Beer Cheese Burgers on Pretzel Buns
Juicy burgers smothered in beer cheese sauce and topped with caramelized beer onions and jalapeños all on soft pretzel buns!
Do you love beer, burgers, and soft pretzels with cheese? Yeah, me too, that’s why I’ve created a burger that combines all three!
Although these burgers look fancy, they are easy to make and so freakin’ delicious! The beer cheese sauce combines cream cheese, cheddar cheese and you guessed it, lots of beer.
But that’s not the only thing made with beer in this recipe, the onions and jalapeños are caramelized in beer to give them extra flavor and cook out some of the heat that jalapenos pack, especially in the summertime.
Whoever came up with the idea of combining soft pretzels with beer cheese, thank you!! Now throw a burger in the mix, and you’ll be in heaven!
If you want your dinner to be all things beer cheese, I highly recommend you bake up some crispy fries and drench those in beer cheese as well.
You’ll need 16 ounces of beer to make these burgers, but you’re going to want more than that so you can have a couple while cooking 😉 Especially if you live in Wisconsin and are making your beer cheeese with Spotted Cow! Mmm thank you, New Glarus!
And just as a friendly warning, these burgers are messy, but some of the best foods are the messy! Right?!
So, go light up your grill or heat up that cast iron skillet and make yourself (and like 5 friends) these bomb ass burgers!
Beer Cheese Burgers on Pretzel Buns
Ingredients
Burgers:
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- Aruguala or your preferred lettuce
- Pretzel buns
Beer cheese:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 8 ounces beer I used an ale
- 1/4 cup milk
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese grated (see notes)
Caramelized beer onions and Jalapeños:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large yellow onion thinly slices
- 1-2 jalapeños thinly sliced
- 1 cup beer
Instructions
Prepare burgers:
- Place ground beef in a large bowl and add salt, pepper, and Worcestershire; use your hands to combine.
- Form into 6 patties, 1/3 pound each. *Place burger patties on a sheet pan and place in the refrigerator while you make the caramelized onions and jalapenos and beer cheese.
Caramelize onions and jalapeños:
- Melt butter in a large frying pan on medium heat; add onion and jalapeno. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions and jalapenos are soft and slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes.
- Add cup of beer and stir to combine. Continue to cook on medium until beer is completely cooked down, about 10 minutes (make beer cheese while you wait).
Make beer cheese:
- In a large saucepan, melt butter on medium heat. Sprinkle flour over melted butter and use a whisk to fully combine. Cook for about 1 minute.
- Pour in beer and milk; whisk to combine. Continue whisking while mixture thickens, about 2 minutes.
- Add in cream cheese and whisk until melted in.
- Remove from heat, and add cheddar cheese and whisk until melted in. Cover to keep warm.
Cook burgers:
Stovetop:
- Add a little olive oil to a cast iron skillet or a large frying pan over medium-high heat, and fry burgers until desired doneness, about 3-5 minutes on each side. Keep warm while you toast the buns.
Grill:
- Heat grill to high and cook burgers 3-4 minutes until golden and slightly charred, then flip and cook another 5 minutes on the second side until slightly charred and cooked to your liking.
Serve:
- Spread butter on the inside of top and bottom of pretzel buns, and place buns in frying pan (or on grill) with the butter side down. Toast on medium-high heat until buns reach a golden brown color inside, about 1-3 minutes.
- Place arugula on toasted bottom bun, then top with burger. Drizzle a generous portion of warm beer cheese over the burger. Top with caramelized beer onions and jalapenos. Cover with toasted top bun and prepare to get messy!
Notes
- Suggested side: Crispy fries smothered in extra beer cheese!
- I recommend you buy a block of sharp cheddar and grate it yourself. The flavor is better and it melts easier than pre-shredded cheese.
- *Placing burger patties in the refrigerator keeps the meat and fat cool so they hold together better when cooking.
- My technique for equally portioning burger into patties: Flatten burger in a bowl using a spatula, then in the meat, cut a line down the center with a knife or spatula. From there, cut additional lines on each half side as if your cutting the meat into pizza triangles, forming 6 or 8 equal portions.
Hey there! Is there a substitute I could use in place of the beer?
This looks amazing!
Can you make the cheese sauce a few hours a head of time and just heat it back up when your read to serve the burgers?
Made just the cheese sauce and it was fantastic! I used chive & onion cream cheese and it was a really good choice.