Build A Better Burger With 16 Ingredients Or Less

The Sutter Home’s Build a Better Burger ® Contest is a popular burger contest and annual cook-off where contestants enter their favorite burger recipes in the hope of winning a fabulous $100,000 top prize. Over the years, winning burger recipes have included all kinds of weird and wonderful ingredients ranging from banana duck chutney to shitake mushroom ketchup, and for the amateur cook, many of them were so complicated that recreating the complex flavor seemed impossible. So can you build a better burger with sixteen ingredients or less?

Apparently yes, since at least some of the finalists over the years have won the grand prize with recipes containing sixteen ingredients or less, so it just goes to prove that when it comes to creating a truly mouth watering burger, simplicity is sometimes the best way forward.

Why bother making my own burgers?

Burgers are a staple food for outdoor grills and barbecues. It is easy enough to buy a ready made pack of burgers from the local grocery store and they come in all different sizes and flavors, from plain beef hamburgers to low fat chicken burgers. You can choose from fresh burgers or frozen burgers, and in most cases the end result will be tasty, but if you want a burger with a better flavor, the best approach is to create your own home made burger.

How do I make my own burger?

To make a truly memorable burger, you need to employ lots of creativity. You might get lucky first time around and produce a burger so delicious that everyone who tastes it is blown away, but this is unlikely, and besides, unless you write down every stage in the recipe, you will probably be unable to recreate it for the Build a Better Burger Competition anyway!

So before you start experimenting with ingredients, have a pen and paper to hand and write down exactly what you do at each stage in the process. You should also make a note of the exact quantities you use of each of the ingredients because even a slight fluctuation could make a big difference to the end flavor of your burger.

Overly complicated is not what the judges of the Build a Better Burger are looking for, so try and stick to the rule “simple is better”. The judges are looking for recipes made from organic and sustainable ingredients and although you are free to use whatever you like, this will be the benchmark they look at when awarding prizes.

Help – I have no idea where to begin!

Get your thinking cap on and those creative juices flowing. Inspiration can come from any number of different places—perhaps your family comes from a specific ethnic background or you enjoy traveling to a particular place every year? Maybe you can use these ideas as a starting point for creating a new burger recipe?

In the past, winning contestants have produced all kinds of inspired burger recipes using ingredients that were locally sourced or highlighted the area of the country they lived in, but the world is your oyster, so if you have a fondness for Chinese food for example, use the flavors you love to produce an exciting and memorable burger.

Once you have an idea, gather some ingredients together and try combining them into a meat pattie. Make a note of what works and what doesn’t and keep going until you end up with a recipe you feel might be worthy of an entry to the contest. And since you can enter as many times as you like, keep trying!

What are the categories I can enter?

The main category of the contest is the beef burger, although there is now a separate contest for those who wish to create an alternative burger. The main ingredient must be beef (or ground alternatives), but this can be mixed with other ingredients, including ketchups, pickles, sauces, cheeses, and any combination of condiments, before being placed on or in a bread of your choice. The ingredients used must be readily available in grocery stores, specialty stores and/or farmer’s markets and it should be possible for other people to be able to recreate your recipe.

Since you will have to submit your recipe as a list of ingredients followed by step by step instructions, you must be very careful to ensure the recipe is not overly complicated, which is why it is a good idea to try and stick to sixteen ingredients or less. You will also need to include the cooking method and time required to cook the burger, plus what type of grill you used.

In the past, winning burger recipes have had all kinds of flavors from around the world, but it is not necessary to go looking for the most exotic ingredients you can find if you want to win—sometimes home-grown flavors are just as agreeable, so do not be afraid to try making a prize winning burger using local ingredients from the stores in your area. The winning burger will wow the judges with its flavor, not how many ingredients it contains, and because the judges prefer recipes that are simple to make, less is definitely more.

Do I need to be an experienced cook to stand a chance of winning the contest?

No, you do not. Lots of previous winners of the Build a Better Burger Contest have been aspiring amateur cooks who simply loved food and wanted to share their recipes with the wider world. The only quality you need to win the top prize is a passion for good food and a willingness to experiment with innovative ingredients and new flavors.

So get your apron on and start creating a prize winning burger. It might take a lot of practice before you produce a burger recipe you are proud of, but in the meantime, you can have plenty of fun experimenting with new ingredients and recipes, and your friends and family can enjoy eating all of your exciting burgers!