What To Know Before Ordering A Culver's Butterburger

The Culver's butterburger has a name that confuses some people — is the burger itself cooked in butter, or is butter somehow mixed into the ground beef? Perhaps the burger is topped with a slab of butter instead of cheese? The truth is, none of these are true. 

According to Culver's, the name "butterburger" refers to the fact that each burger comes on a buttered bun, which was how the Culver's co-founder's mom used to do it. Culver's, it must be noted, originated in Wisconsin, aka the Dairy State, and all of the butter used on their buns comes from a small, family-owned Wisconsin dairy.

Culver's says its burgers are made from three cuts of beef: sirloin, chuck, and plate. Their beef is also fresh, never frozen, and each burger is grilled to order. In fact, each one is prepared by a Culver's "grill master" who has spent several months training to master the act of making a better butterburger. Their technique involves pressing the beef to lock in its juices and searing it to give it that "great steak flavor," as well as seasoning the patty just right with a salt and pepper blend.

Although admittedly this process takes a bit longer than having pre-cooked patties that are ready to be grabbed and handed out, the butterburgers really are worth it — they're one of our top picks for best fast-food burgers, after all. Also, Culver's will bring the butterburgers out to your table once they're cooked, so that way you don't have to wait awkwardly at the counter.

The Culver's menu has nine different varieties of butterburgers. Variations include single or double patty versions, three different types of cheese — American, cheddar, and Swiss (all from Wisconsin dairies) — bacon, mushrooms, and several variants that swap out the bun for either grilled rye or toasted sourdough bread. You can also get a gluten-free bun on request, and Culver's even has a Registered Dietician on the team who advises as to how food can best be prepped to avoid triggering guests' food allergies.

While Culver's menu does have a non-vegan Veggie Burger (it contains milk and egg as well as soy and wheat), there is, as yet, no Impossible butterburger. In order to make that work, though, they'd probably need to sub in a plant-based butter substitute, and doing so just wouldn't be true to those dairy state roots.