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Cheesy Smashed Burgers

Cheesy Smashed Burgers

with Old Bay Fries, Caramelized Onion & Special Sauce
4.5(21.7K)4532 Reviews
Sara Heilman
Sara HeilmanUpdated on July 09, 2026
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Calories
1080 kcal
Protein
37g protein
Total
35 minutes
Difficulty
Medium
Allergens:
  • Eggs
  • Milk
  • Soy
  • Wheat

These burgers are sure to be a smash hit. The secret is all in the texture—the crispy, craggy edges, achieved when balls of ground beef are pressed down in a hot pan with a spatula to create super-thin, crispy burgers. Topped with gooey white cheddar, the patties are sandwiched between potato buns with caramelized onion and a homemade special sauce that’s also perfect for pairing with Old Bay fries on the side—and will elicit major “oohs” and “ahhs” from your dining companions.

Produced in a facility that processes eggs, milk, fish, peanuts, sesame, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat.
Serving amount

1 unit

Yellow Onion

12 ounce

Potatoes

1 unit

OLD BAY® Seasoning

2 tablespoon

Mayonnaise

(Contains: Eggs)

1 unit

Ketchup

2 teaspoon

Dijon Mustard

10 ounce

Ground Beef

½ cup

White Cheddar Cheese

(Contains: Milk)

2 unit

Potato Buns

(Contains: Milk, Eggs, Soy, Wheat)

Not included in your delivery

Salt

Pepper

4 teaspoon

Cooking Oil

1 teaspoon

Sugar

per serving
Calories1080 kcal
Fat65 g
Saturated Fat23 g
Carbohydrate87 g
Sugar17 g
Dietary Fiber3 g
Protein37 g
Cholesterol160 mg
Sodium1820 mg
Due to the different suppliers we purchase our products from, nutritional facts per meal can vary from the website to what is received in the delivered box, depending on your region.
Baking Sheet
Medium Pan
Small Bowl

Cooking Steps

Prep
1

• Adjust rack to top position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry produce. • Cut potatoes into ½-inch-thick wedges. Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion.

Roast Potatoes
2

• Toss potatoes on a baking sheet with a drizzle of oil and half the Old Bay Seasoning (you’ll use more later). Season lightly with salt and pepper. TIP: No need to season generously— there’s already salt and pepper in the seasoning! • Roast on top rack until browned and crispy, 20-25 minutes.

Caramelize Onion
3

• While potatoes roast, heat a large drizzle of oil in a medium, preferably nonstick, pan over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and softened, 8-10 minutes. • Add 1 tsp sugar (2 tsp for 4 servings) and a splash of water; cook until onion is caramelized and jammy, 2-3 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. • Turn off heat; transfer to a small bowl.

Make Sauce & Form Beef
4

• Meanwhile, in a second small bowl, combine mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and as much remaining Old Bay Seasoning as you like. Set aside. • Form beef* into two equal-size balls (four balls for 4 servings); season all over with salt and pepper.

Cook Patties
5

• Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for onion over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot, add beef. Firmly flatten each ball with a spatula to create very thin patties. (TIP: Do so carefully; oil may splatter a bit.) Cook to desired doneness, 3-4 minutes per side. (Don’t worry if the patties aren’t perfectly round—those irregular edges will turn crispy.) • In the last 1-2 minutes of cooking, top patties with cheddar; cover pan to melt cheese. Remove from heat.

Finish & Serve
6

• While patties cook, halve and toast buns. • Divide buns between plates and fill with patties, caramelized onion, and half the special sauce. Serve burgers with Old Bay fries on the side and remaining special sauce for dipping.

Ground Beef is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.

Customer reviews

Review summary

Updated on Mar 2026
  • Flavor: Many loved the juicy, flavorful burgers, especially praising the caramelized onions and special sauce 🍔.
  • Ease of prep: Quick and easy to make, though some found smashing the patties tricky or messy.
  • Suggestions: Consider adding bacon, tomato, or pickles; some preferred less Old Bay seasoning on the fries.
  • Portions: Several mentioned the burger patties or potato wedges were smaller than expected.
  • Texture: A few found the ground beef texture unusual; most enjoyed the crispy edges of the smashed patties.
AI-generated from customer reviews

Reviews from our home cooks

R
Rebecca AkerCooked for 2 people
|Oct 29, 2025

SO delicious! My first time making smashed burgers, and my boyfriend was already begging me to make this again after we finished eating. My one change (as usual with caramelized onions with these recipes) is that the onions never have the appropriate cooking time to achieve the desired softness/caramelization, so I cooked them significantly longer (on a lower temp after initial higher heat). They came out fantastic!

K
Kathy HennCooked for 4 people
|Jul 19, 2024

The Cheesy Smashed Burgers truly exceeded our expectations. They were a hit with my family. The simplicity of the recipe combined with the delicious taste made it a perfect meal. If you're looking for a burger experience that will leave your taste buds begging for more, I highly recommend trying out the Cheesy Smashed Burgers. You won't be sorry!

P
Phyllis BreezeCooked for 2 people
|May 28, 2025

Burgers were juicy and delicious! Loved the caramelized onions with the cheddar cheese and potatoe rolls. Would definitely get again but I would not use so much of the Bay seasoning as it was a bit to spicy for me. It would be nice with some bacon jam!

S
Sian SmithCooked for 4 people
|Nov 8, 2025

Flavors went really well together. The old bay seasoning tasted great on the wedges - 100% better than HelloFresh's own fry seasoning which we all detest. The burger sauce with the old bay seasoning was a game changer, will definitely get again and recreate this sauce in other meals too!

S
Staci EakinsCooked for 2 people
|Aug 31, 2023

These are the BEST smash onion burgers! GREAT Flavors and easy to cook. The fries are tasty as well. Always loved Old Bay on my seafood never thought to put it on fries. Well Done!

J
Julia MoreyCooked for 2 people
|May 26, 2025

DELICIOUS doesn't even describe how perfectly tasty this meal was. I wish it was available every week for the perfect quick delicious dinner option. This recipe literally matched some of the best burgers I've had in five star rated restaurants and I think better than my Michelin rated chef friend's burgers... but we won't tell him. The recipe if you follow it exactly- the burgers finished exactly when the timer went off on my oven for the fries. It was absolutely perfect timing. The potato buns were delicious and crispy after I toasted them in the pan. The old bay seasoning on the fries, and in the sauce mixture was chef's kiss. This was the first time I've ever sautéed onions, and added the sugar and water - oh my God, they were delicious. I cannot tell you how much we enjoyed this meal. Please add it as a weekly menu option please please please!!!!

N
NICHOLAS DITOMMASOCooked for 2 people
|Jan 5, 2026

Tasty, but we can't figure out how to cook burgers in a pan without having an oil splattering problem, even when using a splatter guard (which we have to lift to flip them or check their temp). Also, the old bay seasoning was too spicy for one of us, who ended up having to forego the potatoes. I'd pick the bacon jam burgers over these if given the choice.

C
Corey PaquayCooked for 2 people
|Jan 15, 2025

Yet another great burger. Smash technique is a nice change, and creates great texture. This simple solid burger is made great with the old bay flavored special sauce. Very salty, but great.

S
Syra BattagliaCooked for 4 people
|Oct 16, 2023

I really like the smash burgers. They're easy to cook and they're so good. Especially the potato wedges. I never thought about adding Old Bay seasoning to potatoes or to a sauce! I'm hooked.

E
Edwina White LockwoodCooked for 2 people
|Jul 12, 2024

Great dinner! Never would I have thought to season fries with old bay, and they cooked in the oven perfectly. The burgers did not disappoint with the sauce, really good. This is our 3rd meal that we have tried, and so far all three have earned 5 stars, and I have really picky eaters.

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