Pub Burgers with Beer Cheese
These griddle pub burgers are made with a homemade beer cheese sauce, caramelized onions, and a simple garlic mayo burger sauce. Serve your thick pub burger on a toasted pretzel bun and enjoy!
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
For the Beer Cheese:
- ½ stick unsalted butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup whole milk or half & half
- ⅔ cup beer
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 4 oz pepper jack cheese
- 4 oz white cheddar cheese
- 12 oz sharp cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Pub Burger Sauce:
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Pub Burgers:
- 2 lbs ground chuck or substitute a blend of ground ribeye and ground beef short rib
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- burger seasoning of your choice
- pretzel hamburger buns
Instructions
For the Beer Cheese:
- Freshly grate the block cheeses using the large holes of a box grater. Set cheeses to the side. *Note - Packaged pre-shredded cheeses are not recommended for this recipe.
- Heat butter in a medium sauce pan until melted. Add flour and whisk together well to make a blonde roux. Allow the roux to cook until it just starts to bubble, about 3 minutes.
- Slowly add milk to the blonde roux, whisking continuously. When all of the milk has been added, slowly whisk in the beer. Allow the mixture to heat in the saucepan for about 2 to 3 minutes, whisking often.
- Add cayenne pepper, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk well and allow to heat until slightly thickened.
- Turn the heat to low (or remove pan from the heat) before adding cheeses. If you add the cheese when the mixture is too hot, the cheese dip is more likely to become grainy. Add the shredded cheese and whisk until all the cheese is melted and the dip has a smooth consistency.
- Allow the beer cheese to cool down, and then transfer to a food storage container. Refrigerate beer cheese overnight.
For the Pub Burger Sauce:
- Add all sauce ingredients to a small bowl and mix until well combined. Set to the side.
To Make the Pub Burgers:
- Preheat griddle on low to medium low until griddle temp reaches about 400-425°F.
- Saute sliced onions on the griddle until well caramelized. When onions are done cooking, move them to the side of the griddle to keep warm.
- Remove beer cheese from the fridge and cut into slices/chunks.
- Form ground beef into 4 equally sized thick patties, about 8 oz each. Season both sides of each burger patty with your favorite burger seasoning.
- Place the burger patties on the hot zone of the griddle and allow to cook untouched on the first side until about halfway cooked through. Then flip burgers to the second side and immediately add beer cheese to the top of each burger. Place pretzel buns on the griddle cut side down to toast.
- Allow the pub burgers to cook until done to your liking. The beer cheese will heat and melt as your burgers cook, but you can also cover the burgers with a melting dome to help speed up the process.
- Remove burgers and buns from the griddle. Assemble pub burgers by adding some of the burger sauce to the bun, top with caramelized onions, and add the pub burger with the beer cheese. Serve warm.
Video
Notes
- I used a mixture of pepper jack, white cheddar, sharp cheddar, and gruyere cheeses, but to help keep the costs down, you can just use a sharp cheddar if you wish.
- This recipe yields about 4 cups of beer cheese dip, much more than enough for 4 burgers. You may store cheese dip covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, add to a sauce pan and heat over medium low heat, stirring frequently until dip is a melted to a smooth consistency.