Blue cheese burger
Serves: 4
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Ant Duncan
Blue cheese burger
Plump homemade beefburgers with cranberry sauce, blue cheese and crispy onions. Best eaten in your comfiest pyjamas, with sweet potato fries on the side
Serves: 4
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
774Kcal
Fat
47gr
Saturates
18gr
Carbs
44gr
Sugars
14gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
41gr
Salt
2.2gr
Esther Clark
Esther is a food writer and stylist based in London. Prior to becoming a writer, she worked as a chef on a farm in rural Tuscany before eating her way around the rest of Italy. At home she doodles little food illustrations and loves to eat crispy roast chicken, sandwiches stuffed with pickles and scoops of creamy pistachio gelato.
See more of Esther Clark’s recipes
Esther Clark
Esther is a food writer and stylist based in London. Prior to becoming a writer, she worked as a chef on a farm in rural Tuscany before eating her way around the rest of Italy. At home she doodles little food illustrations and loves to eat crispy roast chicken, sandwiches stuffed with pickles and scoops of creamy pistachio gelato.
See more of Esther Clark’s recipes
Ingredients
- 20g unsalted butter
- 1 large echalion shallot, finely chopped
- 4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, very finely chopped
- 1 x 500g pack 12% fat beef mince
- 40g fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tsp English mustard
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
For the blue cheese sauce
- 85g Stilton or other blue cheese, crumbled
- 60g buttermilk or natural yogurt
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
To serve
- 4 brioche burger buns, halved
- 4 tbsp cranberry sauce
- 30g rocket
- 1 head red or white chicory, shredded (optional)
- a handful of crispy fried onions
Step by step
Get ahead
Make the beef patties up to 24 hours ahead and chill.
- Melt the butter in a small frying pan, add the shallot and fry gently for 5 minutes or until starting to soften. Increase the heat, add the bacon and fry for 3 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown. Set aside to cool a little.
- Put the beef mince in a large mixing bowl with the breadcrumbs, egg yolk, mustard, pepper and a pinch of salt as well as the shallot and bacon mixture. Squish everything together vigorously with your hands for around 5 minutes. The longer you work the meat, the juicier the texture of the final burger, but avoid using a food processor as this will overprocess the meat. Form into 4 even-sized patties, cover and chill for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the blue cheese sauce. Crumble the Stilton into a small mixing bowl and mash in the buttermilk and mayonnaise to give a thick, creamy sauce. Stir in the chives and season with black pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C, fan 200°C, gas 7. Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the patties and fry for 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer to a baking tray and pop in the oven to finish cooking for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside to rest, covered in foil, for a further 5 minutes.
- Toast the cut sides of each burger bun. Top the bun bases with a spoonful of cranberry sauce, the burgers, a dollop of blue cheese sauce, rocket and shredded chicory, if using. Finish with crispy fried onions, and add the bun lids. Be sure to have some napkins at hand!
