Adding This Seasoning To Your Ground Beef Makes Burgers 10x More Flavorful

Most burger recipes include directions to add some flavor to your ground beef because it can be pretty bland when it goes unseasoned. This could be as simple as sprinkling the patties with salt and pepper, or blending the meat with herbs, spices, and mayo — like how we make our Greek style lamb burgers. But you don't necessarily need a concoction of spices. Instead, consider adding some dry ranch seasoning to your meat, which adds loads of exciting flavor. 

Here's how to do it: Start by adding two tablespoons of seasoning to one pound of ground beef and mixing until the ranch is incorporated. Classic Hidden Valley brand ranch seasoning is a blend of buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, and spices, plus plenty of hard-to-pronounce preservatives and chemical compounds. Kinder's brand notes similar ingredients, plus lemon juice powder and parsley. However, a homemade ranch seasoning blend gives a much clearer picture of the flavorings that go into this burger-booster. Any given recipe might include the aforementioned elements, plus dried dill, chives, tarragon, and mustard powder.

The reason it's such a good idea is because you are combining all these different flavors into your burgers when you flavor with this seasoning blend. You get plenty of salt, tons of umami goodness, and aromatics in one convenient powder. The only decision left is what to put on these scrumptious burgers.

As far as what to add to your ranch-seasoned burgers, there's really no need to overthink things. Your classic burger toppings like lettuce, tomato, cheese, and pickles will be great, because all you're doing is giving the meat patty some extra flavoring. Simple smash burgers will be amplified, as will things like bacon cheeseburgers; ranch patties would taste great when piled with bacon, onion rings, melted cheddar cheese, and a squirt of barbecue sauce. Another idea is to top your ranch patties with homemade kranch sauce, which is basically a mixture of ketchup, ranch dressing, onion powder, and dried parsley. This amplifies the ranch flavor all around and is a delicious condiment that you can dip fries into as well.

And while we're on the topic of fries, you can absolutely invite your fried spuds to the ranch party by sprinkling the hot fries with some dried ranch seasoning and tossing them together. This would taste great with either classic potato or sweet potato fries. Grill some corn on the cob and brush the hot ears with a mixture of melted butter and ranch seasoning. Of course, if it's something green you want, serve up a side salad with your burgers...with a side of ranch, naturally.