smashburgers + fries

with extra special sauce

via Getty Images because burgers are legit impossible to photograph.

Click here for the WTC recipe index and scroll to the very bottom of this post for a printable PDF of today’s recipes!

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Sending this week’s email one day early because not only is this a fantastic Valentine’s meal — it would, of course, make a perfect Super Bowl Sunday meal (if you’re not already too full of buff chick dip).

I love Valentine’s Day. In recent years especially, I’ve chosen to really lean into the occasion. We typically cook something traditionally “romantic” like steak or scallops, light some candles, drink a bottle of wine, you know the drill. But this year I thought that it would be fun to share what has become one of George’s and my favorite “date night at home” meals to cook together: SMASH BURGERS AND FRIES. I took a poll on Instagram and all of you agreed, so here we are!

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what’s a smash burger?

A smash burger is like a fast-food style burger: thin patty, crisp edges, melty American cheese, crisp iceberg lettuce, special sauce, pickles. Before you ask — yes, you can use a different cheese, but this is the ONE time in life that I use American and it’s honestly just a perfect bite of food.

These are not the thick, perfectly medium-rare $20 burgers you get at a fancy restaurant. Smash burger patties are so thin that they cook in just 4 minutes, so we’re actually serving up double burgers (two of these patties have about the same amount of meat that’s in a thicker burger!), which makes these burgers feel even more special.

They’re called smash burgers because you actually smash the ball of meat onto the griddle with your spatula, giving the burger craggy edges instead of making perfectly circular burgers. They are packed with flavor, and honestly, I never want to eat a “fancy” thick burger again!

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what’s the order of operations here?

This is definitely not your average What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking recipe. WTC recipes typically require super minimal clean up and are often all cooked in one pot or pan. While this recipe is definitely not hard, it does have a few moving parts, and you do wind up with a giant pot of oil to clean up at the end (don’t worry — I’ll tell you exactly how to do so!). This is our first journey into the world of deep frying — but it is such a good Frying for Dummies lesson, and the end product is worth the extra clean up, I promise.

Because there are multiple parts to this meal, here’s the best plan of attack:

1. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I highly encourage you to cook this meal with a loved one! Split up the duties — one of you on fries, one of you on smashies.

2. Read through both recipes in full before you start cooking! That’s always helpful, but will be especially so for this meal.

3. Start with the fries. Once you set the 15-minute timer after the oil starts boiling, start working on the burgers.

4. Cook the burgers while the fries are finishing up.

5. Devour everything immediately.

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via Getty Images

fries

Serves 4 to 6

~35 minutes active cooking time