The Best Breakfast Burger
Prep
10m
Cook
15m
Total
25m
Bigly says
Folks. FOLKS. The breakfast burger. The single greatest contribution America has made to the world since the airplane, possibly bigger — the airplane is great but it doesn't have a runny yolk on top, and the runny yolk is the SECRET. The runny yolk is everything. Many people don't know this — smart people, people who eat breakfast every day — but the yolk is what separates a sandwich from a SANDWICH. Capital letters. The yolk is the difference. The yolk is destiny.
I've eaten this sandwich in diners across this country, roadside places, and once — and this is true, I will swear to it on a stack of menus — at a food truck in a parking lot in Tucson at three in the morning. The truck guy didn't speak. He just nodded, slid the burger across the counter, and looked off into the desert. Total artist. Where is he now? Somebody find him. He deserves a statue. None of those burgers, NONE, beat what we are about to do in this kitchen. Beef patty. Crisp bacon. Melted American cheese. A fried egg with a yolk that breaks like a wave and runs down the side of the bun. Hash brown patty IN the burger. Yes. In it.
Do not skip the hash brown. The hash brown is the SOUL. Most chefs are afraid to do this — they think it's too much, they think the sandwich is 'already busy.' The sandwich is not busy. The sandwich is FULL. There is a difference. A busy sandwich has nothing to say. A FULL sandwich has everything to say and says it loud and says it at breakfast. We are making the full version. We are not cowards in this kitchen. The hash brown stays. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbground beef chuck, 80/20
- 8 slicesthick-cut bacon
- 4American cheese slices(yes American, this is not the moment for fancy cheese, trust me)
- 4frozen hash brown patties(the diner-style oval kind, no shame in freezer aisle, none)
- 4large eggs
- 2 tbspunsalted butter
- 1/4 cupmayonnaise
- 2 tbspketchup
- 1 tbspyellow mustard
- 1 tsphot sauce
- 4brioche or sesame seed buns
- to tastekosher salt and black pepper
- 1 tbspvegetable oil
Steps
- 1
Whisk mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce together in a small bowl to make a quick burger sauce. Set aside.
- 2
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
- 3
Cook the hash brown patties according to package directions in a 425°F oven or air fryer until deeply golden and crisp. Keep warm.
- 4
Divide ground beef into 4 equal portions and form into patties slightly wider than the buns. Press a dimple in each center. Season generously with salt and pepper on both sides.
- 5
Wipe out the bacon skillet, add 1 tbsp oil, and heat over high heat until smoking. Sear patties 3 minutes per side, undisturbed, for medium. Top each with a slice of American cheese in the last 30 seconds and cover briefly to melt.
- 6
Wipe out the skillet and reduce heat to medium. Add butter. Crack the eggs into the pan and fry 2-3 minutes for sunny-side up with set whites and a fully runny yolk. Season with salt and pepper.
- 7
Toast the bun halves in any remaining butter or pan drippings, cut-side down, until golden.
- 8
Build the burger: bottom bun spread with sauce, hash brown patty, beef patty with melted cheese, 2 strips of bacon, fried egg on top, top bun. Press gently to break the yolk on the first bite. Serve immediately, ideally with napkins and a hand towel.
One more thing
There it is. The breakfast burger. The cure for hangovers, sad Mondays, long road trips, and at least three medical conditions I cannot legally name. You will eat this and you will feel POWERFUL. You will feel things you have not felt since you were a kid eating something a grandparent made for you, except this is better than that, way better, no offense to the grandparents, they did their best with what they had. Make this. Make it Saturday morning. Make it a Wednesday for no reason. The breakfast burger doesn't care what day it is. The breakfast burger only cares about being eaten. And there you have it.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about The Best Breakfast Burger.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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