French’s Fancy Cheeseburgers featuring blue cheese, butter, and the tang of French’s mustard, with perfectly shaped, evenly sized patties for an unforgettable meal.
I first stumbled upon this recipe in an old French’s mustard ad. Although I’m not typically a fan of yellow mustard, curiosity got the best of me—and I’m glad it did! After tweaking the recipe, I can confidently say these burgers are worth making often.
French’s Mustard
French’s was introduced to the public at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair by brothers Robert and George French. Made from finely milled yellow mustard seeds and turmeric, French’s became known for its smooth, mild flavor, quickly gaining popularity across the U.S. Today, French’s mustard remains a household staple, celebrated for its distinctive taste that enhances everything from sandwiches to burgers, like this French’s Fancy Cheeseburger.
Blue Cheese is the Secret
The filling for these burgers is a mixture of blue cheese and butter. Blue cheese, with its signature strong flavor, is a type of cheese that has been aged with cultures of the mold Penicillium, giving it the characteristic blue or green veins. Blue cheese has been produced in France for centuries, with famous varieties like Roquefort, Gorgonzola, and Stilton. It pairs beautifully with French’s mustard on this burger.
Making Perfectly Sized Burgers
One essential step in ensuring perfectly cooked burgers is weighing the ground beef. Use a scale to portion out 4-ounce pieces of meat to guarantee that all the patties are the same size. This ensures even cooking and keeps the burgers from shrinking too much on the grill. Divide each portion into two, which will serve as your burger’s top and bottom halves.
Once the patties are shaped, spread French’s mustard on the bottom half of each patty, followed by a spoonful of the blue cheese and butter filling in the center. The mustard adds a tangy kick that enhances the rich, creamy blue cheese. Then, place the second patty on top and press the edges together to seal in the filling, much like sealing a pie crust.
Before grilling, season the burgers with Mis’ Ruben’s Black Magic seasoning, which adds a smoky, grilled flavor even when cooking indoors. For the best results, let the burgers rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld.
Grill the Burgers
When you’re ready to cook, heat a cast iron grill to 470°F / 243℃ and spray it with olive oil to prevent sticking. Thanks to the careful weighing and shaping of the patties, the burgers will cook evenly and develop a perfect sear. Use an instant-read thermometer to ensure the burgers have reached an internal temperature of 135℉ / 52℃.
I like serving the burgers on toasted English muffins. Put them on the grill for a few moments to toast them, then spread them with homemade blue cheese dressing. Top the burgers with thinly sliced cabbage. Cabbage doesn’t wilt, so it will stay crunchy on your burger.
What to Serve with French’s Fancy Cheeseburgers
We make enough blue cheese dressing for both the burgers and for dipping French fries. A green salad goes great with these burgers. A nice bottle of Shiraz complements the beef and the cheese. Strawberry Mousse Fluff would make a great dessert.
French’s Fancy Cheeseburgers Recipe
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French’s Fancy Cheeseburgers
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Ingredients
- 16 ounces Ground beef
- ½ ounce *Blue cheese
- 1 tablespoon Butter, softened
- 4 tablespoon French’s Yellow Mustard
- ½ teaspoon *Mis’ Rubin’s Black Magic
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper, freshly ground
~~ — Blue Cheese Dressing — ~~
- 2 tablespoon Mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoon Sour cream
- ½ ounce *Blue cheese
~~ — Garnish — ~~
- 1 teaspoon *Olive oil
- 4 English muffins
- ¼ cup Onion, sliced
- ¼ cup Cabbage, sliced
Instructions
- Mise en Place
Form the patties
- 16 ounces Ground beefDivide the burgers so there are 4 oz per person, and divide that by 2. Form the 2 oz of meat into balls. Flatten the balls as thinly as possible.
Make the filling
- 1/2 ounce Blue cheese, 1 tablespoon ButterPut the butter and blue cheese in a small bowl and mix them together with a fork.
Form the burgers
- 4 tablespoon French’s Yellow Mustard, 1/2 teaspoon Mis’ Rubin’s Black Magic, 1/4 teaspoon Black pepperPut a tablespoon or mustard on four of the patties. This will be the bottom of the patty. Now put about a tablespoon of the cheese mixture on the mustard. Put the second patty on top. Use your fingers and firmly press on the edges. Form the patties and flatten them. Sprinkle each formed patty with Mis’ Ruben’s Black Magic and freshly ground black pepper.
- Put the burgers in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to let the flavors blend.
Make the dressing
- 2 tablespoon Mayonnaise, 3 tablespoon Sour cream, 1/2 ounce Blue cheeseMix the remaining blue cheese with sour cream and mayonnaise. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cook the burgers
- 1 teaspoon Olive oil, 4 English muffinsHeat a cast iron griddle to 470 °F (243 °C) or more. Spray with olive oil. Put the burgers on the grill, Black Magic side down. Cook until ready to flip, about 5 minutes. Flip the burgers, and then put the English muffins on the grill as well. Let the muffins grill for about two minutes.
- Put some of the dressing on the inside of each muffin.
- Use an instant-read thermometer to check that the burgers are done. Ground beef is done at 135 °F (57 °C).
- 1/4 cup OnionTake a patty and put it on one of the muffins. Top with onions.
- 1/4 cup CabbageTop with cabbage.
- But the muffin top on top of the cabbage. Your burger is done, please enjoy it.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
French’s Fancy Cheeseburger Video Transcript
Transcript
Good afternoon, and welcome to the Good
Plate’s kitchen.
Today we are making French’s Fancy
cheeseburgers.
There’s this, yes, there’s a story behind
this.
I saw an ad, an
old-timey ad for this, and I
thought to myself, you
know, how bad could it be?
And I just to let you know, I don’t really
like regular classic yellow mustard.
So this was kind of like, oh, this could
really be awful, but let me try it anyway.
And let me tell you something.
I like this so much, then I’m making it
again for you.
So, anyway, this is… and I think it’s
important to remember to actually use
French’s mustard, because the recipe calls
for that, and French’s mustard has its own
kind of unique flavor, and that’s a
profile that we really want here.
The other thing that I did, it’s a little
bit different from the actual recipe,
is I used Mis’ Ruben’s black magic.
And this stuff is wonderful.
Makes everything taste like it just came
right off the grill.
So, between those, that’s a wonderful
thing.
When we have a crumbled blue cheese,
and butter, pepper, and some tools.
I have a…
hamburger press, and
this is really needed in
order to get the burgers
the right shape and size.
And a scale.
Okay, so let’s get started.
First thing we’re going to do,
I’m going to weigh the burgers.
The burgers in there.
They are 9.4.
So, we’re looking for…
about 4 ounces each burger, and then we
got to split that again in two.
So, here we go.
I’m going to make the filling.
A little bowl here.
You put butter in here.
And blue cheese, crumbles.
Mix that together with a fork.
If you were making a lot of burgers, you
could use a food processor to do this too.
They’re kind of mixed up.
Alright, that’s good.
Now, put that aside.
Now, the next thing… is we’re going to
use this press.
And I have… just make this into a ball,
huh?
Make that one good… make this a little
bit even more even.
Okay, here we go.
And another ball.
And another ball.
Okay, now… Take this…
and squeeze it.
Squeeze it hard as you can.
There we go.
That’s squeeze.
And move it a little bit.
So you have room to work.
And then squeeze the other one.
See, they’re nice and thin.
Okay.
One, two.
There we go.
Oops.
Oh, like that.
Okay.
Now, they don’t have to be perfect.
Next…
Put some French’s mustard on the bottom
of each one.
And we’re going to take this… beautiful
stuff.
And put it in the center of that.
Okay.
Let’s see that.
I’m gonna put it like that.
There we go.
Oops.
Now, take the top.
Put it on.
Kind of like you would do it a pie.
Just sort of smash it.
So that the inside’s don’t come out.
Then I have a former… and we’re gonna
put that around.
Kind of mush this up a little bit.
See?
So it’s… a fit inside, right?
Like that.
And then we’re gonna take this again and
mush it down.
And then you have a perfectly formed
burger.
That’s great.
All right.
You can do it again.
And go.
One, two.
And that is perfectly formed burger.
And sprinkle some black magic on
it.
And put some black pepper on it also.
Now.
At this point, if you
wanted to, you could put
these in the freezer
and freeze them for later.
Or… you can put them…
in the refrigerator. Or you could
put them on the grill right now.
I’m gonna put them
in the refrigerator so
they can… the flavors
can melt a little bit.
I actually suggest… I suggest putting
these in the refrigerator for a little
while about a half an hour until you put
them on the grill.
Or you put them in a pan.
And that way all the flavors will melt.
We’re going to now cook these burgers.
And I have a cast iron grill right here.
And I’m checking the temperature.
And the temperature is 500 or so degrees.
And check over here.
So I’ll… Okay, 470.
I think we’re good with 470.
And we have some oil.
This is olive oil.
Let’s spray our… There we go.
You really want to spray your pan after
the pan gets hot.
Because that keeps it from sticking.
And… I’m gonna put… the first burger
on.
Okay.
And I have some English muffins.
We’re gonna eat with that.
And I have some cabbage and some onions.
And because there’s blue
cheese inside, I thought it would
be nice to put some blue
cheese on the English muffins.
Okay.
These are ready to flip.
Beautiful.
That one.
More that going.
I’m gonna put these on here.
Just for a few minutes.
Let
me cook these off.
We’ve got two hot.
Oh, very nice.
Nice and warm.
And I’m gonna put some of this…
lovely… in here.
Lovely sauce.
Let’s check the temperature.
One thirty-eight.
One thirty-six.
These are done.
And just in time, too.
One
And some onion.
A little cabbage.
And some top on.
Lovely.
That’s one.
Oh, a little bit.
That’s fine.
A little cabbage.
Look at that.
That is… an absolutely beautiful…
beautiful burger.
It’s so good.
Okay.
So you have to try…
You have to try this.
These are so good.
This punch is fancy cheeseburger.
And thank you for watching.
And we’ll see you next time on The Good
Plate.
