Gordon Ramsay’s blue cheese burger mixes 100g of crumbled blue cheese straight into 1kg of lean beef mince, with red onion, chives, Tabasco, Worcestershire and English mustard. The patties chill for a few hours, then griddle for 7 to 10 minutes, making 6 to 8 burgers.
This is the Blue Cheese Burgers recipe from the American chapter of his World Kitchen book, page 238. He writes that “the addition of crumbly blue cheese gives these homemade burgers a lovely savoury edge,” and that they “taste far superior to commercially made burgers.” Unlike his plainer burgers, everything goes into the bowl together here, and he has you fry a small test piece first to taste before shaping a single patty.
The clever part is the lean mince. His Bread Street Kitchen burger adds extra minced fat because lean beef makes a dry burger, yet this recipe asks for lean deliberately, since 100g of blue cheese melting through the patties IS the fat. Use standard 20% mince here and the cheese pushes it over into grease, which is the mistake that ruins most homemade blue cheese burgers.
Gordon Ramsay Blue Cheese Burger Recipe (World Kitchen)
Course: DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy6
20
minutes10
minutes580
kcal3 hr 30 min
The World Kitchen method where the blue cheese goes inside the patty, not on top: crumbled through lean mince with red onion, chives, Tabasco, Worcestershire and mustard, chilled hard, then griddled until just pink in the centre. Makes 6 to 8 burgers from one bowl.
Ingredients
- For the burgers:
1kg lean beef mince
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
100g blue cheese, crumbled
Small bunch of chives, chopped
Few dashes of Tabasco sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp English mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil, to drizzle
- To serve:
6-8 soft burger buns, split
Handful of salad leaves
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced avocado
Mayonnaise and/or tomato ketchup
Directions
- Mix everything: Put all the burger ingredients except the oil into a large bowl, season well with salt and pepper, and mix until combined using your hands.
- Fry a test piece: Break off a small piece, shape it into a ball and fry it in an oiled pan until cooked, then taste it. Adjust the seasoning of the raw mixture before you commit to shaping, his trick for never serving a bland batch.
- Chill for a few hours: Cover the bowl with cling film and chill, which firms the mix so the cheese stays put instead of leaking out on the griddle.
- Shape with wet hands: Wet your hands and shape the mixture into 6 to 8 neat patties, since wet hands stop the sticky cheese-flecked mince clinging to your fingers.
- Griddle or barbecue: Brush the patties with a little olive oil and cook on a hot griddle pan or barbecue for 7 to 10 minutes, turning halfway. They should stay slightly pink in the centre.
- Toast and build: Drizzle the cut sides of the buns with olive oil and toast cut-side down until golden, then build with salad leaves, tomato, avocado and a dollop of mayonnaise or ketchup.
FAQs
Why does the cheese go inside the patty instead of on top?
Because melting blue cheese on top only flavours the surface, while crumbling it through means every bite carries that savoury edge he describes, and the cheese bastes the meat from the inside as it melts. That’s also why the recipe wants the patties only just pink in the centre, since the cheese needs enough heat to soften through.
At his own burger restaurants he serves it the other way, a slab of Stilton melted over the patty with onions and aioli, which works there because a restaurant flat-top melts a thick slice evenly. At home, inside the patty is the more reliable route, and it’s the one he chose for the book.
What blue cheese should you use?
The book asks for crumbly blue cheese in his own words, which rules the soft ones out. Stilton is the natural pick, since it’s what his burger restaurants put on their Blue Cheeseburger, and its firm crumble holds shape in the mince rather than smearing through it. Roquefort brings a saltier result and Danish blue a gentler, cheaper one.
Avoid soft, creamy types like Gorgonzola dolce, because they melt to liquid before the patty cooks and escape through the cracks. If creamy blue flavour is what you want, put it in the sauce instead: his blue cheese sauce with crème fraîche and honey is built exactly for spooning over a plain burger.
Why fry a test piece first?
Because once raw mince is seasoned, tasting it means guessing, and a batch this size with cheese, Tabasco, Worcestershire and mustard in it is easy to get wrong in either direction. Frying a coin-sized piece takes two minutes and tells you the truth before you’ve shaped eight patties.
It’s a restaurant habit he’s carried into the book, the same way a chef tastes a terrine mix or sausage stuffing before cooking the lot. The cheese adds salt of its own, which is exactly why guessing fails here more than with a plain burger.
Can you cook these on the barbecue?
Yes, the book offers griddle pan or barbecue as equals, with the same 7 to 10 minutes turned halfway. The cheese inside makes flare-ups likelier than with a plain patty, so cook these over steady medium-hot coals rather than raging flames, and resist pressing them.
The full barbecue method, vents, zones and all, is covered in my BBQ burger guide. The book pairs these burgers with baked sweet potato wedges and coleslaw, and his sharp macaroni salad with cornichons and Dijon works the same cutting job if coleslaw isn’t your thing.
Why avocado on a blue cheese burger?
It’s the American chapter of World Kitchen talking, and it earns its place: cool, buttery avocado against hot, salty blue cheese is the same contrast that makes blue cheese and pear work. The book builds it with salad leaves, tomato, avocado and plain mayo or ketchup, nothing that competes with the cheese, and shoots the whole thing wrapped in brown paper like a proper burger van order.
For a different strong-flavoured patty in the same spirit, his lamb burger runs the same logic with za’atar mixed through the meat and a cooling harissa yoghurt on top.
