SO GOOD! It’s going to be difficult to go back to regular hamburger patties once you try my Oklahoma smash burgers with onions cooked in them. I’ll show you step-by-step how to make onion smash burgers with a cast iron skillet on the stove (or use your Blackstone griddle grill!).
These simple smash burgers have all the Five Guys Burger vibes… they’re so incredibly yummy with caramelized onions seared right into them…
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Why Oklahoma Onion Smash Burgers are so enjoyable….
- Learn the easy parchment paper method for perfectly thin smash burgers.
- SO TASTY!
- Incredible grilled onion flavor.
- Simple weeknight meal for families.
- Healthier than takeout!
- New to making burgers at home? See my step by step video for beginners (scroll to bottom of page).
What is a smash burger?
It’s a thin burger that’s smashed against a hot blackstone griddle or cast iron skillet indoors…
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make Onion Smashed Burgers.
- olive oil
- onion – halved and sliced very thin with a mandoline
- salt and pepper
- ground beef
- hamburger buns
How to make Oklahoma Onion Smash Burgers
Now I’ll walk you through it…
Quick look at Onion Smash Burgers recipe
- Preheat a cast iron griddle and prepare burger patties with seasoning and slice onions.
- Add sliced onions to a hot skillet or Blackstone grill to brown.
- Smash burger patties on top of grilled onions.
- Carefully flip once, so onions stick to burger patties.
- Finish onion smash burgers to done temp and serve with burger buns. Enjoy.
Detailed recipe steps
- Preheat a large cast iron skillet to high heat on the stove. Add olive oil. Set aside a piece of parchment paper a bit larger than the size of the onion smash burger patties.
- Once olive oil is hot and shiny, add some thinly sliced onions to the pan in the size of a hamburger patty. Quickly add a burger patty on top, then add the parchment paper on top of the burger. Smash the burger down with a large spatula (metal or something hard works best). Get it as thin as possible, less than 1 inch thick is ideal. Repeat for all the burgers one at a time or at the same time.
- Cast iron sear Oklahoma smash burgers for a couple minutes, until onions brown around the edges.
- Flip the burgers and finish searing smash burgers a couple minutes until they reach an internal temperature you desire for cooking onion burgers. We took the burgers out of the pan when they reached about 120-125 degrees F. Because they are so thin, they continued cooking and for us, turned out a completely perfect medium done smash burger. (Optional – Add a slice of cheese after you flip the burgers and remove from the pan once cheese is melted)
- Assemble the onion smashed burgers by placing them on toasted bottom bun and top buns and enjoy!
How to make onion and peppers smashed burgers
If you’re looking to upgrade burger night at home, try this variation. It’s my favorite recipe ATM.
Mmm!
So basically, it’s the onion smashed burger from Sip Bite Go, but with some jalapeños and orange peppers sautéed in there too.
See the YouTube recipe video for onion smashed burgers…
Gourmet burger recipes from Sip Bite Go to check out…
- Smoked burgers
- Breakfast burgers
- Onion smash burgers
- Philly cheesesteak smash burgers
- Blackstone burgers
- Burger sliders
- See how to make hamburger patties step by step
- GUIDE: how long to grill burgers
- Sous vide burgers
- Mayo seared sous vide burgers
- Sous vide lamb burgers
- Smoked bacon wrapped burgers
- Bacon wrapped burgers
- Cheeseburger pizza
- See more Blackstone griddle recipes
- Learn how to toast buns on griddle
- See the best burger recipes…
Meat thermometer recommendations
Every home chef needs a reliable meat thermometer to cook food perfectly.
On Sip Bite Go, you’ll often see me using:
- Meater thermometer – a fancy wireless thermometer that connects to a phone app – gifted to me from a Traeger partnership.
- ThermoPro digital thermometer – which has a wire that connects the thermometer to a display box outside the oven/grill.
It’s like being psychic! The great thing about either of the thermometers above is that I don’t have to take the food out of the oven to know the temperature.
How to use ‘em… What I do is stick the digital thermometer in steak, pork, chicken, whatever… Then put the food in the oven, on the smoker, or grill.
While the meat cooks, it reads the temperature so I know exactly what temp meat is as it’s cooking. Without having to take it out and check. It’s really difficult to overcook food when you know exactly what temp it is inside!
FAQs
Slicing the onions for smash burgers is easy! You start by slicing both ends of the onion and peel off the exterior layer. Grab your mandoline slicer and set it to the thinnest setting.
Place the onion on top of the mandoline and start slicing.
If you do not have a mandoline, then you start by slicing both ends of the onion and cut it in half so you have two pieces. Next, peel off the exterior layer then place the onion on a cutting board, flat side down.
Now slice your onions to your desired thickness. You’ll end up with a handful of sliced onions once sliced.
For this recipe, I recommend making the slices very thin since they’ll be cooking very quickly and you want them to char a bit. 
I recommend that you use a yellow onion for this type of onion burger. Yellow onions or brown onions are very versatile and pair well with ground beef and American cheese or cheddar cheese for example. If you want something sweeter then you should use Walla Walla onions.
To put it simply, an Oklahoma onion smash burger is when you take sliced onions and smash them into a ground beef burger patty during the cooking process, so the ground beef and onion meld together. When ground beef was very expensive during the depression, so smashing onions into the beef was a way to “beef” up a burger patty without adding additional ground beef.
Top smash burgers with something yummy like sauteed peppers and onions (sure, more onions, why not?).
Have leftovers? Make cheeseburger pizza. Recipe coming soon!
Don’t leave any of those burger onions in the cast iron pan!
Are you a foodie, too?
Hey home chefs, hope that answers all your questions about onion smashed burgers.
Check out these game day smoker recipes…
Connect…
- Instagram / TikTok / YouTube
- Browse the Sip Bite Go recipe collection
Oklahoma Onion Smash Burgers Recipe | Sip Bite Go
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil maybe more as needed
- ½ medium onion halved and sliced very thin with a mandoline
- 1 tsp salt and pepper or to taste
- 1 LB ground beef divided in quarters and formed into round disc patties
- 4 hamburger buns
Instructions
- Preheat a large cast iron skillet or Blackstone grill to high on the stove. Add olive oil. Set aside a piece of parchment paper a bit larger than the size of the onion smash burger patties.
- Once olive oil is hot and shiny, add some thinly sliced onions to the pan in the size of a hamburger patty. Quickly add a burger patty on top, then add the parchment paper on top of the burger. Smash the burger down with a large spatula (metal or something hard works best). Get it as thin as possible, less than 1 inch thick is ideal. Repeat for all the burgers one at a time or at the same time.
- Cast iron sear Oklahoma smash burgers for a couple minutes, until onions brown around the edges.
- Flip the burgers and finish searing smash burgers a couple minutes until they reach an internal temperature you desire for cooking onion burgers. We took the burgers out of the pan when they reached about 120-125 degrees F. Because they are so thin, they continued cooking and for us and turned out a completely perfect medium done smash burger. (Optional – Add a slice of cheese after you flip the burgers and remove from the pan once cheese is melted)
- Assemble the onion smashed burgers by placing them on toasted bottom bun and top buns and enjoy!
Outdoor Flattop / Blackstone Griddle Instructions
- Preheat flattop grill to high and set aside a piece of parchment paper.
- Add oil to grill. Once it's hot and shines, add ¼ of the onions for each hamburger patty. Add burger balls on top.
- Add parchment paper on top of burgers and smash the burgers down with a large spatula as thin as possible, ~1".
- Cook until onions are browned.
- Flip burgers + finish cooking a 2-5 minutes until done. I take mine off around 125'F.
- Serve and enjoy.
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