Homemade Burger Seasoning is so much easier to make than you may think! It's made with a few simple pantry ingredients in just 5 minutes and adds so much flavor to your favorite burgers.

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is the best burger seasoning for ground beef, turkey, chicken, bison, or plant-based burgers. It's delicious on all of them!
You'll love how customizable and easy it is to make it. Stir or shake a few spices together, and you've got a flavor-packed mix you'll be using all summer long. It's also so easy to customize to your taste preferences!
You can even make it ahead of time to have it on hand throughout the grilling season. If you love this spice blend, try my Low Country Cajun Seasoning.
Ingredients
You can make this hamburger seasoning with five simple spices and seasoning staples.

- Paprika: Paprika is made from dried, ground red peppers. The regular (or sweet) variety of paprika is the most common one you will find in your grocery store. This is perfect for seasoning mixes! You could substitute for a hot or smoked variety if you prefer, for a different flavor.
- Garlic Powder: Use garlic powder for an intense and concentrated flavor. Although you could mix fresh minced garlic into your burgers, garlic powder works best so you can mix it right into the seasoning blend.
- Onion Powder: Don't skip this one! Onion powder adds so much flavor to this seasoning. You can even add a little more than is listed in the recipe for a stronger flavor.
- Fine Sea Salt: Opt for a real sea salt brand like Redmond Real Salt for the best results. It's always important to salt your meat for the best texture and to round out all the flavors.
- Black Pepper: Ground black pepper or fresh cracked black pepper.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
The great thing about making your own burger seasoning mix is that you can customize it to your liking.
- Give it a smoky flavor. Swap out half of the paprika for smoked paprika for a more intense woodsy, and smoky flavor.
- Make it sweet. Add a teaspoon of brown sugar to sweeten it up. Adjust accordingly to your own taste preference.
- Add chili powder. For even more flavor, you can add other favorite meat seasonings, like chili powder.
- Give it a kick. Add a few dashes of cayenne or crushed red pepper to make it spicy.
How To Make The Best Burger Seasoning
You'll wonder why you haven't been making your own spice blend and buying store-bought seasonings once you make this. It tastes so much better, is less expensive, and can be made exactly how you like it.
- In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients until combined.
- Use in your favorite burger recipe or store in an airtight container.

How To Season Burgers
There is quite a bit of debate about whether you should season the burger meat before or after forming it into patties. Although seasoning it before allows the spices to be evenly distributed throughout the burgers, it typically causes you to overwork the meat by mixing it in. When you handle meat too much, it can become tough.
My favorite way to season burgers is by sprinkling a generous amount (about ½ teaspoon) of the spice blend over each side of the burger patties. This will still add a ton of flavor but keep the meat nice and tender for the perfect burger results.
Serving Suggestions
The best use for this burger seasoning recipe is on your favorite type of burger. It's also great sprinkled over other meat, steak, or veggies. Try it in these Cheeseburger Bowls!
Serve it on your hamburgers for all those summer BBQs and cookouts for Memorial Day or the 4th of July. Your guests will be asking for your recipe!
New to grilling? Read more about How to Grill the Perfect Burger.

Make Ahead and Storage
I love to always have a jar of burger seasoning in my pantry ready to use. You can double or triple this recipe and store it in an air-tight container in your pantry or spice cabinet for whenever you need it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
Though you can season burgers with sea salt and ground black pepper, other herbs, and spices like paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder will give them a boost of flavor. Use whatever seasonings you like!
You should season burgers just before cooking them. This will give them a great flavor.
Whether you use ground beef, bison, turkey, or chicken for your burgers, select meat with some fat content. Leaner ground meat will cause your burgers to be dry, so choose ground meat with 7-15% fat content. For vegetarian and vegan diets, select your favorite plant-based meat substitute.
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Homemade Burger Seasoning
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: about ¼ cup 1x
- Category: Seasonings
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
Description
Homemade Burger Seasoning is so easy to make! It's made with a few simple pantry ingredients and adds so much flavor to your favorite burgers.
Ingredients
- 5 teaspoons paprika
- 4 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients until combined.
- Use in your favorite burger recipe or store in an air tight container.
Notes
Use this seasoning on ground beef, turkey, chicken, bison, or plant-based burgers.
Once you have your patties formed, generously season each side of the burgers (I like to use about ½ teaspoon on each side) just before grilling or pan frying.
Double or triple this recipe and store in an air tight container in your pantry to use all summer long.
Nutritional Values (per serving) are approximates only.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 teaspoon
- Calories: 8
- Sugar: 0.2 g
- Sodium: 131.6 mg
- Fat: 0.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 1.6 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 0.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: burger seasoning, homemade seasoning, spice blend
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