The Oklahoma Onion Burger – How the Burger Pros Make It!

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The Oklahoma Onion Burger, sometimes called the Okie burger or simply a fried onion burger, is piled high with thinly sliced onions and smashed in a skillet or on a griddle.  And it is dang delicious!  Learn how to make classic Oklahoma fried onion burgers at home!

Our Favorite Fried Onion Burgers EVER…

We’ve made many fried onion burgers in the past.  But it wasn’t until recently on our griddle cooking YouTube channel that we began researching the origins of the infamous Oklahoma Onion Burger to pay homage to the classic and learn from the masters that have perfected this simple griddled burger with thinly sliced onions.

So, naturally, when we visited New York City, we had to pay a visit to one of the most famous onion burger restaurants in the US, Hamburger America.  And imagine my surprise when I walked in the door to find the burger scholar himself, George Motz, cooking onion burgers on the griddle in the open kitchen.

I stood there fangirl-ing and studying his perfected burger smash technique as he expertly crafted fried onion burger after fried onion burger for the long line of hungry patrons.

And when our onion burgers were delivered to our table, from the very first bite it’s easy to see why The New York Times called Mr. Motz the “foremost authority on hamburgers”.

The fried onion burgers were perfectly cooked with perfectly caramelized onions, perfectly melted American cheese, and a perfectly steamed bun.  The classic burger was simply perfect.  And even though I fancy myself somewhat of a smash burger connoisseur, having made hundreds of griddle smash burgers over the years, I must say – the George Motz Fried Onion Burger was better.

So of course, I had to come straight home and work on perfecting my own homemade griddle onion burgers.  And in this post, I’m sharing everything I’ve learned and my best tips for making Oklahoma Onion Burgers at home…

What is an Oklahoma Onion Burger?

An Oklahoma Onion Burger is simply a hamburger cooked with sliced onions.  It was first developed during the Great Depression when owner Homer Davis and his son Ross Davis of Hamburger Inn in El Reno, Oklahoma, started smashing sliced onions into their hamburger patties to help with food costs.  At the time, ground beef was expensive but onions were more affordable, so the onions acted as a “filler” and helped the restaurants’ bottom line.  

The “depression burger” was so popular that other Western Oklahoma restaurants began adding similar hamburgers to their menus, and the Oklahoma Fried Onion Burger was born.  To this day, other El Reno onion burger restaurants like Sid’s Diner carry on the tradition, and the small Oklahoma town even has a “Fried Onion Burger Day”.

Now, the modern fried onion burger typically includes simple ingredients – one or two beef patties, a simple hamburger seasoning of salt and black pepper, lots of onions, a slice of cheese, and a steamed or toasted hamburger bun.

And although this no-frills burger may sound simple, the flavor is extraordinary.  The onions help to flavor the beef, and the beef fat helps to cook the fried onions, so smashing the two together really is the perfect marriage of ingredients.

More of a visual learner? Watch me make the iconic fried onion burger, aka Oklahoma Onion Burger, on our griddle cooking YouTube channel:

What You Need to Make the BEST Oklahoma Onion Burger

Ingredients

The ingredients for an Oklahoma Onion Burger are few and simple, making this burger a good cheap option for feeding a crowd.  Here’s what you need:

• ground beef – We used 80/20 ground chuck because the extra fat helps to keep the burger moist and it also flavors the onions.
• thinly sliced white or yellow onions
• simple burger seasoning – Either salt only or salt and black pepper, depending on who you ask.
• slices of American cheese – Optional, but delicious!
• hamburger buns – The Martin’s Potato Rolls are recommended, but they can be difficult to find in certain areas of the country, so use your favorite burger buns.
• optional toppings – The most popular toppings for onion burgers include dill pickles and yellow mustard.

Cooking Tools

The fried onion burger is traditionally cooked on a hot griddle, but you can also make it in a large skillet on your stovetop, or even on a charcoal grill with a cast iron griddle set on top of the grates.

You will also need some sort of burger smasher, whether it’s a very stiff spatula or a burger press.  If you’re a griddle owner, then you probably already have this in your arsenal of griddle accessories.

How to Make an Oklahoma Onion Burger

After making tons of fried onion burgers, and watching the burger masters make them in person, I can confidently say that this is the best way to make an Oklahoma Onion Burger:

Step 1: Preheat your griddle or skillet.

Turn your burners on to medium-high and allow your griddle or skillet to heat up.  No need to add any oil or butter, because there is plenty of fat in the ground beef.  For the best onion burgers, you’ll want your cooking surface to be about 400-450°F before adding the ground beef.

Step 2: Prep your ingredients.

Before you start making these awesome griddle burgers, you’ll need to slice the onions and portion out your ground beef into balls.

You have three different options for slicing onions super thin: using a mandolin, using a meat slicer, or slicing the onions by hand with a knife.  

As expected, I was able to get the thinnest onion slices using my meat slicer, but most people don’t have a commercial-quality slicer in their kitchen.  An inexpensive mandoline on the thinnest setting also yielded paper thin onion slices.  And, of course, using a kitchen knife and slicing the onions as thin as you can by hand is also an option.

*Chef’s Tip – If you don’t have a mandoline and you’re not comfortable making super thin slices by hand, then pre-cook your onions on your flat top until they’re about halfway done.  Then, you can smash your ground beef balls into the sautéed onions and you don’t have to worry about the onions not cooking enough before the beef is done.

Next, form beef into 3.5-4 oz balls.  The fried onion burgers that we had at Hamburger America were not quite as thin as the smash burgers that we typically make on the flat top griddle, so I used slightly more ground beef than my normal 3 oz balls.  If you don’t have a kitchen scale, then you can use a 1/3 cup measuring cup, fairly tightly packed, to portion out the hamburger meat.

Step 3: Cook the Oklahoma Onion Burgers.

Next, place the beef balls on the pre-heated griddle or in the hot skillet and top with a big handful of sliced onions like this:

*TIP – Be sure to space out your burger balls enough so that when you smash them down, they have plenty of room to cook and you have space to slide the spatula underneath to flip them.

Sprinkle on salt or salt and black pepper.  Then, use a burger smasher to smash the meat into patties that are about 1/4-1/3″ thick like this:

Step 4: Flip the Onion Burgers and Steam or Toast the Buns.

When the outside edges of the onions are starting to caramelize and brown, then it’s time to flip the burgers to the second side.  Use a griddle spatula to scrape underneath the burger crust and flip the burgers to the second side to continue to cook, so now the onion side of the burger is in contact with the cooking surface.

Immediately after flipping, place a slice of American cheese on top of each patty (if you’re making cheeseburgers).  

Then, place the top and bottom buns, cut side down, stacked on top of the burger patty on the griddle.  This helps to steam the buns, which is a must in my book of how to make the best burgers.  As the grease and moisture from the beef and onions rises, it gets soaked into the hamburger buns, creating perfectly steamed buns like this:

Some people also choose to toast the buns.  To do so, just transfer the steamed buns to the hot griddle surface cut side down to toast after steaming.  Experiment with both methods to see which you like best, but definitely don’t just add your perfectly cooked burgers to cold hamburger buns right out of the package.

Step 5: Build your Oklahoma Onion Burger with your favorite toppings.

When the burger patties are cooked through and the onions are nice and caramelized, it’s time to plate your burgers. Just use your spatula to take the patty with the bottom bun off the griddle and transfer to your plate.  Then add on the top hamburger bun.

As far as toppings go, I would recommend just yellow mustard and dill pickles only.  Or you could even enjoy your perfectly cooked burger without toppings since they’re so juicy and flavorful.

Since the onion burgers are on the thinner side, I prefer stacking two patties on top of each other for a double onion burger like this:

Or for a more classic Oklahoma Onion Burger, just opt for a single patty and wrap your burger in deli paper to keep warm and to further steam the bun like this:

Either way, this classic Oklahoma fried onion burger is a must-make for any burger fan!

Want to watch me cook this onion burger? Visit my YouTube Channel! Or go ahead and print the recipe down below: