Western Burger Recipe with Beer Battered Onion Rings
This burger is packed with beef, bacon, barbecue sauce, and beer battered onion rings. These burgers are huge and worth every bite. They are simply seasoned and the mix of toppings is what makes this dish really shine.
Servings: 4 people
Cost: $25.00
Ingredients
Beer Battered Onion Rings
- ½ small white onion, sliced into thick slices (Plan 3 onion rings per burger, about 1/2 of a large onion. You can use more and have onion rings as a great side dish.)
- 4 cups avocado oil (Alternatives include grape seed oil)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, separated (Reserve ½ cup for coating the onions and use 1 ½ cups for the batter.)
- 2 tablespoons beef rub
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 12-ounce can beer (We use pilsner or a lager)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
Western Burger
- 4 pieces crispy bacon
- 1 pound ground beef 80/20
- 1 tablespoon beef rub
- 4 slices sharp cheddar cheese
- 4 burger buns
- 1 large tomato, sliced
- ½ cup Kansas City BBQ Sauce
- 6 pieces butter or bib lettuce (Optional)
Instructions
For Onion Rings
- In a medium sized Dutch Oven or large enough pan, add oil and turn on heat. Bring the oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl whisk together 1 ½ cups flour, beef rub, cornstarch, and beer. Be sure to have another smaller bowl with ½ cup flour for coating the raw onions. The consistency should be like a thick pancake batter.
- Place 3 onion rings in the dry flour bowl and coat with flour. Using tongs (because the batter is messy) take one onion ring at a time, place in batter and coat liberally. Place each piece of onion in the hot oil.
- Allow each onion ring to fry for 2 minutes. Then using tongs flip them over and fry an additional 2 minutes until you see an even golden color. Then remove from the oil and place on a cookie sheet over paper towel. The paper towel will collect the excess oil. Season the hot onion rings with a touch of sea salt. Repeat this until you have 8 to 12 onion rings.
Western Burger
- Prepare your grill for two-zone grilling targeting 400 degrees ambient cooking temperature. Once the temperature hits 200, add the bacon on the indirect side. Occasionally flip the bacon to get crispy.
- Place the burgers over direct heat and grill for four minutes with lid closed. This will give a nice sear mark. Flip the burgers and then sear another 4 minutes with lid closed until you get nice sear marks.
- Move the burgers to indirect heat and top with cheese and close lid. Remove the burgers when the internal temperature of the burger is between 160 -165 degrees F.
- Starting with a warm bun (we just warm them on the grill) add barbecue sauce to the bottom of the bun. Then add lettuce (optional) and tomato. Then add the burger patty. Layer on the bacon and onion rings and top again with more barbecue sauce. Finish with the top of the bun and get ready to enjoy.
Video
Notes
Warning - Do not fry on the grill. This can cause a grease fire.
Frying Oil Temperature - It's important not to crowd the oil with too man onion rings. As soon as the rings are placed in the oil, the oil will cool as it fries. Too many in there at the same time cools it too much leading to a soggy batter versus the golden crispy batter. Be sure to let the oil come back up in temperature in between batches as well.
If using an air fryer or deep fryer - follow manufacturers suggestions for times.
Recommended Order to Prepare and Grill: This recipe may seem complicated, but it's easiest if done in stages.
- Prep Grill: Start the grill and make the bacon. This is also a good time to get the heat on for the frying oil, targeting 375 degrees measured in the center of the oil using a good instant read thermometer.
- Season: Season beef and make the batter.
- Make Onion Rings: While bacon is cooking and grill comes to temperature, make the onion rings.
- Grill Burgers: When onion rings are done, grill the burgers and finish prepping remainder of ingredients.
- Assemble Western Burgers: When the burgers are done, remove from the grill and then serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 930kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 124mg | Sodium: 983mg | Potassium: 723mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 827IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 355mg | Iron: 8mg