This is a super easy burger patty recipe that is 100% carnivore.
These patties are delicious and nutritious and are great for someone who just start the carnivore diet and wants to stay strict carnivore.
While burger patties are much more affordable than ribeye steaks, they are just as nutritious if not more nutritious than expensive steaks.
Please check out the recipe below as well as answers to many commonly asked questions such as what is the best meat for burgers, how to prevent burgers from falling apart, what is the best burger thickness, and what is the best way to cook burgers, etc.
Ingredients
- 2 lb ground beef (0.9 kg)
- 1½ tsp sea salt
Please choose fatty ground beef (with 80% lean meat or less) which help create flavorful and juicy hamburger patties.
Instructions
Step 1
Bring the ground beef to room temperature.
Spread the ground beef in a tray or on a large chopping board and sprinkle it with salt then mix it gently to combine.
Some people recommend sprinkling salt on the burger patties just before cooking so that it doesn’t draw moisture out of the meat resulting in dry patties.
However, I prefer to mix the salt or any other seasoning before shaping the burgers so that they are evenly seasoned. I haven’t found any issues with this way of seasoning, perhaps because I always use ground beef with plenty of fat in it.
Step 2
Divide the ground beef into 8 equal parts. Roll each into a ball and then press and shape it into a burger patty.
Alternatively, you can cut out the top part of a paper cup and turn it into a burger patty mold (see photo below).
Place the ground beef portion in the mold and press it down so that the meat fills all the gaps in the mold.
By using the mold, you will have uniform burger patties that are much less likely to fall apart during cooking.
Step 2
Heat a non-stick frying pan or a griddle pan on medium to high heat. You know the pan is hot enough when water droplets dance on the surface and evaporate quickly.
If you like, you can add a tablespoon of tallow but I find it not necessary if you use fatty ground beef.
Add only two burger patties at a time to keep the temperature in the pan high and help the patties brown well.
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
Please don’t press down the burgers or move them around while cooking to prevent them from breaking apart and achieve the desired browning which will give the burgers a nice flavor.
Generally, the less you handle them, the better.
Use a large spatula to flip the burgers and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes for medium-rare or 5 minutes for medium. If you like them well done, cook them for a little longer.
Transfer the burgers to a plate and let them rest for a few minutes.
If they are well done, they should last for 5 days in the fridge.
If they are rare or medium rare, please eat them within just a couple of days.
Common burger-making questions
How do you keep burger patties from falling apart?
Some people recommend returning the burgers to the fridge after shaping so that they are set and are less likely to fall apart.
I find this unnecessary. If you use the burger mold as mentioned above and press down a little more firmly, they are very unlikely to fall apart during cooking.
If you like burgers that are a little rare inside, you may also end up with burgers that are still cold in the middle if they were kept in the fridge prior to cooking.
Unless it’s a warm day or a lot of flies are buzzing around, it’s not necessary to keep the uncooked burgers in the fridge, in my opinion.
You can also add one egg to a pound of ground beef to help the burgers stay together if you know you don’t have any issues with eggs.
What is the best type of meat for burgers?
Fatty ground beef with about 80% lean and 20% fat is the best type of meat for burgers.
Beef is the best meat to eat on the carnivore diet. It not only resembles the most what our ancestors used to eat but has a better nutritional profile than other meat choices like pork, poultry, and fish.
What is the best burger thickness?
The most common burger thickness seems to be about 3/4 inch.
You can make them thinner which will shorten the cooking time but more prone to falling apart.
If you make them thinner, they are also likely to be cooked through quickly.
I prefer them to be about 1 inch thick because I like them to be still a little pink in the middle.
This is also the reason why I like to bring the ground beef to room temperature before shaping and cooking. Rare to medium rare burgers would be cold in the middle if you don’t bring the meat to room temperature beforehand.
What is the best burger doneness?
This is a personal choice, however, the most preferred doneness seems to be medium or medium rare.
Not many people like to eat burgers that are still mostly red inside and well-done burgers will be a little hard and dry.
How to prevent the burgers from puffing up?
To prevent the burgers from puffing up and looking more like meatballs, press the middle of the patties with your thumb and make a dent of about 1/4-inch thickness. This will help the burgers keep their shape when cooked.
Can you eat burgers all the time on the carnivore diet?
Yes, you certainly can eat burgers all the time on the carnivore diet.
As mentioned above, beef is the best meat to eat on the carnivore diet and you can get all nutrients that your body needs from eating just beef.
What is the best way to cook burgers?
You can cook burgers using frying pans, griddle pans, broiling, grilling, BBQ, or an oven.
I think pan-frying is the best way to cook burgers.
Pan-frying is easy, doesn’t use very high heat and doesn’t dry out burgers like grilling.
In addition, very high-heat cooking methods like grilling and broiling cause the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) which have been linked to a number of health problems. [1]
Cooking methods that involve direct contact with heat like grilling also result in the formation of other harmful chemicals.
For example, heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are formed during high-heat cooking have been found to be carcinogenic. [2]
Can you eat raw burgers on the carnivore diet?
You certainly can eat raw burgers which are just a type of steak tartare served at high-end restaurants. But you should only do so if you know for sure that your ground beef comes from reliable sources.
There may be advantages to eating raw burgers though. Because they are uncooked, their natural enzymes are intact and that may help with digestion.
I mostly get ground beef from the supermarkets and never eat raw burgers. But as mentioned above, I’d like to cook them rare to medium rare.
To reduce the risk of contamination, I always freeze the ground beef first and then thaw it before cooking. I have never had any problem eating burgers this way but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Can you freeze burgers?
Both raw and cooked burgers freeze well.
If you cook a large batch, cook them to rare or medium rare only and freeze them.
When you want to eat them again, defrost them in the fridge and fry them in a pan for a short time. That way, they won’t be dry, tough, and overcooked.
Other recipes that you may be interested in:
What Are the Best Ways to Cook Meat on the Carnivore Diet?
Carnivore-ish Slow Roasted Lamb Shank Recipe
Carnivore-ish Braised Pig Trotter (Pork Feet) Recipe
Delicious and Nutritious Carnivore Meatloaf Recipe
Carnivore Braised Lamb Ribs and Eggs Recipe
Carnivore Beef Liver Strip Recipe
Disclaimer: The information in this post is for reference purposes only and is not intended to constitute or replace professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified medical professional before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle. Please check out our disclaimer for more detail.