I haven’t met too many people who don’t like a good hamburger from time to time. These days it seems like a lot of restaurants are trying all sorts of new ways to re-invent the burger and offer up lots of different toppings to suit even the pickiest of eaters. Two of the best burgers I have ever eaten were at the B & B Joint in Miami, Florida. Oh my goodness! My husband and I were there in 2011 celebrating our wedding anniversary on Surfside Beach. We tried the Hotel California and the Mustang Sally burgers and we split them so we could share. It was the first time I had ever had a sunny side up egg on my burger and it was AMAZING. If you like eggs and have never tried one on a burger, your missing out, for sure!

We also have a slight addiction to the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. Man, I could watch that show all day, except that it makes me so hungry. One night we were watching and saw a burger joint that made stuffed burgers. We just looked at each other and knew that we just had to try that. I mean, it makes total sense to load up the middle of a burger with all of your favorites.

Since we like things a little on the hot side around here, we stuff ours with cheese, these Pickled Habaneros that I posted a couple of days ago and these Zingy Pickles. If you are going to do the habaneros, it is imperative that you use the zingy pickles as well. The sweetness of the pickles blends amazing with the heat of the habaneros, to tone it down just a touch.

If you have the time to plan ahead, throw your ground beef into a bowl and mix in a generous amount of sea or Himalayan salt, pepper and some very finely minced garlic. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight in the fridge. This makes for the most flavorful burgers, whether you stuff them or not.

I have a kitchen scale and I use it to measure out the ground beef into roughly 1/4 pound sections. This makes for a nice size burger and enough meat to make a patty big enough for all the stuffing. If you don’t have a scale, just try to eyeball it so that you get each section about the same size. When I make these, I usually buy a large amount of beef and make quite a few at once and then freeze what I don’t need for that one night’s dinner.

Take one section and squeeze it in half. Flatten one half with your hand. You don’t want this so thin that it will rip, but you want it to be a good size too. Just flatten with one hand while you push up on the sides with the other hand to create a small lip around the sides of the beef.

Then you are just going to top with your favorite cheese and whatever toppings you love the most on your burger. The possibilities are endless. This one has cheddar/jack, pickled habaneros and zingy pickles.

Then you just flatten out the other section of beef so that it is as big around as the first one. Lay it over the top of that one and press down the edges so that they are sealed. Then I usually pick it up in one hand and just pinch the edges together to make sure that they are completely sealed up. You don’t want to lose any of the good stuff when you throw these on the grill. Also, if you make a small indention in the middle of the top of a burger before you grill it, you won’t end up with a bubble burger, it will stay in the same shape and not swell up.

Once they are all stuffed and sealed up, then just cook them on the grill. Because the middle of the burger is stuffed, these do not take as long to cook as a regular burger. The stuffing keeps them super moist all the way through.

Every bite is amazing and full of flavor. The next time I am adding bacon to the middle and a sunny side up egg on the top! Mmmmmmm…..It’s making me hungry just thinking about it.

I encourage you to take the extra time the next time you make burgers to try them like this. I promise your gonna love it and you may not want to go back to a boring old burger again!