Is it a burger? Is it the national dish of Canada? Or is it that hole in your heart that no amount of vice could possibly fill? Yes, yes, and probably yes! The Poutine Burger is the ultimate fusion cuisine. French fries, gravy and cheese from our neighbors up North and a good ol’ fashioned smash burger.
The Poutine Burger: Smash or Pass
The smash burger. Inspired by the popular video game Super Mario Smash Bros, maybe, possibly, who knows. However, what we do know is that they are amazing. But what exactly makes a smash burger from, say, a pub burger?
Burgers come in all shapes and sizes, and we love them all. They’re like the people of food. But, like, don’t eat people y’all.
Now, a pub style burger is a thicccy boi. Nice and plump. One burger, one bun, one meal. A fantastic burger for really exploring different blends of meats and highlighting traditional flavor combos. On the complete opposite side of the spectrum: the smash burger.
Smash burgers are thin, they’re crispy, they’re stackable, they’re a canvas to paint a beautiful picture on. First off, they’re a lot smaller than a typical burger. Two to five ounces is standard and then formed into a meatball and pressed directly into a flattop or pan.
Ultimate contact for that ultimate sear.
With these thin layers of burgers, topping can be stuffed in between each of the layers. While still being a burger, the topping become a more integral part. This allows our Poutine Burger flavors to really shine!
More Smash Burger Recipes
It’s All Gravy
Poutine is a glorious dish. Cheese fries turned up to 11. And why? Because of gravy. Beautiful, lovey, alluring gravy. The one food no self-respecting person doesn’t like. Like literally, not a single person in the whole world doesn’t like gravy. They don’t exist.
What makes gravy so great? Certainly, there is bad gravy out there. So let’s go ahead and avoid that for this Poutine Burger. The basis is stock, and not just any stock, but good stock.
Beef stock is the most flavorful in my opinion. If you have the time to make stock yourself, all the better. It’ll be so much better than any stock you buy at the store. But it is a huge time commitment. So no shame in buying it from the store.
Recipe Tip
Quick side note, stock vs broth. Stock is made from bones, but broth is made from flesh (meat and such). For our purposes, stock is better for thickening.
Throwing together a gravy is simple. Start with a roux, butter and flour because this is what will thicken the gravy. Add in stock and reduce until desired thickness is reached. Season generously at the end. If the stock isn’t thickening as you would like it to, then some corn starch can help.
After removing from the heat and the simmering is done (too much heat can deactivate the corn starch), mix 1 tbsp of corn starch with a little bit of cold water and then mix the corn starch slurry into the gravy. The gravy will immediately thicken.
Serving Up the Poutine Burger
To serve simply toast up your buns and then add a layer of arugula. Then we’ll go double smash burger, fries, gravy. Then we’ll add the third smash burger, more fries, more gravy and cheese curds… because who doesn’t love some cheese curds?!
Serve and enjoy!
Needing more spice in your life? My spice line can help with that. Check them out here.
Poutine Burger
Ingredients
- 2 Lbs 80/20 Ground Chuck
- Imperial Coffee Stout Rub
- Burger Buns
- Mayo
- French Fries
- 1 Sweet Onion
- Cheese Curds
- Arugula
Bourbon Gravy
- 4 Cups Beef Broth
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp Flour
- 1 oz bourbon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Light grill, with a hot and cool zone.
- First, make the bourbon gravy. This will reduce while everything else cooks.
- Over the hot side of the grill, melt the butter in a 10’ or 12’ cast iron skillet.
- Once butter is melted, mix in flour and cook for 3-4 min.
- Slowly add in beef broth, mixing well.
- Reduce by half over medium to medium low heat. This could take upwards of 30 min.
- Once reduced to desired thickness mix in seasonings.
- Slice buns, spread on mayo, toast over high heat; then set aside.
- Prepare French fries. Method is up to you. Deep fry, bake, door dash.
- Slice onion thinly.
- Divide burger meat into 9 evenly sized balls.
- Heat a large cast iron pan or skillet insert on your grill to high heat.
- Spread onions in 9 small spots on the grill.
- Place one meat ball over each patch of onions and season with Imperial Coffee Stout Rub.
- Press each burger flat with a burger press or a large flat spatula.
- Cook for 3-4 min and flip once.
- Cook for an additional 3-4 min.
- Stack in sets of 3 and remove from the grill.
- Assembly time. On the toasted buns; start with arugula, then burgers, fries, cheese curds, and gravy.
- Use the gravy as glue and the fries as Lincoln logs. Build a beautiful meat and French fry house.
