Breakfast Smashburger
The Breakfast Smashburger is Born
What is your breakfast story, friends? Here is mine: I can’t eat “real” food. The problem is that I eat breakfast at 5:30 AM, so the idea of anything more than half a toasted bagel is too much for my stomach. Meat products, eggs, or any sort of vegetable seems a bit revolting at that time of the morning. Which is why we must indulge in the occasional weekend brunch. This amazing breakfast smashburger is the perfect way to indulge.
Bricks and Smashburgers
This recipe came into being because I wanted to smash something with a brick. It is fun! And smashing things that don’t break is a great way to let out the week’s aggravation! My husband asked no questions when I asked if we had any bricks. Instead, he retrieved one from his supplies and wiped it off. He didn’t even blink when I asked him to wrap it in foil. But why a brick? So we can make super thin sausage smashburgers for our breakfast sandwiches. You can use any super heavy object, of course. This was the most practical for me. Gently smashing down on an oversized sausage meatball, yielded the perfect thin burger patty for our sandwich.
Putting the Breakfast Smashburger Together
The next step was figuring out the other ingredients. I really love onions, but didn’t want slices of raw onion on this. Instead, I thinly sliced an onion and sprinkled it with hot sauce. These were fried in some butter while the sausage burgers were fried in another pan. After that, I made a plain omelet (just eggs!) and melted slices of cheddar cheese on top. A king sized English muffin served as the base for our breakfast smashburger, but rolls or bagels would work just as well.
A New Breakfast Sandwich is Crowned King
Here in New York, the bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll is king, but I think this is really a step above. Layers of egg, melty cheddar, a crispy sausage smashburger, and jammy hot sauce onions on an English muffin: this is truly a hearty, delicious brunch treat. I won’t be eating it before dawn, but will definitely be thinking about this breakfast smashburger as I wait on that dark and cold train platform.
Breakfast Smashburger
Equipment
- Foil covered brick
Ingredients
- non-stick cooking spray
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 lb sausage meat
- 3-4 tbsp butter
- 1 small yellow onion
- hot sauce
- 4 eggs
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
- 2 English muffins king sized
- salt and pepper
- ketchup optional
Instructions
- Cover a brick in aluminum foil. Spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. See the tips for other things you can use.
- Split the 1/2 pound of sausage meat in two and form two large meatballs.
- Place the meat on a cutting board and gently "smash" with the brick. Keep tapping gently until the burger is very thing – about 1/8 at most.
- Use a spatula to gently lift the burgers and set them aside.
- Cut the onion into very thin slices.
- Sprinkle the onions with hot sauce to taste. Always start light and add more.
- I used two frying pans for the next steps. If you only have one, start by cooking the onions and then move on to the sausage.
- Melt one tablespoon of butter in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- While the onions cook, add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the frying pan. Sausage meat has quite a bit of fat, so you don't need to overdo the oil. Start light and add more if the burger stick.
- Cook the burgers about three minutes on each side until completely browned and crispy. They are quite thin, so the inside will cook rather quickly.
- Set aside the cooked onions and the cooked sausage.
- I cooked two separate omelets, but you can cook one larger one and cut it in half. The choice is yours.
- Crack two eggs (for one omelet) into a bowl and mix until lightly frothy.
- Add 1 tbsp of butter to the frying pan ( I used the one that had the onions) and add the eggs. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Cook the omelet over medium high heat until it is mostly firm (about four minutes). Flip the omelet and lower the heat.
- Place two slices of cheddar on top and cook gently until melted. I usually put a lid on the frying pan, leaving one side open, to encourage the cheese to melt.
- Toast an English muffin while the cheese melts.
- Make your second omelet and toast the second muffin.
- Put your sandwich together: muffin on bottom, omelet and cheese, sausage smashburger, onions, muffin top.
- Serve with ketchup or more hot sauce – or both!
