Don't Mess Up Your Burgers With This Common Seasoning Mistake

D3sign/Getty Images

While most of us love a sizzling and juicy burger, making it at home and ensuring that it has a good balance of flavor can get a bit tricky. There's a common mistake that many fall prey to — going overboard with your seasonings.

A good burger only requires a few carefully chosen seasonings that will make the flavor of your meat shine without overpowering it. For instance, Nicole Johnson, the recipe developer and founder of OrWhateverYouDo.com, told the The Takeout that "A course-ground SPG is really all you need." SPG, aka salt, pepper, and garlic is a seasoning blend that's simple but still infuses a savory, spicy, and umami flavor into your burger, especially if you're working with a meat like beef that really doesn't require a lot of flavoring. You can tweak this to your liking, but it's a good idea to stick to equal parts of each of the three seasonings for a quarter pound patty.

You can use other spices based on your preference, however, the trick is to pick a few but pick well. If you like your burgers spicy, try adding red pepper flakes with the salt, pepper, and garlic. Or, use salt and pepper but swap the garlic with some basil or oregano for a herbaceous note. And if you're in doubt, pick one store-bought spice blend that you like and use it as is. The trick here is to not bombard the patty, use flavors you like and let the meat shine.

Yalcin Sonat/Shutterstock

When picking your spices, consider the meat that you're using and what will pair best with it too. Salt, pepper, and garlic is a good baseline, but take beef for instance; it can do with a bit of brightness from fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme. Similarly, lamb and mint are a match made in heaven, whereas vegetarian burgers don't have to be bland and can go well with savory spices like cumin or chili powder. It's a good idea to experiment with three or four different seasonings at a time and see what combination you like — just be careful not to overcomplicate it by choosing every spice under the sun at once.

Making a good burger isn't just about the choice of seasonings and their ratios, it's about the timing as well. You can sprinkle the spices directly into your meat before shaping the patties (and doing so can make the flavors blend more evenly too), but there is a downside. The salt you use can make the meat lose its moisture if added too early, resulting in burgers that are dry and dense. The best way to go about it is to sprinkle in your seasonings after you've made the patty — and before you cook it. This way, you'll still get the flavors from the seasoning without compromising the meat's texture. 

Mashed and The Takeout are both owned by Static Media.