These 7 Burger Recipes Are Better Than Their Fast Food Versions

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These 7 Burger Recipes Are Better Than Their Fast Food Versions

The drive-thru is wonderful, but these burger recipes are even better.

We're celebrating all things fast food this week, which, surprisingly enough, may inspire the home cook in you. Sure, spending a couple bucks on a flattened, well-done burger with a squirt of ketchup, a slice of American cheese, and a sesame bun is as American as… baseball, or whatever. But so is firing up your grill—or your cast iron—and making a meaty sandwich that's DIY and to-die-for.

We've put together a list of some of our favorite soigné burger recipes that can satiate your fast food cravings in the safety of your own kitchen.

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We've got the whole spectrum of burger subspecies, from mammoth to slider, from meat to beet.

RECIPE: Aussie Burger

What makes an Aussie Burger an Aussie Burger? There are a lot of variations out there, but the recurring theme is a fried egg. This riff on the Aussie staple is also loaded with a bunch of thick-cut bacon, so feel free to have it for breakfast.

RECIPE: Burgerlords Veggie Burger

You're probably thinking, "Oh god, another veggie burger?" But we promise that this mushroom-based patty from Burgerlords will convince or at least confuse even your most carnivorous buddies that meat-free is not a bad way to be.

RECIPE: Nacho-Fried Chicken Burger

This recipe may hail from Copenhagen's Fedtegreven Bistrobodega but it's a masterful ode to American fast food and junk food. Not content with the run-of-the-mill (pun intended) flour dredge in most fried chicken recipes, the mad geniuses at Fedtegreven Bistrobodega decided to coat these chicken thighs in pulverized store-bought tortilla chips. Pick your favorite powdered-cheese flavor and blast your taste buds with a sodium bomb.

RECIPE: Patty Melt

OK, so this isn't technically a burger, but it's like the first cousin of the burger, and sometimes you just don't have sesame buns handy. But a beef patty tastes just as good on a loaf as it does in a bun, especially when the meat is hand-cut and slathered in béchamel and caramelized onions.

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RECIPE: Perfect Cheeseburgers

When Matty Matheson makes burgers, he strives for nothing less than perfection, which, if you follow his recipe, is attainable. Seriously, this is the one true cheeseburger.

RECIPE: Vegan Beet Burgers

What this burger lacks in meat, it makes up for in flavor. Gracias Madre's Chandra Gilbert beet patties look suspiciously like beef, but are loaded with healthy plant-based ingredients like black beans, rice, and pumpkin seeds, and topped with decadent chili mayo and truffle cashew cheese.

RECIPE: Beef Sliders

Sometimes, smaller is better. When you have an insane amount of topping choices, you might not want to commit to a hulking six-ounce patty. And when you have bone marrow, Cheddar mayo, and homemade pickles, you won't even miss all that extra beef.

Don't think outside the bun—just think better buns.