The Best Con Queso Double Burger In Your Cast Iron Grill Pan

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If you’re looking for a fantastic way to cook burgers inside this season, this is it! We use our cast iron grill pan to make a juicy double burger with thick con queso and topped with crunchy fried onions. It’s mouthwateringly good and so simple to cook up in no time. Plus, we’re looking at the grill pan a little closer. Why does it work the way it creates flavorful meals in minutes with those telltale grill marks. 

​We love a good burger on the grill in the summer, but when winter rolls around here in Northern Ontario, Canada, the climate sometimes prevents us from being outside. That’s when we started experimenting with different methods to cook a flavorful burger inside. Using this basic homemade burger patty in your grill cast-iron skillet will result in a fantastic result. 

the best con queso double burger in your cast iron grill pan (1)

Why does cast iron create such unique flavors in meats? 

There are a few reasons, and I certainly don’t want to bore you with a million details, so I will keep it short and sweet.

Cast iron pans need minimal cleaning to keep the seasoning intact. That seasoning on the pan creates a polymerized coating of fats and oils. This seasoning adds a unique and rich flavor to the foods cooked in the skillet, including these tasty double burgers. Further, the Maillard reaction is a fancy way of saying the browning of the crust on the meat is more substantial in cast iron. Cast iron’s ability to provide consistent and intense heat contributes to this more pronounced Maillard reaction over a traditional frying pan, enhancing flavor. 

adding pecans to heated pan

A cast iron grill pan simulates the outdoor BBQ inside by creating beautiful grill marks while allowing excess fats to drip away. The result of searing your burger on high heat is a delicious BBQ-style burger in the house. Of course, once you have this fantastic grilled burger, it’s up to you how to top it. But we are sharing a delicious con queso double burger for this article. 

Why you will love this cheesy burger

It’s easy. Because we are using a simple homemade burger patty of ground beef, we can cook them in just four minutes. 

Thick con queso. While a regular con queso will slip and drip off your burger, this thicker queso will sit on the bun without dripping. 

Crunchy Onions. A generous amount of crunchy fried onions completes the burger, making it a tasty textural treat. 

Let’s start by making the basic burger patties.

Any good burger maker will tell you it’s all about the meat. We’ve discovered that a genuinely flavorful burger is best in its simplest form because you want it to shine, not a bunch of add-ins along the way. So, to make these burger patties, we are using straight ground beef. 

Medium ground beef is the best for burgers because its fat content is higher, making the meat juicy and flavorful. A burger press is OK if you have one on hand to form your patties. You can use this simple method to form burgers if you don’t. Take a generous handful of ground meat and form it into a ball in your hands. On a flat surface, press down to form a circular shape. Will it be a perfect circle? No. In fact, the meat may crack and be a little lumpy around the edges. Use your hands to work it back into a circle while continuing to flatten it. The idea here is to make sure the meat is tightly packed. If it’s not tightly packed, it will fall apart when you flip it. 

Once you have formed a nicely shaped patty approximately half an inch thick, make more with the remaining ground meat. As we make double burgers in the grill pan, remember that most grill pans can only handle four patties at any time. So you can keep the other patties covered on a plate nearby if you are cooking right away or freeze them for later use. 

Follow these easy steps to grill the perfect burger in your grill pan. 

The next thing to have ready is your seasoning blend. A simple blend of three-quarters black pepper to one part salt works well. We will be seasoning the burgers in the cast iron skillet. Get the cast iron pan hot on high heat before adding the first burger. 

Oiling a cast iron grill pan is unnecessary as it’s seasoned with the fats and oils from previous cooking sessions. 

Lay the burgers you are cooking in the grill pan carefully. Then, generously sprinkle the salt/pepper blend from high above. Remember, when seasoning meat in a pan, thirty percent of what you put on will come off. So, if you’ve seasoned enough, it’s good to season the meat a bit more. Be generous. And be sure to season both sides of the patty.

The first side of the burger will sear on the grill pan for one minute before you gently flip it with a spatula. That flipping is more of a careful lifting and laying back down. We don’t want these to fall apart. Again, wait one full minute before flipping. But now we want to flip and lay the burger to get grill marks going in the opposing direction. The grill marks should be noticeable on the burger if the pan is hot enough. 

Once you have cooked the burger for another minute, flip it for the last time again, paying attention to the grill marks and laying in the opposing direction of the first set of grill marks. 

Because we’ve used medium ground beef, there will be a considerable amount of grease in the base of the pan. When you’ve grilled your first four patties, you will want to drain the grease from the pan if you immediately make more. Be sure to wipe any grease drips off the grill pan’s sides and bottoms before returning to the heat so you don’t start a stove fire. (If you start a stove fire, put it out with a box of baking soda, not water- alternatively, you can safely smother a small stove fire with a pot lid if you have one handy. Of course, we hope you can avoid needing that information altogether.) \

​Let’s continue with the double burger queso dip topping. We have used our queso blanco recipe and added orange cheese in place of the white, making it a con queso instead of blanco. We also added more cornstarch to the recipe (2 tablespoons), resulting in a thicker, spreadable cheese dip. If you want, you can use regular American cheese to make this, or any sharp old cheddar will work as well. 

finished burger with con queso sauce

From there, you will assemble the delicious fresh double burger. 

We used store-bought Dempster’s signature Gold hamburger buns, which held up really well to the juiciness of the double burger. On the bottom, add some of the queso cheese. You will then add two of the burger patties and top it with fresh leaf lettuce and a generous amount of crispy fried onions, which can be found at most local grocery stores. Add a dollop more cheese and the top bun.

Serve your delicious cast iron grill pan double burger with a side of French fries for a complete lunch or dinner idea.

If you love cooking in the grill pan, why not try a cast iron pan for our chicken and kale salad? It makes a great lunch or light dinner and gives you another reason to enjoy that beautiful cast iron. 

So, the next time you want to try a new burger recipe, we hope you will try this one! 

Substitutions and add-ins for this double burger recipe

Ground beef: For a healthier option, try using a chicken or turkey burger instead of the ground beef patty. Remember, though, that cook times will vary, and be sure not to over-grill the meat as both can dry out faster than beef. 

Con Queso: If you prefer, you can use store-bought queso on the burger, but it is a fair bit thinner than our homemade version, so you will want to be careful of adding too much. 

Crispy Fried Onion: Can be subbed with caramelized onion. Sauteeing the onion until it forms a brown caramelization would pair well and add another layer of flavor to these burgers. 

Other topping ideas for a con queso burger include chili peppers, pico de gallo, tomatillo sauce, cilantro lime crema, or fried avocado slices. 

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