Star-Spangled Burgers: 3 Wild Game Masterpieces for the Fourth of July

To celebrate Independence Day, we’ve put together three original recipes for wild game burgers that will help you win this Fourth of July weekend — a basic cheeseburger for weirdos unsure about venison, an Americana steakhouse classic, and a Texas-inspired patty melt as big as the Lone Star State. Of the hundreds of millions of hamburgers that will be grilled and eaten across the country, these three might just be the most American. 

Each burger features whitetail deer meat for the base, but there’s no reason you couldn’t use mule deer, elk, antelope, axis deer, or any ground meat. Hell, beef will work, too, if your freezer is empty. Wild game can be very lean, so we’ve mixed meats and incorporated pork fat to provide flavor and help hold the burgers together. Each burger is tested, tried, and delicious AF. We hope you enjoy! 

The Karen

This one’s for the basic bitches, picky eaters, and snot-nosed kids at the barbecue. There’s always a Karen. You can rely on her to live, laugh, love, and call the cops on you for all the fireworks. This recipe mixes ground venison with high-quality beef and comes with all the classic burger fixings for a familiar and relatable burger that will please even the wine-drunk pain-in-the-ass your brother’s wife invited to the party.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces ground venison cut with pork fat
• 4 ounces 90/10 ground beef
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 slices American cheese
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise 
• 1 tomato 
• 1 red onion
• 1 sesame bun
• 5 to 10 bread-and-butter pickle chips
• 3 lettuce leaves

Directions

1. Mix the ground venison and beef and incorporate the salt, pepper, and other seasonings. 
2. Form the meat into a tight patty. 
3. Grill the burger on one side until grill marks form and the meat stops sticking to the grate, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the burger 90 degrees and grill for about another minute. 
4. Flip the burger and repeat the marking process on the other side. 
5. Cook the burger to the desired temperature. (We recommend medium-rare.) Top the burger with the slices of cheese for the last minute or so of cooking. 
6. Mix the ketchup and mayonnaise together, slice the onion and tomato, then lightly toast the bun.
7. Assemble the burger: Sauce the bun, put pickle chips on the bottom, then the burger, then the tomato, then the lettuce, then the onion. 

The Steakhouse

You can’t go wrong with a classic steakhouse-style burger. A little smoky, a little sweet, and tons of flavor make this burger a winner. Thick slabs of bacon, blue cheese, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and barbecue sauce tie it all together. We also threw a couple of onion rings right on the burger, cuz  #’MERICA. For this one, we used a mix of ground bear meat and venison, but whatever quality meat you have available will work. Bear meat is similar to other game meats such as venison but with a deeper, “meatier” flavor and higher fat content. If you do have access to bear meat, make sure you cook the burger all the way through. No one wants trichinosis. 

Ingredients

• 4 ounces ground bear meat
• 4 ounces ground venison cut with pork fat
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon blue cheese or gorgonzola 
• 2 to 4 onion rings or a handful of crispy fried onions 
• 2 to 4 strips of thick-cut maple or applewood smoked bacon
• ½ cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
• ½ cup Spanish onions, diced
• 1 teaspoon thyme, fresh or dried
• 1 tablespoon BBQ sauce
• 1 brioche or pretzel bun

Directions

1. Mix the ground venison and bear and incorporate the salt, pepper, and the onion and garlic powder.
2. Form the meat into a tight patty. 
3. Grill the burger on one side until grill marks form and the meat stops sticking to the grate, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the burger 90 degrees and grill for about another minute. 
4. Flip the burger and repeat the process on the other side. 
5. Cook the burger all the way through until it reads at least 160 degrees on a meat thermometer. Top the burger with the blue cheese for the last minute or so of cooking. 
6. Bake or fry your onion rings. We used store-bought, but you could certainly make your own. 
7. Cook the strips of bacon, then set them aside. Drain all but a tablespoon’s worth of bacon fat from the pan.
8. Dice and slice your onions and mushrooms and saute them in the pan with the bacon fat. Season with a pinch of salt, pepper, and thyme.
9. Toast the bun and assemble the burger: Spread BBQ sauce on both sides of the bun, place the burger on the bottom, then the slices of bacon, then the mushrooms and onions, then the onion rings. 

The Texan

Like the state itself, this Texan is a mixture of textures, flavors, and cultures that fuse together into one bite of badassery. We used two staples of the Texas hunting scene — hog and whitetail, along with fixings that represent a taste of the Southwest. This burger is big and bold with a little spice to keep things interesting. It features thin patties, gooey cheese, lots of peppers, and fried tomatillos sandwiched between thick slices of Texas toast.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces ground hog 
• 4 ounces ground venison cut with pork fat
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon fennel seed
• ½ teaspoon sage, fresh or dried
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 4 slices of cheddar cheese
• ½ Spanish onion
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 to 3 tomatillos
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup whole milk
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 1 loaf farm-style bread
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chipotle sour cream or mayo
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper jelly
• ¼ cup pickled peppers

Directions

1. Mix the ground venison and hog meat and incorporate 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and the other seasonings. 
2. Form the meat into two thin, tight patties. 
3. Grill the burgers on one side until grill marks form and the meat stops sticking to the grate, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the burgers 90 degrees and grill for about another minute. 
4. Flip the burgers and repeat the process on the other side. 
5. Continue to cook and flip the burgers until they are cooked through — around another minute or two. Top the burgers with the slices of cheese for the last minute or so of cooking. 
6. Thinly slice a Spanish onion and saute it in a little butter until caramelized. 
7. Thinly slice the tomatillos, then mix and beat the egg and milk together in a small bowl.
8. Set up a dredging station with the flour, egg wash, and panko breadcrumbs. Then bread the tomatillos in that order.
9. Fry the tomatillos in a pan with a splash of vegetable oil. Once golden brown, remove the tomatillos from the oil and set them aside on a paper towel. 
10. Cut two thick slices of the farm-style bread and lather them with the butter and minced garlic. Toast the bread until slightly crispy on the outside. 
11. Assemble the burger: Spread chipotle sauce and pepper jelly on each slice of toast, then stack the burgers on the bottom, then the fried tomatillos, the caramelized onions, and the pickled peppers.  

Make this year’s Fourth of July your most memorable yet with a lineup of stellar wild game burgers. From the basic Karen, to the classic Steakhouse, to the over-the-top Texan, we’ve got your cookout covered. Share your love for America, the outdoors, and wild meat with your family and friends this Independence Day.

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