The Simple Trick To Making Stuffed Cheeseburgers

Burgers and grilling are synonymous, however there are certain burgers that lend themselves better to indoor cooking: A smash burger, for example, is hard to make on a grill grate. So are you relegated to boring burgers during grilling season? Absolutely not — not when you can stuff them.

While the standard way to make a stuffed burger is to make your own mince mix and shape your own burgers with a hidden pocket of ingredients in the middle, sealing them into a ball and then flattening them, there's actually an easier way. Take two thin patties, place your stuffing in the middle of one, and place the other patty on top. Crimp them together well for a good seal, and cook away!

There are two ways to utilize this method: You can make your own thin patties with your own perfectly blended and spiced ground meat mix, or you can buy thin, pre-made patties. Making the mince yourself allows you to customize every part of your burger, from flavor to burger thickness. However, buying pre-made patties helps you make your burgers more quickly and with less mess. The choice is yours! 

Most importantly, this technique ensures an even casing of burger around the stuffing inside so you're not chomping through a thick, unstuffed portion of burger before you get to the good stuff like it's an under-filled donut. 

When we say thin patties, we mean it. Moderation truly is key here. Though it can be tempting to really make a monster burger here, keep in mind that achieving the correct cook is a lot harder with a 4-inch thick patty. You run the risk of the outside being overdone, dry, and charred, while the inside is raw and the cheese or other stuffing unmelted.

Match your cheese with other flavors! Make a classic stuffed cheeseburger with American or cheddar. Get extra melty with raclette. Make it Italian style with mozzarella as your stuffing and sun-dried tomatoes on top. Go Tex-Mex with pepper jack inside and jalapeños on top, or sweet and savory with brie stuffing and caramelized apples and onions on top.

Plus, your stuffing doesn't have to be cheese. Making stuffed burgers is a great way to use up leftovers from a party or a restaurant. Try stuffing your burger with spinach artichoke dip. You could even stuff your burger with mac and cheese or go surf and turf with leftover lobster mac. Stuffings can be versatile — you can even add in provolone, cooked onions, mushrooms, and peppers for a cheesesteak burger. Skip the cheese entirely and stuff your burger with pulled pork or mushroom paté, if you and cheese don't get along.

Regardless of what you stuffing you decide on, let the burger rest a bit before diving in. The filling is hot and impatience hurts!

We'd be remiss if we didn't call this burger what it really is: a Juicy (or Jucy) Lucy. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, there is a 70-year rivalry over who invented the stuffed cheeseburger among two dive bars: the 5-8 Club and Matt's Bar. The 5-8 Club started as a speakeasy during Prohibition and claims to have invented the Juicy Lucy in the 50s, but so does Matt's — and they have a more colorful story. According to Matt's, shortly after opening in 1954, a local customer asked for American cheese in between two patties. Upon seeing the customer biting in and the burger exploding with cheese, he exclaimed, "That's one juicy lucy!" Matt's put the cheese-stuffed burger on the menu as a Jucy Lucy and the rest is history.

The two rivals' websites have not-so-subtle digs at one another. In a clear reference to the 5-8 Club, Matt's Bar states, "Remember, if it's spelled correctly, you just might be eating a shameless ripoff!" The 5-8 Club, on the other hand, calls their burger "the classic Juicy Lucy stuffed with American cheese that rivals imitate, but no one duplicates." Both burgers have received national attention and won awards, but the rift over which establishment first invented the burger still exists in the Twin Cities. We have to wonder, though: Does the honor of the person who invented the Lucy lie not with either one of these establishments, but instead with the imaginative local who asked for one? And, having asked that, will we ever be allowed back in South Minneapolis?