Many home cooks have their own blend of burger seasoning, while others rely on pre-mixed blends from the store or their favorite BBQ brands. But we’ve found that you can get the job done with just 4 basic ingredients: coarse salt, white pepper, black pepper, and red pepper — a mixture that packs a good amount of both heat and flavor in every bite. We recommend coarse salt instead of table salt because it’s much larger and easier to see, which makes it harder to under-salt or over-salt when seasoning burgers.

Pepper grinder next to a plate with raw hamburger meat on it

When forming your burger patties, wait until you’ve got the meat broken into loose bits on your parchment paper before adding seasoning. Then you can lightly toss the spices with the meat and make them into patties that’ll be seasoned throughout rather than just on the top layer. If you’re grilling pre-made patties be sure to season them on both the top and bottom then gently pat in the spices before they go on the grill. Pro tip: it’s best to grill Wagyu burgers straight from the freezer because their high fat content will likely cause the patty to fall apart when thawed. For those burgers, simply coat them with a bit of cooking oil then season with salt and pepper.

No matter what type of burgers you choose to grill, start out with our recommendations for seasoning. From there, feel free to experiment with other spices if you’re looking for a different type of flavor.