Keep your hands free and your stovetop clean by baking your burgers in the oven instead of in a pan on the stove. This quick, easy, and convenient recipe results in sizzling, juicy, and perfectly cooked burgers, every single time.
“This is amazing and surprisingly easy! I was very skeptical, but I’m hooked! Thank you!”
If you ask my oldest child what he wants for dinner, 10/10 times he’ll say “burgers“.
That said, we have burgers for dinner a lot and, while I’ve mastered pan frying burgers, I dread cooking them. It’s SUCH a mess! Between the five of us we go through at least eight patties and by the time they’re all cooked, the stovetop, counters, and floor are slick with splattered grease. Plus I’ve got a giant cast iron skillet to let cool down before hand scrubbing.
Luckily, there’s an easier way — Baked Burgers!
Baked Cheeseburgers have completely changed burger night at our house. Not only is there ZERO mess but I have my hands free for the 20 minutes they take to bake to whip up a side dish and gather burger toppings. Plus my entire family likes these baked burgers better than pan fried, which is saying a lot because we really love our pan-fried burgers!
Watch How to Make Them
Oven Baked Burgers
The first time I made baked burgers I fully anticipated them coming out of the oven soggy and grey, but that’s not the case at all. These burgers are super tender, juicy, and again, HANDS OFF. No need to flip the patties, no cooking spray — just place them onto an aluminum foil and parchment paper lined baking sheet then send them off into the oven.
Goodbye. Don’t call me I’ll call you.
I like to season the ground beef burgers with an easy homemade seasoning blend using ingredients I bet you’ve already got on hand. I’ll share the recipe below, but know that you can use whatever seasonings or blend you like best.
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Pin ItHow Long Do Burgers Take to Cook in the Oven?
I use 2lbs ground beef to create eight burger patties, so each burger is 1/4lb. That said, eight 1/4lb burgers only take 20 minutes to reach 160 degrees in a 375 degree oven.
This a true 30 minute meal: 10 minutes to season then shape the burgers and 20 minutes to cook.
What Kind of Ground Beef to Use
It’s true that fat = flavor, but I prefer to use lean ground beef for oven baked burgers. The patties don’t shrink and there’s less mess. Actually there’s zero mess, like I mentioned!
I tested these burgers with 90/10 and 97/3 ground beef, and preferred 90/10. Both fat blends came out extremely tender and juicy, but the 90/10 had a bit more flavor.
If you decide to go with a fattier ground beef, I’d place the burger patties on a wire rack on the baking sheet so they don’t sit in grease.
Our Favorite Toppings
Like I said, I like to spend the 20 minutes the burgers take to bake to prep the burger toppings and make a side dish — usually a fresh and healthy veggie salad or big fruit salad — although frozen french fries hit the spot too!
Here are our favorite burger toppings:
- Sauteed garlic butter mushrooms
- Oven Bacon
- Sliced white onion or red onion
- Fresh tomato
- Fresh lettuce
- Pickles
- Ketchup
- Mustard
- Mayonnaise
How to Soften Gluten Free Buns
Let’s be real, gluten free buns are usually lacking in the soft and squishy department, but I have two tricks to make them more appetizing:
- Toast them: Toast the buns cut side up under the broiler until they’re golden brown and softened. Top with a cheeseburger patty and toppings then eat immediately.
- Wrap them. Place a baked burger patty onto the bun then wrap in foil and place inside the hot oven for a few minutes. Softens them right up! We do this with both with my gluten free bun and the regular hamburgers buns my kids and husband eat. Such a game changer!
Or you can always wrap the oven burgers in iceberg lettuce for a low carb / bunless burger. It’s actually really good.
How to Cook Burgers in the Oven
Step 1: Season the Beef
Start by adding ground beef to a large bowl with my easy burger seasoning blend, or whatever your favorite seasoning blend is. Here’s what’s in my mix:
- Dried minced onion
- Dried minced garlic
- Fennel seeds that have been crushed (I place them inside a small baggie then crush with a meat mallet).
- Salt
- Black pepper
Mix the beef and seasonings with your hands until just combined.
Step 2: Shape the Mixture into Patties
Divide the seasoned beef mixture into quarters then each quarter in half. Use your hands to shape 8 burger patties then place them on a sheet pan that’s been lined with foil and a piece of parchment paper which helps prevent splatters.
Step 3: Bake the Burgers then Top with Cheese
Bake the hamburgers for 20-25 minutes, or until they register 160 degrees as read by a digital meat thermometer. Place American cheese slices (or whatever you like best — cheddar cheese is great too!) on top of each patty and slide the pan back into the oven until melted —just a minute or so.
Step 4: Toast Hamburger Buns then Add Toppings
Transfer the cheeseburger patties to toasted hamburger buns, or try that foil-wrapped warming trick I mentioned, then top with all the fixins and dig in.
I hope you love these EASY, tender, and totally delicious baked cheeseburgers! Enjoy!
More Easy Family-Friendly Recipes
- Crispy Gluten-Free Chicken Cutlets
- Cheeseburger Bombs
- Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice
- One Pot Chicken and Rice
- Baked Chicken Thighs
- Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta
- Oven Baked Burgers
- American Goulash
- Easy Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef, 90/10 or 93/7 fat recommended
- 8 buns
- 8 slices American cheese
For the burger seasoning:
- 2 teaspoons dried minced onion
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, finely crushed
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees then line a half sheet pan with foil and place a piece of parchment paper on top. Set aside.
- Add ground beef to a large mixing bowl then sprinkle the homemade burger seasoning ingredients on top and mix to combine (alternatively you could use your own burger seasoning). Divide the mixture into quarters then divide each quarter in half to create a total of eight burger patties. Place patties onto prepared baking sheet then bake for 20-25 minutes or until burgers reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
- Place a slice of cheese onto each burger patty then return to the oven for 1 minute to let the cheese melt. Transfer cheeseburgers to buns then serve.
Notes
- I like to toast gluten free buns under the broiler for a few minutes to soften before placing a burger patty on top, OR place the baked cheeseburger patty onto a bun then wrap in foil and place inside the oven to soften for 3-4 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
love this. I’m on keto so I cook the burgers use cheese and sugar free bugger sauce with keto buns and freeze. 30 secs in microwave and i have a quick keto meal.
So glad this recipe is a hit for you, Eve! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
AMAZING!!!! Thank you for sharing your recipe! I was pressed for time, so actually just used premade burgers and seasoned them with Lawry’s and pepper. Also didn’t have parchmanet paper, so just used lightly buttered foil. Would love to make my own with fennel next time!
No mess, quick, and makes the most perfect, reasurant-style burger. I love pan-fried burgers, but these come out so delicious and mess free I doubt I’ll go back! Thanks!!
The review of a lifetime — SO SO thrilled this recipe was a hit for you, Jennifer!! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
I love the idea of these! I’m going to make a batch for an elderly client that I take care off. Can these be frozen. If so, what will be the best way to prep them to serve after freezing? Thanks!
So ind of you, Beverly! They can be frozen — I recommend thawing in the refrigerator then reheating in the air fryer, or for a few minutes under the broiler on each side.
I did not use fennel seeds besides that followed the recipe easy great way to make burgers came out super juicy
I’m so glad these were a hit, Laura! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
I thought I would try your burgers in the oven method. They turned out great. I had no mess (I did cover the burgers loosely with a second piece of foil). No standing over the stove, grease popping, smoke alarm going off (has happened lol). Thanks for the advice, I really enjoyed the burgers.
I’m thrilled they worked out for you, Shon! I just made them for dinner last night too, ha! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating! Thanks so much for your feedback!
After a tiring day, the thought of standing at the stove making a colossal oily mess held zero appeal, so I googled how to cook burgers in the oven…and you were the first site that popped up! It gave me the time to do exactly what you said, prep the lettuce and tomato, set out all the condiments, and fry the French fries. Stress free. Fast. Delicious! Thank you so much!
LOVE to hear this, Jenny!! So glad this method relieved a little bit of dinnertime stress!
Does the grease splatter in the oven? If so, any suggestions on what to do to minimize that? (For example, could they be cooked covered?)
Hey Michelle! I’ve never had these splatter, so that hasn’t been an issue for me.
Delicious! I did half the pan with hamburgers and the other half with turkey burgers. They came out perfect! Thank you.
Love to hear that, Joanne! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Ohmigosh thank you! This was EXACTLY what I needed to make the best use of the time/good weather/daylight after work today so I could work on leaves in our yard but still get dinner together for everyone. These turned out great and this is my new favorite way to make burgers.
YAY!! So glad you found this recipe to be convenient, Juliee! I really appreciate your feedback and recipe rating!
Have you ever heard of “if you’ve got nothing nice to say, say nothing at all”? What about “treat others how you want to be treated”? Or even, “you attract more flies than honey.”? My favorite though is one from my children: “don’t yuck someone else’s yum.” If 80/20 works better for you, then that’s great! You can say that without simultaneously insulting the original recipe.
Thanks for coming to my ted talk. By the way, I DID use 80/20, because in this economy it’s cheaper, but the method here is unrivaled. Thank you Kristin for sharing!
I love to hear it, Amanda!! Thank you so much for your feedback, support, and recipe rating!
These were delicious! I did them exactly as written but with ground turkey. So much better than the stovetop. Thank you!
Fantastic!! So glad you gave it a try, Kari — thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
These were so juicy and delicious. This is now my go-to recipe.
I’m so thrilled to hear that, Elise!
Great, no more stovetop burgers for me.
Awesome, thrilled to hear it, John!