smashburger

noun

smash·​burg·​er ˈsmash-ˌbər-gər 

variants or smash burger

plural smashburgers or smash burgers

1

: a hamburger patty that is pressed thin onto a heated pan or griddle at the start of cooking

Smashburgers start life as 3- to 4-ounce balls of ground meat, then get smashed flat onto a hot griddle. The resulting patty is thin and often imperfectly shaped, with edges all brown and crispy. … According to historian and burger authority George Motz, smashburgers go back more than 150 years.

—Chuck Blount

To put the "smash" in "smashburger," I pressed down firmly on my burgers with a spatula.

—Erin McDowell

So what's a smash burger? (And we're not talking about the Smashburger chain of restaurants.) Let's have Hammy himself (owner [of Hammy's Smash Burgers] Hamzah Ahmed) describe what happens after the ball of beef is placed on a hot griddle: "We take our press and smash it into the grill … so it gets crispy around the edges and the inside stays juicy. It pretty much locks in all the flavor."

—Bethany Clough

Because a smash burger is loosely formed and flattened, it has lots of craggy surface area to get crisp and brown and so darn delicious it barely even needs any condiments.

—Joanne Sasvari

also : a patty (as of beans or ground turkey) prepared similarly

a black bean smash burger

2

: a sandwich featuring one or more such patties

… a full-service bar and restaurant offering its famous smash burger: A burger patty that is smashed between two pounds of cast iron and topped with American cheese, caramelized onions, pickles, mayo and mustard on a golden brioche bun.

—Ariel Perez

Examples of smashburger in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This isn’t the smashburger way, which may sometimes come with lettuce but most often favors the full press of bun, meat and cheese. —Laurie Ochoa, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2024

Of late, the smashburger has been getting this treatment to much cheer. —The Bon Appétit Staff & Contributors, Bon Appétit, 21 Oct. 2024

Jollof rice and smashburger were the two dish-specific terms added. —Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024

Taste test: Monica tried the Asian crispy chicken salad ($12.99), the Asian meatballs ($11.99), meatball sliders ($12.99) and smashburger ($9.99). —Monica Eng, Axios, 12 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined at sense 2