Air Fryer Burgers

Making your own burgers will make you feel like a real gourmet. Add a hidden nugget of cheese, flavour with chipotle, or keep them simple with good beef mince, sea salt and pepper. Our ten-year-old reviewer reported that this recipe "tastes like MacDonald's" (highest acclaim).  Trust us: air fryer burgers are so simple but so, so good!

Making the trend: smash burgers

In the test kitchen we can’t resist a fun new Instagram trend and here’s the latest: smash burgers.

Smash burgers get their name from the cooking method: the regular beef patty is pressed or ‘smashed’ in the frying pan to produce rugged edges and a broad cooking surface which gets extra brown and crispy. They were popularised in the 1960s in an American diner where the cook was under pressure to dish up fast!

While they’re classically cooked on a pan or griddle, smash burgers can be done in your air fryer. They’re easier to make than their sweaty street-food cousins (as they’re ‘smashed’ before, not during, cooking) and they’re embarrassingly easy to eat by the bun-load.

The thin patties are perfect for doubling up to make hefty burgers, especially when you add crispy onions, cheese and pickles. Get creative: your air fryer burgers are best served in a heap, generously piled with condiments, and extremely difficult to eat without dribbling. But that’s the whole thing.

Smashing burger tips

-        🍴    We used onion granules instead of chunks of onion, but you could substitute grated onion if that’s what you have.

-        🍴    Use baking paper beneath the burger to contain the juices and prevent the meat from drying out during cooking.

-         🍴   To enhance the crispy edges, you can press down on the burger with a spatula halfway through cooking.

-         🥒   Garnishes are essential. Build it up with ketchup and cheese, or get fancy and elevate your burger with a gourmet topper like chilli crunch or dill pickles from Delli!

Air Fryer Burger (Smash Style)

Makes 3 or 4

250g beef mince, 5% fat
1 tsp onion granules
½ tsp garlic granules
¾ tsp sea salt
Black pepper to taste
Cheese, sliced (optional)
Burger buns + garnishes

Equipment: Baking paper

1 - Add all ingredients to a bowl and mash with a fork or your hands until well combined.

2 – Divide the mixture into 3 or 4 patties. For authenticity, make them quite wide and thin – rough edges are good – they’ll get nice and brown. 

3 – Use your thumb to make a shallow indent in the centre of each burger, to stop it from puffing up.

4 – Preheat the air fryer (empty) for 2 mins on 200 degrees.

5 – Cut a circle of baking paper that’s a bit smaller than the baking rack. Crumple it up in your hands, then open it out again and place onto the baking rack. Place one burger on the paper.

6 – Cook at 200°C for 4 minutes, then slide out the drawer and turn the burger over.  Cook for another 2 mins, then add cheese to the top, and cook for final 2 minutes. (8 minutes in total.)

7 – Check for doneness: cut into the centre of your burger to check there’s no pink inside. You can also use a thermometer to check the internal temperature, which should be at least 70°C.

8 – Serve one or two patties in a bun with all your extras!

BURGER BRAGS

Don’t be humble. Share your juiciest burger pics with us @KelenandWillian . We want to see what you put on top, especially if you got weird with it. We’ll share all our favourite food snaps, so remember to follow us for dinnertime inspiration!

FURTHER EATING

Still hungry?  Make some air fryer chips to go with your burger (cook those first, as the air fryer burgers are faster!).