Every year, in El Reno, Oklahoma, they hold the Fried Onion Burger Festival; they’ve been cooking up their special recipe burgers for nigh onto fifty years or more. Local favorites include Robert’s Grill.
I had a fancy to whip some up at home recently, with mixed results.
In Oklahoma, a handful of fresh ground is placed on a flattop, smashed, smother with onions, and cooked until crispy. That was my intent as well.
I started with freshly sliced white onions, sweated in butter in a cast iron skillet, and took a course ground 1/4 pound of 85/15 and smashed it on the onions.
I over cooked them, intentionally, trying to get the crispy edges and crust that the Okie burger purveyors serve up, but wasn’t successful. I dressed them with mustard and house made pickles, and achieved a close proximity to the OK version. I think a hotter skillet from the onset would have made the difference. Very tasty, nonetheless!
fried onion burger recipe