French Onion Soup Burgers

It sounded like an a epic upgrade on a relatively classic burger, so I tucked the idea away and let it marinate bit.

I knew I’d be designing my own French Onion burger recipe, I just wasn’t immediately sure what it would look like. I played around with various ideas on how to apply the basic concepts of French onion soup to some juicy burgers.

In the end, I decided to start with onion soup burgers - literally. I flavoured the burger patties with some onion soup mix, and a bit of thyme.

I caramelized the onions with some white wine and thyme, again bringing the soup flavours into the burger components.

Then, I resisted the urge to use some Dijonnaise. I think it would be fabulous with these flavours, but not exactly on brand for French Onion Soup.

Anyway, we’ve been making these burgers ever since, and photographed them for this post while camping at Mew Lake Campground last summer - during a fire ban.

So, we made them over a propane camp stove that time, but generally prefer making them over charcoal. You could also make them over a stove
top, or a regular grill. Whichever way you cook it, these French Onion Soup Burgers are sure to become a family favourite!

Let’s look at what you’ll need for this recipe, so you’re prepared for the next time a burger craving hits!

Ingredients

This recipe uses relatively simple ingredients - you shouldn’t have much difficulty finding what you need in pretty much any grocery store.

As always, I have a few notes for you:

Ground Beef

While I tend to use lean ground beef in a lot of my recipes, I recommend using regular ground beef for burgers.

IMHO, it just gives a more flavourful, juicy burger, than lean or extra lean ground beef do.

If you need to cut the fat though... it’ll still work with a leaner cut.

Cheese

I use slices of both Provolone Cheese and Swiss Cheese in this recipe - each burger gets one of each.

I like the convenience of pre-sliced cheeses - when I can get them... but if you’re feeling bougie, feel free to slice up a nice Gruyere cheese, if you’d prefer!

Onion Buns

I like to use onion buns for this recipe. Not only are they on-theme, who doesn’t love onion buns?

That said, if you’re not as into onion buns... feel free to use whichever burger buns you like!

Dry White Wine

If you don’t want to use white wine, you can use a bit of beef broth or beef stock.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Butter, Bacon Fat, or Olive Oil
Large Onions
Onion Soup Mix
Ground Black Pepper
Dried Thyme
Salt

... I just really don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go!

How to Make French Onion Soup Burgers

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:

French Onion Soup Burger Patties

Place ground beef in a large bowl, along with the onion soup mix, pepper, and thyme.

Gently use hands to get a really good mix going, making sure that everything is evenly distributed and well incorporated in the meat mixture. Don’t overhandle it or squeeze!

Divide the chilled ground beef mixture into 3 or 4 equal portions.

Gently flatten each ball into a patty that is roughly the size of your burger buns – maybe a little larger - with a slight indent in the center of each patty.

Transfer to a plate or small baking sheet, cover and chill beef patties for 20 minutes - you want the patties cold when they go on the grill!

Caramelized Onions

In a large sautee pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter or bacon fat.

Add the onion slices and a little salt and cook - stirring often - until the onions are golden brown. This usually takes about 20 minutes or so.

French Onion Soup Burger Assembly

Place French Onion Soup burgers on the grill grates, grill burgers over medium heat until the internal temperature reaches 160 F on a meat thermometer / instant-read thermometer.

Note: You can cook these on the stovetop, if you prefer. I like to use a large nonstick pan to cook the beef patties over medium heat, but a large cast-iron skillet / cast iron pan over medium-high heat is also a good option.

Also: 165 F is the temperature generally accepted as being the safest minimum internal temperature. If you prefer medium doneness or medium-rare doneness, it’s usually more like 2-3 minutes on each side, and aiming for 130 -145 F.

Top each burger patty with a Provolone Swiss cheese slices, allow to melt.

Split your hamburger buns, toast if desired.

Place a patty on each bottom bun, then place a scoop of the onion mixture on top of each patty. Add the top bun, and serve immediately!

Leftovers

Leftover burgers can be cooled to room temperature and kept in an airtight container the fridge for up to 3 days.

I’ll usually reheat the cold patties in the microwave for about 45 seconds, before assembling my burger.

More Grilling Recipes for Camping

Looking for some great meals to cook on a campfire or grill? Here's a few of my favourites!

Bacon Venison Burgers with Whiskey Onions
Bison Burgers with Bacon and Caramelized Onions
Campfire Pizza
Elk Burgers with Bacon & Sauteed Mushrooms
Fajita Chicken Kebabs
Greek Chicken Souvlaki
Grilled Chicken Fajitas
Lemon-Dill Fresh Salmon Burgers
Easy Grilled Shrimp Tacos
Grilled Tuna Tacos
Mediterranean Chicken Kebabs
Thanksgiving Turkey Burgers

Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes.

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!