37 Homemade Burger Recipes For Your National Burger Day Party

National Burger Day, in case you were unaware, takes place every May 28. What better way to celebrate the occasion than by basking in bountiful burgers?

We've collected a wide variety of recipes here, from chef-created gourmet masterpieces to copycat fast food favorites. Some of these burgers are so huge you may need to unhinge your jaw, while others are mini-sliders that may be tiny but delicious. The toppings range from standard affairs such as lettuce, tomato, cheese, and bacon to less familiar ones like strawberry jam. 

The burgers themselves come in all types, as well. Not only do we have beef patties on the menu, but why not try turkey, chicken, lamb, salmon, black bean, mushroom, tofu, and Impossible meat? Even the buns run the gamut, with Hawaiian rolls, sourdough bread, tortillas, and frosted donuts all putting in an appearance. Who knows, you may even find that one of these out-of-the-box burgers becomes your new favorite.

If you order a burger at Gordon Ramsay Burger in Las Vegas, it will cost you around $20. While Ramsay's name may be on the restaurant, it's also highly unlikely the "Hell's Kitchen" will have fixed it himself. So why not just skip the trip to Sin City and grill yourself a Ramsay-inspired burger instead? While this recipe isn't an exact match for any of the burgers on Ramsay Burger's current menu, it's fairly similar to his backyard burger, only with Monterey jack cheese in place of the American favored by the British chef. What's more, we've added a special twist. Instead of topping the burger, the cheese is enclosed in the meat Jucy Lucy-style.

Recipe: Gordon Ramsay's Burger

Many burgers will claim to be the best you've ever tasted, but here we're making a different assertion. While this burger is, in fact, delicious, it may well be one of the more unusual ones that will ever hit your taste buds. It starts out as a fairly standard bacon cheeseburger, albeit one made with mild provolone rather than something sharper like cheddar, but then the sandwich takes a turn towards the unusual by eschewing ketchup for mayonnaise and strawberry jam. Different, true, but then again, the Monte Cristo sandwich pioneered a similar sweet/savory flavor profile to great success. Who knows, perhaps jelly burgers will be the next big thing.

Recipe: Fantastic Burger You've Never Tasted

While there have been rumors of Five Guys closing up shop for the past few years, it seems that there's not much truth behind them. Individual franchises come and go, but the chain itself is still pretty solid. Should you fear finding yourself in a Five Guys-free area, though, you can always protect yourself by learning to make its signature burger at home. Ground meat, buns, and American cheese slices are really all you're going to need, although you can, of course, add other Five Guys-type toppings such as mushrooms, onions, or A1 sauce.

Recipe: Five Guys Burger

Chef Bobby Flay recommends cooking burgers outside on the grill, of course, and that's exactly what we're doing in this copycat chef recipe. If you don't have outdoor cooking facilities (or optimal weather), however, you can "grill" them on your stovetop, instead. Flay's bacon cheeseburgers are pretty typical of the breed, but we are making one major tweak to Flay's recipe. Rather than using the cheese and bacon as toppers, we're chopping them up and mixing them into the patties. That way, there's no danger of them sliding off the tops of the burgers.

Recipe: Bobby Flay's Burger

In-N-Out may be super-popular in its native California, but not everyone lives in the limited number of states serviced by the chain. If you've been wondering whether the famous burgers are worth all the hype, there's a relatively cheap way to find out that doesn't involve a plane ticket. You guessed it — we're talking about another copycat recipe. Here we're recreating the chain's Double-Double, a fairly simple two-patty cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a not-so-secret sauce that primarily consists of ketchup, mayo, and pickle relish. Sound familiar? Yes, the Big Mac has a very similar formula, only with pickles in place of tomatoes. As it just so happens, we have a copycat recipe for this fast food favorite, as well, so you can try them side-by-side and see which one you prefer.

Recipe: Copycat In-N-Out Burger

Back in the '70s when the Big Mac was new, McDonald's made sure that not only the burger but the ingredients would stick in everyone's head forever. In the words of one of their most famous advertising jingles, their signature sandwich contains "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun." The jingle has been revived from time to time, but over the years the Big Mac remains the same — all except for the price, which has gone up significantly over the past half-century. With this copycat recipe, however, you can cook up a pretty similar-tasting burger at home for less money.

Recipe: Copycat Big Mac

These burgers not only include blue cheese as per the recipe's name but actually borrow their entire flavor profile from a different bar food classic — Buffalo wings. Here the tangy/spicy Buffalo sauce takes the place of ketchup as a condiment, while blue cheese crumbles add a little tang of their own. The burgers go great with either fries or potato chips, of course, but you might also want to accompany them with a side of celery sticks to play up on the whole hot wing theme.

Recipe: Spicy Blue Cheese Burger

While "smash burger" may be a trendy culinary term these days, the technique of squashing a meat patty as it cooks may actually date back to the 1960s. There's no super-secret trick to it — just flatten the patty with a spatula. If you need to put a little extra weight behind it, you can weigh the spatula down with a can of beans. Top the smashed burger any way you wish — here we're going with a classic combo of American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles, but you can go as simple or complicated as you please.

Recipe: Simple Smash Burger

Lamb is pretty pricey these days to the point where chops or roasts may not fit into many budgets, but ground lamb is a bit more affordable. One way you can use the meat is to make Greek-inspired hamburgers. The patties in this recipe are flavored with mint, oregano, cumin, garlic, and onion, but for some additional Greek flavor, you can also top them with feta crumbles and tzatziki.

Recipe: Greek-Style Lamb Burger

Mushrooms are generally considered premium toppings at most burger chains, and as with anything premium, they can come with an upcharge. If you choose to make mushroom-Swiss burgers at home, though, you can buy mushrooms at the store and cook them yourself. This recipe does feature one ingredient that's not standard for most fast-food restaurants, though. Beer is used to help caramelize the mushrooms. If you don't have any in the house (or you do, but you'd rather not use it for cooking purposes), you can always use beef broth, instead.

Recipe: Mushroom And Swiss Hamburger

Shake Shack, while it's not on the level of big players like Mickey D's, Burger King, or even Whataburger, does have a following. This may, in part, be due to a marketing tactic that revolves around making sure its burgers are sufficiently photogenic for those who like to document every bite that goes into their mouth. If you don't have a Shake Shack near you, though, you can still create a Shackburger clone that's ready for its close-up as long as you follow these step-by-step directions. Bonus: The burger tastes pretty good, too!

Recipe: Copycat Shake Shack Shackburger

Burger King's signature item is a fairly typical flagship burger: beef patty (or patties) topped with lettuce, onions, pickles, and tomatoes. No cheese, and no "special sauce" either, just ketchup and mayonnaise are used as condiments. It's nice and simple, which makes it quite easy to recreate at home. In this recipe, we're sticking to a single-patty Whopper, but you can always increase the ingredients (except for the bun) to make it a double or triple, instead.

Recipe: Burger King Whopper Copycat

If you're trying to cut down on fat, calories, and/or expenditures, ground turkey makes a great alternative to beef, but there is one teensy little problem. Because turkey is comparatively low in fat, turkey burgers can be somewhat dry and lacking in flavor. However, you can add both mayonnaise and sriracha to the turkey to take care of both issues. These turkey burgers are actually more like mini-meatloaves, in fact, as they also include breadcrumbs, chopped onions, and celery and are oven-baked rather than pan-fried or broiled. If you like, you could even shape these burgers into little loaves, then skip the buns altogether to make for a low-carb meal.

Recipe: Spicy Turkey Burger

Steak 'n Shake offers something that you won't find at every fast food restaurant — the patty melt. What makes a patty melt different from a standard cheeseburger is that it's served on toast rather than a bun. The burgers used in patty melts tend to be on the thin side, too, as toast is less conducive to holding fatter patties. For this Steak 'n Shake Frisco Melt copycat, we're using sourdough. As for the toppings, these consist of American and Swiss cheeses plus a sauce made of French and Thousand Island dressings combined with ketchup.

Recipe: Copycat Steak 'N Shake Frisco Melt

While most burger recipes call for cooking the patties in a pan on the stovetop, sometimes it's fun to mix up your cooking techniques, and you might be surprised at how well an air fryer can perform this same function. It takes about 10 minutes to cook a batch of burgers, then once they're done, you just plop them on a bun (or toast, if you'd like to make a patty melt), then top them with all the usual suspects — ketchup, mustard, pickles, you know the drill.

Recipe: Air Fryer Hamburgers

Turkey isn't the only lean meat alternative in town — ground chicken, too, is fairly low in fat and calories and can also make for an affordable beef alternative. Unfortunately, it's also plagued with some of the same problems turkey has in that less fat equals less flavor, but that's why Rachael Ray likes to jazz her chicken burgers up with a few mix-ins. The celebrity cook uses rosemary and orange zest, but in our variant version of her recipe, we're opting to go Greek-inspired with oregano, lemon zest, and tzatziki, instead.

Recipe: Rachael Ray's Chicken Burger

Wendy's Baconator ranks right up there with the all-time greats when it comes to fast food burgers. In fact, we'd rate it quite a bit higher than either the Big Mac or Whopper due to a reason that's right there in the name: This burger contains a big ol' bunch of bacon strips. Our DIY version is also topped with American cheese and fry sauce (a 50/50 mix of ketchup and mayonnaise) and makes two double burgers where each patty weighs in at a quarter pound. If you're not quite hungry enough to put away a full pound of beef, though, it only requires simple math to cut the recipe in half.

Recipe: Wendy's Baconator Copycat

One of the various limited-time premium burgers that Burger King rotates in and out of its lineup is something known as the Steakhouse King. However, you need not rely on Burger King's corporate whims if you'd like to try this burger for yourself. Our copycat recipe consists of a pair of beef patties topped with American cheese, bacon, fried onions, and barbecue sauce spiked with liquid smoke. The burger itself isn't too hard to replicate. 

Recipe: Burger King Steakhouse King Copycat

If you're thinking of incorporating a few more meat-free meals in your menu, you might want to try this burger where the protein comes not only from monster-sized mushrooms but also from halloumi, a cheese so non-melty that you can actually sear it like you would a meat patty. This recipe calls for these mushroom burgers to be topped with chili jam but pepper jelly works as well. You could even do a little DIY experimenting by mixing up some hot sauce or chopped jalapeños with strawberry or raspberry jam. (Or just use ketchup; we won't judge.)

Recipe: 15-Minute Mushroom And Halloumi Burger

McDonald's has been in business for generations and over that time has sold a countless number of burgers, so they must know a thing or two about cooking them. If you don't want to bother with going out to eat or paying sky-high delivery fees for fast food, you can always learn to make this Golden Arches go-to at home. The secret to replicating the global chain's burgers, it seems, involves stirring in a pinch of dried onion that's been re-hydrated in a cup of hot water.

Recipe: McDonald's Hamburger Copycat

Country star Trisha Yearwood, like many 21st-century celebrities, has re-invented herself as a cookbook author. Her specialty, of course, is "down-home" cooking. Her book "Trisha's Kitchen: Easy Comfort Food for Friends and Family" has a different take on the typical ground chicken burger as she converts hers into something more meatloaf-like involving breadcrumbs and vegetables. The burgers are also topped off with a white sauce made with frozen peas that Yearwood says reminds her of her mother's chicken pot pie.

Recipe: Trisha Yearwood's Chicken Potpie Burgers – Exclusive

In 2019 Burger King made waves in the fast food industry by introducing a burger made with the Impossible brand of plant-based meat substitute. These Impossible Whoppers, as it turns out, weren't entirely vegan as they were served with mayonnaise and also cooked on the same grill used for meat products. Still, they are to this day one of relatively few mainstream fast food options for those who prefer to avoid eating meat products. If you choose to make your Impossible Whoppers at home with our copycat recipe, though, you can go one better by opting for a plant-based mayonnaise substitute or skipping this condiment altogether.

Recipe: Copycat Burger King Impossible Whopper

Wendy's pretzel bacon pub cheeseburger is another one of those premium fast food menu items that are here today and gone tomorrow, thus creating the kind of perceived scarcity that gets people all excited and drives sales. In this case, though, we totally get the hype, because the only thing better than a bacon cheeseburger is one on a pretzel bun with beer cheese sauce. Making such a burger at home does involve multiple steps and no fewer than 20 different ingredients, but if you're willing to put in the effort, you can have this tasty burger whenever you like instead of waiting on Wendy's whims.

Recipe: Copycat Wendy's Pretzel Bacon Pub Cheeseburger

While not everyone enjoys soy products or meat substitutes, black beans are a plant-based burger alternative that has no need to mimic meat as it has plenty of flavor of its own. This black bean burger recipe is not only extra-healthy but is also pretty economical since a single can of beans is stretched out with breadcrumbs, brown rice, corn, olives, and diced green chiles to make six patties. The burgers are also flavored Southwestern style with spices including chili powder, garlic, and cumin. In keeping with this flavor theme, we'd suggest topping the burgers with salsa instead of ketchup. You might also want to add a slice of pepper jack cheese if you're not following a vegan diet.

Recipe: Green Chile Black Bean Burger

If you've never tried a donut burger, you may already be too late to have one at a restaurant since some food fads were never meant to last. That's okay, though, since you can always make the savory but sweet combo yourself. The burger itself is actually pretty easy to make as long as you outsource the donut to the professionals at Dunkin', Krispy Kreme, or the grocery store bakery. Fry up a meat patty, slap it on the bottom half of a donut, then top it with cheese, bacon, and a fried egg. Cover the burger with the top half of the donut and dig in.

Recipe: Easy Donut Breakfast Burger

After you've eaten a donut burger for breakfast, you might want to follow it up with a slightly less indulgent dinner such as this healthy, turkey burger. In order to compensate for any dryness from lack of fat, here the ground turkey meat is mixed with an egg before frying. Sautéed onions, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic add flavor, while chopped parsley lends its fresh green color. You can top this plain burger with anything you like, but if you're keeping things lean you might want to stick with a lettuce, tomato, and onion garnish with ketchup and/or mustard (but no mayo) as the condiments.

Recipe: Quick Turkey Burger

Tofu all on its own is admittedly not very exciting and wouldn't make for much of a burger. In this recipe, however, chopped tofu is mixed with all manner of good-for-you ingredients including chia seeds, mushrooms, black beans, and even nutritional yeast. The patties are bulked up with breadcrumbs, too, and of course, you're free to choose an extra-healthy kind of bread like sprouted seven-grain or flax seed. If you top your burgers with plenty of fresh vegetables or even something fermented like sauerkraut, they'll pack an even more powerful nutritional punch.

Recipe: Easy Tofu Burger

Applebee's quesadilla burger is, as its name implies, a cheeseburger that is served between two flour tortillas instead of the standard bun. For extra cheesy goodness, however, the hamburger patties are not only topped with pepper jack but the tortillas themselves are smothered in melted cheddar. This Tex-Mex-inspired burger is then topped with ranch dressing mixed 50/50 with salsa (Applebee's calls this concoction "Mexi-ranch"), plus there's also pico de gallo and bacon strips, for good measure. If you really want to recreate the Applebee's experience at home so your DIY burger can have the proper ambiance, set the TV to ESPN with the volume cranked up way too loud, then mix yourself a margarita.

Recipe: Copycat Applebee's Quesadilla Burger

One thing you can say about the portobello is that it's one of the meatiest mushrooms out there. It's been used as the protein in all manner of sandwiches and is sometimes even served up steak-style. Here we're giving these 'shrooms the burger treatment, glazing them with tamari and then pan-frying them before plopping them between two burger buns. The "special sauce" here is none other than our old friend fry sauce, which is a 50/50 blend of mayonnaise and ketchup. If you leave out the mayo, though, these mushroom burgers can be 100% vegan.

Recipe: Easy Portobello Mushroom Burger

The main selling point with the McDonald's Happy Meal is the toy, of course, so if you really want to recreate this meal, you'll need to hit up the dollar store first for a suitable prize. That being taken care of, all that remains to do is to cook up a couple of plain Mickey D's-style burgers, then add a side of cooked-from-frozen fries. Pour a soda (or open up a small carton of milk or juice if you want to go the healthy route), then enjoy your portion-controlled meal without having to go through the embarrassment of pretending it's for the children you don't actually have. 

Recipe: McDonald's Hamburger Happy Meal Copycat

While many salmon burger recipes start off with canned salmon, this one is made with fresh fish, instead. To turn it into a burger, you'll need to grind it up in a food processor with breadcrumbs, mustard, mayonnaise, and a few other seasonings. Once the fish is pureed, it can be formed into patties and fried. For a cheaper, yet equally healthy alternative, you can also use canned salmon for similar results. This is a flavorful fish burger that goes great on a bun with a tartar sauce topping.

Recipe: Fresh Salmon Burgers

As established above, a patty melt is a cheeseburger served up between two slices of toast rather than inserted into a bun. As per the name of this recipe, here we're going with sliced sourdough to make the toast, and we're even shaping the burgers as ovals rather than discs in order to better fit the bread. For the melty part, we're using Swiss cheese, while we're also opting for another classic topping, caramelized onions. To make them soft and avoid burning, we recommend sautéing them on low to medium heat. 

Recipe: Simple Sourdough Patty Melt

The McDonald's Quarter Pounder, as is revealed right in the name, is made with a 4-ounce beef patty. A Quarter Pounder with cheese is, you guessed it, that same burger topped off with American cheese. Yes, you can easily make it yourself at home, even if you do not have a kitchen scale. Take a pound of ground beef, divide it up into 4 roughly equal-sized pieces, and voilà! You have a quarter pound of meat, more or less. Cook up your burger, add a slice of cheese, and encase it in a Mickey D's-style sesame seed bun. Finish with a few squirts of ketchup and mustard along with some sliced dill pickles, and you'll have a pretty close copy of the burger behemoth's specialty.

Recipe: McDonald's Quarter Pounder With Cheese Copycat

Wings are wings and burgers are burgers, and never the twain shall meet... except in this recipe, where they kind of do. For starters, the burger is made of chicken meat. Okay, the meat is probably not from the wings of the bird, but then, this is likely the case with boneless "wings," as well. The ground chicken is also flavored with ranch dressing mix (Buffalo wing purists may feel free to substitute dried blue cheese dressing mix), then baked and served on a bun with Buffalo sauce. If you want to add some blue cheese crumbles and a side of celery sticks, you'll have an even more Buffalo-wing-like burger.

Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Burgers

Sliders are pretty cute since who doesn't love mini food? Still, if you're making up a batch of them it can get pretty tedious to shape and fry all those little patties and then stick them in teeny-tiny buns. Here, however, we're taking the same approach that's used with bar cookies — baking up what is essentially one big block of burgers in a pan, complete with ketchup, mayonnaise, and fried onions, then separating them into individual sliders once they're cooked. Hawaiian rolls work perfectly for the buns since they basically come in a pull-apart brick and will stay together until separated.

Recipe: Oven Baked Hamburger Sliders

We'll give you one guess as to what the McDonald's McDouble might be. Yep, you guessed it — there's no need for a degree in culinary arts to know that this menu item is the basic McDonald's hamburger, only with two patties instead of one. Oh, plus a slice of cheese. If you opt to make this DIY version at home, though, you can always throw on an extra slice of cheese so each patty will have its own.

Recipe: Copycat McDonald's McDouble Recipe

White Castle is a chain best known for its bitty burgers, as well as its starring role in an early '00s epic called "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle." Yes, the film's heroes were a bit, shall we say, under the influence of a substance that may not have been entirely legal at the time, but you don't need to be in an altered state of consciousness in order to appreciate these gloriously greasy, onion-studded sliders. Nor do you even have to be in a state that actually has a White Castle, since our DIY recipe comes pretty close to replicating the original.

Recipe: 5-Ingredient White Castle Hamburgers