This really is the easiest way to make hamburgers. I’ll grill them in the summertime, otherwise I will forevermore do this!
The Easiest Way to Make Hamburgers
Short answer: Bake them.
Not because we’re afraid to fry them. But because we don’t want to stand at the stove to fry them. It’s messy. It takes maintenance. We don’t have time to maintain our patties, am I right? The patties must maintain themselves.
I love buying a package of hamburger patties at Costco. I set them out all afternoon and they are semi-thawed by 4ish. I cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper and place the partially thawed patties on the pan.
I bake them at 350 for about an hour. If I remember, I flip them all over halfway through their baking time. But if I don’t, I don’t. Why? Because we don’t have time to maintain our patties. Our patties must maintain themselves.
Now. My pictures are ugly. These patties do not look done, but they are done and you’ll be able to tell that your patties are done with they are sizzly and brown.
Right out of the oven, I put some sliced cheese on the hot patties for those who prefer cheeseburgers. Some in my family like Colby jack. Some like pepper jack. I like mine cheeseless.
Dinner is served with burger fixins, fries in our air fryer, carrot sticks, pickles, and baked beans.
Leftover patties (if there are any) warm up quickly for lunches, and I’ve been known to pull one out of the fridge and eat it cold when I simply need sustenance. Apparently, not only do I have time to maintain my patties, but I barely have time to maintain myself. So a cold leftover burger patty fills my belly. With a glass of this, of course. :)
Yes! I love doing burgers in the oven. Last night I slid my broiler pan in the oven and then a cast iron skillet of bacon on the rack below for bacon burgers. Yum! My broiler pan has a grill rack with it so the fat drains through as they cook.
I kind of worry that you are having to just grab a cold burger and a cold smoothie. I would come over regularly and help with the dishes if we lived nearby. Will this be your routine for as far as the eye can see? I hope that you and Matt can have a date twice a month. And try really hard to not talk about the children. When I was first out of college I worked in a group home for kids who had been removed from their parents custody. I supervised/cooked/shopped/explained puberty to a dozen 10-12 year olds. Best time ever. But I had time off. haha
You are so caring and sweet! We really are hanging in there and we know our days won’t always be this full/challenging. I do eat on the fly most days but that’s just because we have four under three right now. I’m working to sync up their afternoon naps which gives me time to actually SIT in the quiet and actually eat/drink, ha!
Trying to cut cost where I can, is the parchment paper necessary? I’m guessing it absorbs grease…
You can skip it! I just find that it makes clean up so much easier!