Hosting a dinner party is a high-pressure endeavour. Although the idea is to create a fun and relaxing evening for you and your guests, the interval preceding the big event usually involves swearing, sweating, and loudly despairing over your lack of culinary prowess.
At least in part, this is often down to the disingenuousness of it all. You’re so desperate to impress that you end up concocting some fancy French menu – one that you’ll never do justice to, and that just isn’t you.
The solution? Scale it back a little. Look for a universally loved centrepiece, make sure it’s simple enough to whip up all by yourself, and then sit back and enjoy the success of your night. Here are four fantastic burger recipes to help you…
Steak burger with peppercorn sauce dip
Unless your guests are staunchly vegetarian, then steak burgers tend to go down a treat, especially if they’re served with some peppercorn sauce on the side. Luckily, we have the perfect recipe to help you whip them up! Combining a creamy and indulgent dip with melting cheese and succulent red onions, this simple main is arguably the best handmade burger you and your diners will ever have tasted, and will take you just 30 minutes to make.
Jamie Oliver’s Insanity burger
Source: Max Pixel
If there is anyone who can make cooking simple enough and straightforward enough for even the most inexperienced of chefs, it’s the inimitable Jamie Oliver, and his Insanity burger is just the ticket. Blending minced steak, onion, gherkins, streaky bacon, and American mustard with Red Leicester cheese and Tabasco chipotle sauce, this mouth-watering concoction will have everyone sat at your table unapologetically reaching for seconds.
The Brazil grill burger
If neither of the above recipes has quite hit the spot, why not try something a little more exotic, like the Brazil grill? Easy to make and deliciously tasty to eat, this handmade burger crams the best of Brazilian cuisine into each epic mouthful. A magnificent mingling of avocado mayo, chimichurri, creamy lime, cumin-spiced onion rings, peri peri sauce, sweet and sour pickled pink onions, and streaky bacon, it can’t fail to impress. Plus, even if it does all go wrong, you can always use an easy to use service like Deliveroo to find gourmet-style dishes you can pass off as your own.
The Best Hamburger Ever
Source: Max Pixel
We’re sure that you’re very modest about your culinary talents, but there’s nothing humble about this burger, and if you want to wow, it’s probably a good choice. Touting itself as the Best Hamburger Ever, this gloriously gorgeous confection is packed full of delicious ingredients, including ground beef, onion, cheese, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, egg, and garlic powder. Taking just 30 minutes to prepare, it’s not only relatively easy to put together, but tastes amazing too.
Hosting a dinner party is a hard ask for anyone, but even the most inexperienced cook can make a really great burger with the help of these four fantastic recipes. Which one will you try your hand at first?