Probably one of the oldest sought-after burgers in America comes from an era where creativity was a key part of survival because of the Great Depression. When it came to burgers in this time period, the big question was how to make a burger that used less meat while still filling the bellies of the customers. Enter the Oklahoma onion burger, or as some call it, 'the depression burger.' The Oklahoma onion burger, which, according to legend, was first made in the 1920s in a restaurant in El Reno just outside of Oklahoma City. This was because onions were cheap to buy in bulk and paired incredibly well with beef. They discovered that when you smash these two together with a slice of cheese and a soft potato bun, you are left with a burger that satisfies any hunger, tastes like heaven, and doesn’t break the bank. This is the reason why, to this day, the Oklahoma onion burger is still one of the most sought-after burgers that people go nuts over. So, if you have never had one before, we recommend giving them a try today because we know they will hit the spot just like they have been for over 100 years!
INGREDIENTS
- Potato Buns
- 3.5 oz balls of 80/20 ground beef
- Large Yellow or White Onion (we found that one Large onion is good for 3 burgers)
- American Cheese
- Salt & Pepper or Favorite Beef Rub
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS (recommended)
- Mustard
- Pickles
PREP
To get started, we like to make sure that all of our ingredients are first prepped. This is because these burgers cook so fast that you’ll only have a few seconds between each step. For the burgers themselves, we like a double, so portioning out 3.5oz balls of ground beef is ideal. After you have portioned out as many balls of ground beef as you need, it's time to slice your onions. This is probably one of the most important pieces of this recipe. Essentially, the onion slices need to be as thin as possible, and when we’re talking thin, we mean like paper-thin and a bit transparent. To do this, you can use a sharp knife, making sure to slow down and be precise, but it will take a long time if you are cutting enough onions for a whole family or party. A better option for slicing a lot of onions is to use a mandolin or even a meat slicer. Just remember, the onions need to be thin. The reason is so that the onions can quickly cook during the short time on the griddle. If they are too thick, they will likely still be a bit raw, changing the taste entirely. The rest of the ingredients are pretty simple and essentially just need to be pulled out.
Now that you have your ingredients prepared, it’s time to get the grill set up for cooking. For this recipe, we used the Slow ‘N Sear Kettle grill with the plancha insert. If you have never cooked using a plancha before, then this is a great recipe to try out as your first cook. To set up the grill, we filled up a chimney basket about ¾ of the way full and then got the coals mostly lit. Once they were mostly lit, we dumped them onto the lower rack in the Slow ‘N Sear Kettle and then strategically placed them onto one half of the grill so that we would be left with a hot side of the plancha and a cooler side if needed. We then placed the plancha into the kettle grill and let it come up to around 400°F on the hot side of the grill.
THE COOK
With the plancha up to temperature, pour on a little bit of oil and then take your balls of ground beef and place them down onto the plancha. Next, grab a handful of your thinly sliced onions and place them on top of the ball of meat. We like to press the onions onto the meat with a little bit of pressure. With the onions on the meat, take a stiff spatula or burger press and smash down the onions and ground beef until it’s about ¼ inch thick. After only a minute or two, the burgers should have a nice crust on the bottom. At this point, flip the burgers over and then add on a slice of American-style cheese to each burger patty and then add on the top of your potato bun to one of the burger patties along with the heel of the bun. This is going to steam the bun and make it nice and soft.
After only a minute or when the cheese has started to melt, stack your burger patties together and then remove everything from the plancha. Once the Oklahoma onion burger has been removed from the plancha, you now have a couple of choices. You can eat it as is, or you can add on some mustard and pickles to amp up the flavor. This is what we recommend, and we know you’ll love it.
That’s it… Simple. Easy. Absolutely delicious!