Easy Baked Hamburgers

These baked hamburgers are so EASY. Press ground beef into the pan, bake it for 15 minutes, top it with cheese, and slice. Dinner is served!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Resting time 5

Total Time 35

Servings servings

Calories 354kcal

1 pound lean ground beef 85/15
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon of any other salt, including Morton kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 slices sharp cheddar or any other melty cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder.
1 pound lean ground beef, 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon chili powder
Gently press the beef mixture into an ungreased 8-inch square glass or ceramic pan.
Bake until cooked through, 12-15 minutes. A meat thermometer should read 160°F. If there's a lot of cooking liquid in the pan, you can drain some. I like to keep it and allow some of it to get absorbed back into the burgers as they rest.
Top the cooked meat with the cheese slices.
4 slices sharp cheddar
Return the pan to the oven and bake just until the cheese is melted, for 1-2 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and allow the burgers to rest for 5 minutes. Cut into four squares and serve.

Seasonings, especially salt, are guidelines. Adjust to taste
I typically use lean ground beef (85/15). Extra-lean (90/10) ground beef can be tricky in this recipe. It's drier and can also be more crumbly.
Although I recommend using an 8-inch square pan, I sometimes double the recipe and use two pans. One of the pans I own is a square 9-inch pan, so I use both and bake them at the same time. This works just fine, although the burgers baked in the 9-inch pan are slightly flatter.
The best way to make sure the burgers are done is to use an instant-read thermometer. It's OK to pull them out of the oven when they reach an internal temperature of 155°F, since you will return them to the oven to melt the cheese, at which point they should reach 160°F.
You can keep the leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat them gently in the microwave at 50% power, or enjoy them cold.