Juicy and full of flavor, this blue cheese hamburger recipe comes from the Silver Spur Ranch. It’s Cowboy approved and mouthwateringly delicious. Adding Cholula, Worcestershire and blue cheese to ground beef before cooking truly elevates your burger game.
What Are Blue Cheeseburgers?
A blue cheese burger is simply a cheeseburger that features blue cheese for the cheesy element, rather than traditional American or cheddar cheese. Blue cheese brings a tangy pungent flavor to a ground beef patty.
What Makes This Blue Cheeseburger Better?
Cheeseburgers are my all time favorite food, and I’ve made a crazy amount of them over my cooking years. I know my burgers. Here’s why I like this version and why I think you’ll agree. It’s all about Blue Cheese Burgers mixed in vs. stuffed or topped.
- Blue Cheese Burgers With Cheese Mixed In: So many recipes I see call for sprinkling blue cheese on top of the cooked burger patty, or using blue cheese dressing as a topping … and call it a day. I guess you could call that a blue cheese hamburger, but for this recipe, the cheese lives inside the burger patty. Melted through. Every bite you take you’ll find blue cheese flavor. And no cheese crumbles sliding off into your lap.
- Mixed not stuffed: The blue cheese is crumbled and mixed into the ground beef, rather than trying to make a pocket in the beef patty and stuffing it with blue cheese. This makes an easier burger patty to prepare and distributes the blue cheese flavor evenly throughout the burger.
- Texture: When you fold blue cheese directly into the ground beef, everything evens out. The fat in the cheese melts and the cheese softens. The beef picks up that famous blue cheese flavor without overpowering. The texture of the burger stays tender and juicy. Almost plush.
- Seasonings: This burger recipe adds Worcestershire Sauce, dry mustard and a kick of heat from Cholula sauce. These are very complimentary additions that add some zest to the flavor.
Let’s take a look:
Table of contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
As far as the ingredients for these recipe, let’s just say this lineup makes for one of the most mouthwatering burgers you’ll ever taste.
- What meat works Best For Blue Cheese Burgers? 80-20 blend ground beef: Fat equals flavor. It may sound like a high fat content, but most of the fat renders out during the cooking process. 20% fat content will give you a moist juicy hamburger. And grass fed beef is always a healthier option. (source Webmd) Ground Chuck is also a very popular choice for any burger.
- Blue Cheese: With a texture like butter and rich in aroma and flavor, blue cheese adds a spicy piquancy to ground beef. It’s a delicious combination.
- Hot Sauce: Adds just enough spice to get your attention, but not to over-power. Use your favorite. I like Cholula, a rich, bold and medium heat sauce. Tabasco sauce would also be a good choice here.
- Worcestershire Sauce: My very favorite ingredient in this recipe. Savory, sweet and with a distinct tang, it really ramps up and compliments the flavor.
- Dry Mustard: My 2nd favorite ingredient in this recipe. Dry mustard adds a tangy heat. Clean with a fresh aroma and sharp flavor, it’s a perfect partner for ground beef and blue cheese.
What Are The Best Buns for Cheese Burgers?
Choose a regular hamburger bun that's soft, sturdy and flavorful. No need to go gourmet here. Tip: I discourage the use of Brioche buns simply because they are too soft, too sweet, and that high butter and sugar content can lead to a soggy bun that will fall apart under the weight of a juicy burger.
What’s The Best Blue Cheese For Burgers?
Blue cheese can be slow to melt, so how do you choose the best blue cheese for burgers?
Let’s talk creamy. Purchase a wedge of blue cheese in the gourmet cheese section at your store. Here are some creamy blue cheese options.
- Award Winning Point Reyes Blue Cheese is my absolute favorite blue cheese on earth. Creamy and bold in flavor, it’s perfect for melting into these burgers.
- Maytag blue cheese is also a quality choice. Maytag blue cheese is produced in Iowa and is a cow’s milk cheese with exceptional blue cheese flavor and creamy texture.
- Stilton Cheese: Stilton is an English semi-soft, crumbly and creamy. With a bold rich flavor it will bring a more intense and complex flavor to these burgers.
Purchasing blue cheese in a plastic container that’s already been crumbled can result in a dry textured blue cheese. Skip it, you’ll find these container cheeses won’t blend well with the hamburger meat and you’ll end up with a dry burger.
Steps To Make Blue Cheese Cheeseburgers!
Let’s get started.
- Step 1: How To Mix Blue Cheese Into Burgers. Grab a large bowl and add all of the ingredients. Use your (very clean) hands to blend the ground beef with the seasonings. Respect the meat! Culinary school drills it into you early. Don't manhandle it and don’t use a spoon or large utensil. Doing so will simply smash the ingredients together and cause the burgers to become too dense and mushy in texture. Pro Tip: Hands are your best tool here.
- Step 2: Form the meat into burger patties. Using your hands, gently form the meat mixture into six 6-ounce patties. Don’t over-work the meat, you want them to be just firm enough to hold together. We like ⅓ pound burgers, so due to the extra ingredients, each burger will weigh just over 6 ounces. Use a kitchen scale to weigh each chunk of meat before forming into patties. Cover the patties with plastic wrap and let them rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours or even over-night.
- Step 3: Cook the hamburgers. Using either an outdoor grill or cast iron skillet, either way cook time for the burgers is 5-6 minutes per side. Get the cooking surface nice and hot then add the hamburgers. After there’s a good sear on one side of the burger, turn heat down and cook 5 – 6 minutes. Only turning once, cook the other side of the burger for the same amount of time. Use a instant-read thermometer to insure the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Remove from heat, keep the burgers warm and tented while you toast the burger buns.
- Step 4: Toast the buns. Butter each bun with butter or mayo and cook butter side down until the buns are nice and toasty. Serve immediately.
Tips for Success
- Small Crumbles: Crumble the cheese as small as you have patience for. Large chunks of cheese may end up poking out from the patty and that cheese will burn easily. If you have an exposed chunk of blue cheese, press it gently back into the burger patty.
- Don’t over mix or over handle the ground beef mixture. Doing so will compact the meat and cause the patties to be dense and dry. Gently form the patties to where they are firm enough to stay together.
- Too much cheese: If you’re a blue cheese fanatic, don’t be tempted to add more. It may cause the burger patties to fall apart, the flavor balance will be “off”, cheese leaks and flames happen.
- Resting: Once cooked, let those burgers rest for a few minutes, tented with foil. This will help the juices to redistribute inside the burger patty, instead of running out when you take your first bite.
Toppings for Blue Cheese Cheeseburgers
These blue cheese burgers are so full of flavor it really doesn’t need much in the way of toppings, but here are some suggestions if you’re looking to jazz things up.
- Onions: Thin sliced rings of sweet onions or red onions work well here.
- Greens: Curly green leaf lettuce always makes a nice show on any burger, but don’t forget about peppery arugula for a different flavor profile. Place either on the bottom bun before adding the patty.
- Tomatoes: When in season, a slice of sweet fresh tomato is always a treat.
- Bacon: Add slices of cooked bacon on top and make these into bacon blue cheese burgers – no one can resist bacon. Yes please!
What Goes With Blue Cheese Burgers?
What immediately comes to mind as a perfect cheeseburger side dish? Fries! I’ve used frozen crinkle fries in my photos, but try my homemade Paprika Fries. Here’s some more seasonal recipes:
- Pineapple Coleslaw with Buttermilk with Jalapeno Buttermilk Dressing Creamy, sweet and spicy it's a perfect side dish for any Summer BBQ and you'll be amazed at how many people will ask you for the recipe.
- Old Fashioned Classic Potato Salad: Creamy with mayonnaise, tangy with mustard, crunchy with celery and onion, and with a surprise of green olives, this is an old-fashioned classic potato salad recipe.
- Salad: A simple tossed salad with a sharp acidic dressing is always a good choice for beef. My Red Wine Vinegar Salad Dressing is a popular choice here.
- And don’t forget about baked beans, a perfect side for any burger. Take a look at my recipe for BBQ Baked Beans On The Grill.
- Beverage: Beer-wise, reach for an IPA or a stout. Wine? A Big red like a Syrah or Malbec.
Storage
Did you cook too many burgers? I do on purpose, so I can have one for lunch the next day.
- Refrigerator: Store the cooked patties in an air tight container in the refrigerator, or wrapped in plastic wrap. Store toppings and buns separately.
- Freezer: You can freeze cooked or raw burger patties in the freezer for three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before cooking or reheating.
- Reheating: When ready to reheat, place the cooked burger meat in the microwave and heat in 30 second increments until hot. The 50% power feature is your best friend. A slower and gentler heat will keep that burger from drying out and you’ll avoid any high heat food explosions.
Questions You May Have
According to the USDA, the minimum safe temperature to serve ground beef is an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Though not recommended, 120-125 degrees for rare, 130 – 135 degrees, medium rare, 150 – 155 degrees for medium well, and well done = 160 – 165 degrees.
Yes! I always do and the recipe calls for making these at least two hours ahead of time. Simply mix ingredients and then shape the patties. Place them on a plate and cover with plastic wrap until ready to cook. You can do this the morning of, or even the day before.
“Bleu” is simply the French spelling for blue. If you want to make official Bleu Cheese Burgers, choose a French blue cheese. I can readily find it at my local Kroeger grocery store under the Murray’s Brand. I find it to be a softer bleu cheese with incredible flavor. It’s also more expensive.
These are pretty solid burger patties to begin with. But please don’t skip the rest in the refrigerator before cooking. Minimal handling while making the patties is also important. The heat from your hands can compromise a burger patty. Use the appropriate cheese to beef ratio called for in this recipe. Too much cheese can affect the texture of the patty.
Blue Cheese Burgers – Recipe
Grilled or pan fried, these blue cheese burgers are irresistibly amazing. It’s a burger recipe that showcases our Western culinary culture. And a recipe coming from a famous cattle ranch, I have no doubt these cowboys know their “burgers”. With the perfect ratio of blue cheese to ground beef, you’ve got a flavor that doesn’t over-power that beefy burger flavor. In short, you’ve got yourself a mighty fine tasting hamburger.
And don’t miss one of the most popular burger recipes on my site for Taco Burgers. A South of the Border version that the family will love. If you love unique burger recipes, don’t miss this one for Steak Sauce Burgers. A little heat from diced jalapeno and a savory kick from A-1 steak sauce is a wonderful combo of flavors for an exciting burger. Beef lover? You won’t want to miss my Beef Category. Lots of beefy goodness to browse.
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Blue Cheese Burgers, Juicy Burgers With Cheese Inside
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef 80-20 blend
- 3 ounces blue cheese crumbled
- ½ Cup chives fresh, diced
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce I like Cholula here
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 6 Hamburger buns toasted
Instructions
- In a large bowl, using very clean hands, gently mix ground beef, blue cheese, chives, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ground black pepper, salt and mustard.
- Form into 6 patties. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.
- Preheat grill, broiler or cast iron skillet. Cook burgers 5 – 6 minutes per side or until cooked to desired doneness. Serve on buttered and toasted buns.
Notes
- Award Winning Point Reyes Blue Cheese is my absolute favorite blue cheese on earth. Creamy and bold in flavor, it’s perfect for melting into these burgers.
- Maytag blue cheese is also a quality choice. Maytag blue cheese is produced in Iowa and is a cow’s milk cheese with exceptional blue cheese flavor and creamy texture.
- Stilton Cheese: Turn this blue cheese burger into a Stilton Burger. Stilton is an English semi-soft, crumbly and creamy. With a bold rich flavor it will bring a more intense and complex flavor to these burgers.
- Don’t over mix or over handle the ground beef mixture. Doing so will compact the meat and cause the patties to be dense and dry. Gently form the patties to where they are firm enough to stay together.
- Too much cheese: If you’re a blue cheese fanatic, don’t be tempted to add more. It may cause the burger patties to fall apart, the flavor balance will be “off”, cheese leaks and flames happen.
- Resting: Once cooked, let those burgers rest for a few minutes, tented with foil. This will help the juices to distribute inside the burger patty, instead of running out when you take your first bite.
Nutrition
Blue Cheeseburgers … It’s what’s for Dinner
This recipe was first published February 2012 and republished February 2021 to include step by step instructions.
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
Oh, my that does sound wonderful. And here I am… should be in the kitchen starting dinner and nothing I’m going to make tonite is going to be as good as that hamburger. Love bleu cheese!
That burger was great Karen. You’re such a good cook, I’m sure what ever you whip up will be delicious. 🙂
I was thinking to myself “Lea Ann certainly can’t be grilling” and then you answered my thoughts. I sometimes like a burger that has been cooked in a skillet. It adds a certain taste that brings back memories of some great burgers that I have had in a diner. I’ll try Maytag on the next burger. Mine will have to be in a skillet as well.
We had 10 more inches of snow a couple of days ago, I probably won’t be grilling until April.
Karen, my cast iron seers a really nice burger. But I do prefer grilling weather. 🙂
That is one delicious looking plate!
Thanks Mary
Thanks Mary.
I can never really tell the difference between blue cheese and gorgonzola…but I bet either would be delicious in these burgers! THey sound pretty awesome.
Seems like the brands of gorgonzola I’ve had have a stronger flavor than blue cheese. Maybe because I always pick up Maytag, which is a mild blue.
I’ve made them with Stilton and loved them….so I bet these would be excellent. Maytag is a tad less strong than Stilton, but still sounds wonderful.
I remember having my first blue cheese type burger back in Michigan in the 60’s…believe it or not….in an funky little burger joint that was in in a railroad station and had trains circling the ceiling.
That’s amazing Barbara. Maybe one of the guys back in the 60’s used to work on the Silver Spur Ranch. 🙂
I like all your posts, Lea Ann, but this one really hit me in my sweet spot. I need to make these!
Thanks Drew. 🙂
I love blue cheeseburgers and this one looks delicious. What caught my eye, though was the sauce extravaganza sitting in the background. Those ingredients are some of my favorite flavors. Now I can’t wait to sprinkle Aleppo on some Meyer Lemon Aioli . . . just can’t get enough of those salty little pepper flakes! (thanks for sharing those) LOL about the Arctic Circle. Dog Days of Winter up here, too.
I really liked that sauce Vickie. Seemed perfect with those fries. I’m in love with that aleppo. Yes, salty and so rich in color and flavor.
Love blue cheese burgers and wow! Yours look and sound so good.
Are we sure it’s not bleu ?
::::wadding up a little foil Dove candy wrapper and bouncing it off your head. 🙂
WOW! I’ve never mixed blue cheese in the meat. I bet they taste amazing with the addition of the spices and the marinading time. Will definitely be trying this recipe on our next hamburger night. And I LOVE sweet potato fries. YUM!
Yvette, going forward this is my go-to burger recipe.
I’ve never met a burger I didn’t love!!! YUM!
I sometimes think that too Jenn. 🙂
I love a good burger and these have my mouth wateing. There is nothing like the salty tang of blue cheese with a little heat from some hot sauce. Love this combination.
I’ve had a couple of blue cheeseburgers and some I thought were wonderful and others I thought were too rich and tasted fatty. I bet it had to do with what kind of blue cheese they used. I’m so glad you brought that up. It explains it.
Love your presentation. I’ll have to look into the fries. I clicked over to see more and they sound very interesting. I’m going to keep my eye out for them.
Sam
The two blue cheeseburgers I’ve had were pre-made patties from Whole Foods. Didn’t like them, I’ll have to ask next time I’m in there what kind of cheese they use. Those fries are really good Sam. Yesterday, I bought three more of their products.
Lea Ann that is a really good looking burger!
Thanks Bo
Wow! These look incredible. I love blue cheese and to mix it all and the sauce and fries… we will be doing these soon and I will let you know what we think! Love it!
Thanks RaeDi. Hope you enjoy them.
Chris, I did jump on that plate and devour! 🙂 After this, I’m a blue cheese burger cheerleader.
Lean Ann! That looks ridiculously great! I want to jump on that plate and devour the burger. The only blue cheese burgers that I haven’t liked is when the cheese is only put on top as crumbles. When it is stuffed inside or added to the burger mix, I love it.
While your picture is very good, as always, it doesn’t seem to do justice to a meal with this name – Blue cheese burgers with Spicy Chipotle Sweet Potato fries, Meyer lemon and Cholula Aoili, and sprinkled with lemon zest and Aleppo pepper. I love all these and will definitely have to try them all. Have some burger thawing as I write.
Wow, makes me hungry just reading your comment! 🙂 I agree, these are a few of my favorite things. The burger was so good it needed no condiment. Maybe a pretty leaf of lettuce might have spruced it up, but really not needed. And those smeared in butter and toasted buns! OMG
I’m on the Aleppo pepper bandwagon lately. I swear it gets sprinkled onto anything that isn’t moving! As always, enjoy your comments Larry.
Yum! I don’t know that I have had a blue cheese burger before, but they sound amazing! I also love Alexia fries … especially the sweet potato ones!
I’ve only had a couple and didn’t like them until this one. Thanks Jane, and let me know if you try it.
I own this cookbook, too and always put blue cheese on my burger. Guess what’s for dinner tonight? Thanks, Lea Ann!
I have to admit, the only blue cheese burgers I’ve had have been pre-made patties from Whole Foods. I just think they must really over due it on the blue cheese, and it turned me off. After having these, I’ll be putting blue cheese in every single burger I make! Loved them.
Oh yeah. Seriously? My mouth is totally watering just looking at the photo. They sound amazing. We’re due for a burger night around here…and I’m totally making these.
I haven’t had a burger since probably October, man were these good!