Top-Rated Gourmet Dinner Recipes for 2026

There is no end to the number of scrumptious burgers you can make, but here are 12 that will make your mouth water.

By J. Kenji Lpez-AltJ. Kenji Lpez-Alt composes a column for The New york city Times on food and science, and he develops recipes and appears in videos for NYT Cooking. He is likewise the creator and host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. This video and post become part of, our series on kitchen area principles.

Credit ... Adam CentrellaAs an expert chef, food writer and cookbook author, I have actually invested the last twenty years of my career carefully researching and testing recipes, methods and commonly accepted kitchen wisdom to figure out the whys of cooking. Over this time, I've run several burger joints and even composed a monthly column for Serious Consumes called the Hamburger Lab, in which I separated and evaluated every possible variable that can impact the flavor and texture of a hamburger.

That does not imply you can't intend for something better. Here are the most important suggestions I've found for enhancing your hamburger experience, whether in the backyard or the cooking area. Working hamburger excessive can trigger it to end up being dense. Credit ... Ryan Liebe for The New York City Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Top-Rated Gourmet Burger Templates for 2026

In bread, this can be an advantage, however with burgers, overhandling can produce an undesirable thick texture. (Including extenders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, or additional spices, like onions and herbs, also forces you to exhaust the meat and distract from the beef flavor, so skip it.) Salting the exterior of your patties keeps their texture loose and tender.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Salt breaks down muscle proteins and assists them to link up more easily. This is a good idea in sausages, which must have a firm texture, however with hamburgers, you want looseness. A hamburger must hurt, with a lot of pockets for juices and rendered fat to collect.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Whether you're making a huge hamburger on the grill or a crisp-edged smash hamburger on a frying pan, browning is flavor, and high heat is essential. For thicker grilled or griddled hamburgers, wait till your pan or grill is hot before including the patties, and cook them up until they're well browned on both sides.

This maximizes taste while maintaining juiciness. Don't let your patties sit around on the cutting board (or worse, a steam table). Burgers are at their best fresh from the fire, before any juices have had an opportunity to leak out.

Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Why High-Quality Fresh Ingredients Transform Your Burger

Updated May 7, 2026, 8:42 a.m. CTI have actually constantly been a burger fan. Maturing, I 'd happily munch them down at sit-down dining establishments and from the drive-thru getting home from gymnastics practice. I 'd crush the soft bun and let ketchup dribble down the sides over my fingers. If there were any little melty American cheese leavings stuck on the wrapper, I 'd drag my french fries through them (I still do this).

Catch me on the right day and I may admit that a cheeseburger is my favorite food. Actually, I may state that on a lot of days. And you may state the same. But even if you do, it's most likely we do not have the same idea of what makes the best burger.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

I kept some old favorites, included some brand-new ones and continued to leave off the ones I know people like but I just. Maybe I haven't attempted your preferred hamburger. Perhaps I'm out to get you (just joking).

There's one perfect burg out there for everybody. Let me show you what makes the best burger for me. Let's start with the patty. Can I say I'm growing a little tired of smashburgers? The very best ones miraculously stay juicy with simply a hint of flaky char around the edges, but regrettably, the majority of places go too hard on the smash.

When I bite in, I require to see a little shimmer, some glowing from the beef and possibly a little grease diminishing the sides. When I see a smashburger on the menu, I constantly choose a double patty. Smashburger or not, the patty must be scorched to help lock in the juices, but not too crusty.