to the beef blend ensures that you get salty, umami goodness in every bite. Plus, the fattiness of the bacon helps keep the meat moist, while enhancing the crispy exterior. Another way Florence recommends incorporating bacon into your burger is stuffing the patty with bacon and cheese. This method involves forming balls of bacon and cheese and wrapping the patty around it so it's fully encased in the burger meat. Once cooked, the middle gets gooey and oozes with rich flavors.

Ina Garten has several recipes for burgers, but she told viewers of Barefoot Contessa that her absolute favorite is her smashed hamburgers with caramelized onions and Gruyère. Smash burgers are typically made by adding rounded balls of burger mix to a screaming hot skillet or griddle and smashing them into thin patties. This speeds up the Maillard reaction, which gives the patties a beautiful brown color and crispy crust.

To make her smash burgers, Garten mixes ground beef with dry mustard, salt, and pepper. She forms patties that are about 1-inch thick, then freezes them for exactly 15 minutes. She said, "It ensures that they're really crispy on the outside and rare on the inside." Then she heats up some canola oil in a cast iron skillet, adds the patties, and smashes them down without moving them too much. Once they've browned on one side, she flips them and does the same on the other side. When they're just about done, she loads the patties up with caramelized onions and grated Gruyère, covers the skillet until the cheese has melted, then serves the burgers on potato rolls.

Beef Wellington may be Gordon Ramsay's signature dish, but the Scottish chef also knows a thing or two about all-American burgers. One ingredient that he believes is a must for a good burger is butter, and he has a unique technique for using it. Ramsay's secret for better burgers is to freeze some butter, then grate it directly into your burger mix. As you cook the burgers, the butter will melt, incorporating into the meat and helping to keep it moist. In a YouTube video, the chef said the technique also provides, "a nice buttery, smooth flavor inside that delicious burger."

But that's not the only way Ramsay uses butter to amp up the flavor. On an episode of "Good Morning America," he recommended lightly basting your burgers with butter as they cook on the grill. He said, "With that flame underneath, it sort of caramelizes the butter and puts this wonderful flavor on top." The fat in the butter also prevents the burger from shrinking on the grill. Regular butter is fine, but Ramsay said that if you want to make it more "chef-y," you can experiment with different flavors like a red wine or chipotle butter.

Spanish-born chef José Andrés loves using ingredients from his homeland, so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that one of his favorite meats to use in burgers is Ibérico pork. Iberian pigs are native to the Iberian peninsula of Spain and Portugal where they roam the grasslands and forests. They typically feed on grass and oil-rich acorns, which gives the meat a deep nutty flavor. The meat also has plenty of marbling, which makes it ideal for mixing up in a burger blend. Ibérico pork can be pricey, but many say it's well worth the splurge.

At Andrés' Jaleo chain of Spanish restaurants, he serves a wide variety of tapas-style dishes including mini sliders made with Ibérico pork. Called Mini Pepitos de Ibérico, the bite-sized hamburgers include patties made with a mix of Ibérico pork shoulder, regular pork shoulder, and Ibérico pork fatback (fat from the back region of the pig). The patties are served on slider rolls with caramelized onions, piquillo peppers, piparra peppers, and house-made aioli. 

Martha Stewart is a wealth of information when it comes to a wide variety of dishes, and burgers are no exception. In 2023, she posted some tips for creating next-level burgers on Instagram. One point that she elaborated on was using a charcoal or wood-burning grill. She said, "I prefer real wood or charcoal to gas, and I ignite the old-fashioned way, with kindling, to create a hot, slow fire that will sear and cook any burger to the desired doneness."

Grilling burgers over charcoal or wood can be trickier than using a gas or electric grill because you can't just adjust the heat with a knob. Charcoal and wood fires require careful management of airflow and fuel to maintain the right temperature. However, many say you can't beat the smoky flavor that you get from wood and charcoal. Wood in particular can impart multiple layers of flavor into your meat. Some of the best types of wood for grilling burgers include hickory, mesquite, and pecan for their strong flavor profiles that can stand up to the beef. 

While Martha Stewart may have an affinity for burgers done on the grill, David Chang is firmly against it. On a 2023 episode of his podcast "The Dave Chang Show," the chef bluntly stated, "I think the grill is a horrible thing for a hamburger." Although he conceded that many probably don't share his opinion, he did have some good points to back up his statement. For one, he said a juicy hamburger on the grill is a guaranteed grease fire. Secondly, he said, "The only flavor that's being imparted is the carbonized crap that's on the grill."

In Chang's opinion, the best way to cook a burger is on a griddle. He even went so far as to say that the reason smash burgers are having a heyday is because the success rate for burgers cooked on a griddle is higher than those cooked on a grill. If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense because the fat that renders off the meat pools on the griddle or in your cast iron pan. This can prevent the burger from drying out and infuse the burger with more flavor. 

If there's one celebrity chef who knows how to make a good burger, it's Guy Fieri. The self-anointed "Mayor of Flavortown" has sampled countless burgers across the country on his Food Network show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives." He also owns a slew of restaurants that have some seriously crave-worthy burgers on the menu. One of his tried-and-true methods for making sure his cheeseburgers turn out perfectly is using a metal bowl and a splash of water to melt the cheese.

To employ Fieri's cheese-melting technique, you'll need to cook your burgers on a griddle or in a skillet or pan. Cook the burgers until they have a nice brown crust on both sides, then place your cheese slices on top of the burger. Fieri often opts for cheddar. Then place a metal bowl or container over the burgers. Lift up one side and splash about a tablespoon of water around the burger, then set the bowl down again. The water will create steam that melts the cheese and prevents the burger from overcooking. It should only take 30 seconds or so for the cheese to get lusciously gooey.

It's no secret that Rachael Ray loves burgers. She once told Time Magazine, "I don't think I have enough words to declare my love for the burger." The Food Network star is a recurring host of the annual Burger Bash event at the South Beach and New York City Wine & Food Festivals, so she's judged a plethora of burgers over the years. She's also created numerous recipes for burgers ranging from knife-and-fork beef burgers to turkey cheeseburgers and portobello mushroom burgers. As varied as her tastes in burgers are, one constant that she loves is a thick and tangy sauce.

In a 2022 interview with Tasting Table, Ray revealed that she loves to add sauce to both sides of her burger and often goes for two sauces, one of which is usually her own special sauce. She said, "I don't do mayo at all. When I make special sauce, I use sour cream or Greek yogurt. It's thicker and tangier. Then [I add] ketchup, Worcestershire, relish, salt, [and] pepper." Ray explained that she often makes different versions, sometimes adding horseradish or making it more ranch style. 

Bobby Flay is another celebrity chef who loves a good burger. On an episode of Food Network Kitchen, he said, "Whenever I make burgers, it makes me very, very happy." However, he revealed that one thing he can't stand is fancy burger upgrades. On the show, he advised against putting a lot of things on burgers in an attempt to make them more gourmet. He said, "If you put too many things on a burger, all of the flavors start to get muddled and then it doesn't taste like anything."

For Flay, great burgers should start with an 80/20 ground beef mix. Once the patties are formed, all you need to do is season them with salt and pepper and they're good to go on the griddle. In terms of buns, Flay prefers soft buns over fancy artisan rolls. His reasoning is that a harder bun will break the burger when you eat it, whereas a soft bun will become part of the burger. For toppings, Flay goes simple with just American cheese, pickles, and chipotle ketchup. Sometimes he also likes to "crunchify" his burgers with potato chips.

Supermodel turned culinary expert and host of multiple cooking shows, Padma Lakshmi is a self-professed burger fan. In her cookbook "Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet" she recalled wolfing down Western bacon burgers from Carl's Jr. after school and loving the delicious combination of bacon and barbecue sauce. She would later go on to star in ads for Hardee's Western Bacon Thickburger. But while the ads may lead you to believe that she loves ultra-thick burgers that spill out of their buns, the star actually prefers a more moderate burger to bun ratio.

When Lakshmi was a guest on "The Burger Show," host Alvin Cailan took her to White Mana Diner in New Jersey where they tucked into sliders featuring patties smashed thin on the grill and served in steamed buns. The "Top Chef" star remarked how she liked that the patties weren't too high. She said, "I know nowadays, people think they're being generous or luxurious by giving you like this four-inch burger, but I think that the bun to burger ratio is very important." Lakshmi stated that she prefers a thin patty and praised how tightly the burgers were smashed into the grill.