Big Mac-style burger with special sauce

Ingredients

Special sauce

• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp American mustard (or mild yellow mustard)
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp sweet pickle relish
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp smoked paprika

Burgers

• 500 g beef mince (20% fat — important)
• 4 slices American cheese (or mild cheddar, sliced thin)
• 4 large sesame burger buns
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• 8 dill pickle slices
• ½ iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Special sauce. Whisk all sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes — the pickles and vinegar need time to mellow, otherwise it’s too sharp.
2. Burger prep. Divide the beef into 8 equal balls (about 60 g each). Press each into a burger slightly wider than the bun — they shrink as they cook.
3. Toast the buns. Split each bun into three slices (top crown, middle, bottom heel). Dry-fry all three cut-side down in a hot pan until lightly golden. Set aside.
4. Cook burgers. Heat the oil in a heavy pan over high heat. Season the burgers generously with salt and pepper just before they hit the pan (salt draws moisture out if applied too early). Sear 1 minute per side for medium. In the last 30 seconds, stack two burgers per burger with a slice of cheese between them so it melts.
5. Build. Working quickly so nothing cools: bottom bun → 1 tbsp special sauce → shredded lettuce → cheesy double-burger stack. Middle bun layer: spread special sauce on both cut sides, then chopped onion and pickle slices. Crown bun on top.
6. Serve immediately. Wrap in baking paper or burger wrap if you have it — keeps it together and looks the part.

Tips

• The mince fat content is the dish. 20% fat gives you a juicy burger; lean mince dries out and tastes like cardboard.
• Salt and pepper just before cooking. Salt early = dry burger.
• Don’t skip the 30-minute sauce rest. The flavours genuinely need that time to come together.
• Want it closer to fast-food? Use American cheese singles and a soft supermarket bun — the construction matters more than the specifics.
• The middle bun is the Big Mac’s signature. Skipping it makes it a Double Cheeseburger.