The Briny Lemon: Onion-Stuffed Burgers with Blue Cheese Spread

Give your next burgers a different kind of cheesy experience with a deliciously rich, slightly tangy blue cheese spread. It’s simple and quick to make—and dresses up these juicy burgers in style.

While you’re at it, skip the onion slices, but mix chopped red onion and chives into the meat before forming the patties, then let them chill for half an hour in the fridge. This helps everything hold together during cooking—and allows the beef to absorb all that great oniony flavor even before hitting the heat.

Makes 3 burgers

Ingredients

1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 small garlic clove, chopped
2 tbsp light mayonnaise
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 lb ground sirloin
1-1/2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1-1/2 tbsp finely chopped chives
1/4 tsp dried red chile flakes
olive oil, for rubbing the grill grate
3 whole-wheat sandwich buns, lightly toasted
tomato slices and dill pickles, for serving

Burger Ingredients

Preparation

Place the blue cheese, garlic, sour cream, mayonnaise, and lemon juice in a mini food processor and season with salt and pepper. Process, scraping down the sides a few times, until the spread is chunky-smooth.
Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Blue Cheese Spread

Place the ground beef, onion, chives, and chile flakes in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Mix gently to combine. Divide the mixture into 3 equal patties, about 1-inch thick. Place on a plate and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Light a grill for medium heat with space for off-heat grilling.
Rub the grill grate with oil and grill the burgers until cooked through, turning 2 or 3 times, for a total of 12 minutes, moving off-heat as needed if flare-ups occur. Transfer to a plate or board and let rest 3 minutes.
Spread both sides of the buns with the blue cheese spread and place the burgers on the bottom halves. Top with tomato slices and pickles (or serve pickles on the side).