Having a package of ready-made patties in your freezer is perfect for those last-minute crazy nights when you need to get dinner to the table fast and don’t want to give in to the siren of fast-food drive-through convenience. Grilling frozen burgers is fast, easy, and delicious when you follow our simple instructions.
🍽️ Why This Works
Fast and Easy for a busy weeknight or weekend lunch. | Move your meal from the freezer to the table in under twenty minutes.
Perfect to have on hand for food emergencies. | College son showing up at ten pm hungry? No problem! Hungry teenager scrounging for extra protein? Grill a frozen burger fast.
Crowd-pleasing. | Everyone loves a good burger, and with high-quality frozen burger patties, you can have them any time the craving strikes or you have a crowd to feed.
🍔 Ingredients
📝 Ingredient Notes
Frozen Burgers – As you can see in the image, we used Bubba Burgers. I definitely recommend a high-quality selection with good beef for grilling frozen burgers.
Buns – We love to get a good bakery bun but you can pick any buns you want.
Butter – Real butter, which will make your burger bun taste like something you would get at a high-end restaurant.
Homemade Burger Sauce – Mix mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, and sugar for a fantastic homemade burger sauce your whole family will love. This is optional but delicious.
⏲️ Equipment and Tools
GrillGrate. This handy tool allows food on your grill to cook faster and more evenly, plus you’ll see those pretty grill marks. Turn this over and it turns into a last minute griddle that you can whip up the Travis Scott Burger.
🔥 Instructions
Step One: Season your burgers with your favorite seasoning blend. Salt and pepper are plenty. Garlic powder and onion powder are also excellent additions!
Tip: If your frozen patties are stuck together you can separate them using a butter knife.
Step Two: Heat up the grill on direct heat at 350-375º F and place the frozen hamburger patties directly on the grill grates.
If you’re using a gas grill, set it on high heat. Things are a bit trickier for a charcoal grill since you can’t adjust the temperature. A good rule of thumb is to wait for the coals to turn white before placing the frozen burgers on the grill.
Step Three: Turn every three to five minutes. This is very important when using medium-high heat. By turning the burgers, they will get cooked more evenly and the inside will thaw faster. Rotate them to get criss-cross grill marks. Grill for a total of about 15 minutes, with a target internal temperature of 165ºF.
The fat in the frozen meat patties will start to melt and may cause flare-ups. Be mindful of the possibility and supervise the burgers as they cook. It’s a short cook time, so at least it will be over fast!
Note: The target internal temp is the same for all frozen burgers, regardless if they’re made from ground beef or you’re planning to grill chicken or turkey burgers. It even applies to veggie burgers! Use a digital meat thermometer for the most accurate results. This will prevent over or undercooking the burger.
Step Four: Slice and butter the buns.
Step Five: Grill the hamburger buns for a minute or two. This might seem like an annoying extra step, but you will thank me for it later.
Step Six: Serve hot with your favorite toppings!
🌡️ Burger Cooking Chart
| Doneness | Temperature | Appearance |
| Rare | 120-125° | Bright Red |
| Medium-Rare | 130-135° | Bright Pink |
| Medium | 140-145 | Slightly Pink |
| Medium-Well | 150-155° | Mostly Brown |
| Well Done | 160° | All Brown |
Alternatively, print our free Burger Temperature Chart and use a handy Internal Meal Thermometer.
❗ Recipe Tips and Tricks
To get perfect criss-cross grill marks on both sides of your burger, flip the burgers every three and a half minutes. When you rotate back to a side that has already been done once, rotate the burger 90º so that the grill marks form a criss-cross pattern. Beautiful!
Make sure you do not press down your burgers when you flip them even though it is tempting. All you are doing is squeezing the juice out, and it will result in a drier burger.
Preheat your grill first. The best way to grill frozen burger patties is to start with a hot grill on medium heat so that you can get the outside of the meat seared right away. That keeps those juices trapped inside.
Fresh Burger Recipes
Starting with fresh meat? Try one of our favorite burger recipes using fresh patties:
Storage and Reheating
After cooking these, you might be wondering what to do with the leftovers. Leftover hamburgers can be stored in the refrigerator in a sealed plastic baggy or airtight container for a few days.
Cooked hamburgers can also be frozen for up to three months and reheated in a microwave or skillet. This is a great way to have a fast meal when you need something in a pinch.
Common Brands
| Bubba | Kirkland (Costco) | Ballpark |
| Applegate | Omaha Steaks |
Additions and Substitutions
I definitely recommend you play around with various dry rubs and seasonings when grilling these. You have so many great options to add flavor and pizazz to your meat!
You can stick to salt and pepper if you want to, but you can also dress up your burger with a custom seasoning blend.
Toppings
Here are some popular toppings you can mix and match:
Popular Combinations
Switch up the toppings and you can add endless variety to your burger night. Try one of these combinations.
Mushroom and Swiss Burger: Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions with Baby Swiss.
Hawaiian Sweet: Add a slice of grilled pineapple, a little BBQ sauce, and serve it all on a Hawaiian Sweet Roll bun.
Bacon Classic: American Cheese or Cheddar, Crunchy Bacon, Tomato, Lettuce, and Mayonnaise. This is a classic that is hard to beat.
California Burger: Avocado slices, tomato, lettuce, and onions.
Build-Your-Own: One fun idea is to have a burger-themed party and ask each guest to bring a different burger topping of choice.
For a fun twist on the classic cheeseburger, try our Kobe Beef Cheeseburger Kebabs.
Serving Suggestions
After you finish grilling frozen burgers, the possibilities for topping your hamburger are as endless as your creativity. I love a classic burger with tomato, onion, lettuce, and of course, our homemade burger sauce. But grilling frozen burgers is perfect for any kind of hamburger you love!
And there are plenty of sides that go well with burgers so they’ll never get boring. If you care about your diet, try one of these healthy sides for burgers that will ensure you get a nutritious, well-rounded meal.
Serve up the hamburgers with smoky deviled eggs, smoked potato salad, grilled sweet potatoes or potato kebabs. Curly fries or onion rings in the Air Fryer are always a good choice.
Feeding a big crowd? Make Smoked Hot Dogs for variety.
Recipe FAQ
Your frozen burgers should take about fifteen minutes from frozen. Flip the patties every three to five minutes.
Your goal is an internal temperature of 165ºF. Use a probe thermometer to keep a close eye on the burger temp.
Yes. There is no need to thaw them first. Preheat your grill to 350º and cook your burgers from frozen for about fifteen minutes, flipping every three to five minutes.
Yes. Grilling frozen burgers is so easy! Preheat your grill to 350º and cook your burgers from frozen for about fifteen minutes, flipping every three to five minutes.
350-375ºF is perfect for grilling frozen burgers. It cooks them a little more slowly on the outside so that the inside has time to fully thaw and cook.
It doesn’t take any time at all to grill a buttered bun and it’s super glamorous. Plan one or two minutes at the most.
According to the USDA, all types of cooked meat and poultry last 3-4 days in the fridge, including cooked beef patties.
For optimal freshness, wrap the meat in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and place it in a plastic bag or an airtight container.
No. If you’re short on time you can grill hamburger patties straight from frozen. You’ll have to use a lower grill temperature to prevent the outside from charring while the inside is still thawing.
If time allows it, let your burgers thaw in the fridge. Seasonings will better stick to their surface and the risk of them cooking unevenly is much smaller.
Yes, if your frozen burgers are in a sealed bag. Make sure the bag is fully submerged in cold water. Change the water every 30 minutes until the burgers are completely thawed. Cook immediately.
It takes about 15 minutes for the grill to preheat. This will help sear the outside fast and lock in the juices.
Related Recipes
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!
How to Grill Frozen Burgers
Equipment
- GrillGrate
Ingredients
- 4 Burger Patties frozen
- 4 Burger Buns
- 4 tbsp Butter
- Toppings your choice
Burger Sauce (optional)
- ½ cup Mayonnaise
- ¼ cup Ketchup
- 2 tsp Relish
- 2 tsp Sugar
Instructions
Frozen Burgers
- Heat grill using direct heat to 350-375°
- Season the frozen burger patties with salt and pepper. Optional: Use your favorite dry rub.
- Place the frozen patties on the grill and turn them over every 3-5 minutes for about 15 minutes. DO NOT PRESS DOWN
- Remove when the internal temperature reaches 165°
- Slather each bun with butter on the cut side. Place it on grill, butter side down, for 1-2 minutes, max.
Burger Sauce (optional)
- Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and stir. Serve with hamburgers, hotdogs or as a sandwich spread. Keep in refrigerator for up to one week in a covered container.
Notes
Nutrition
Jason’s been firing up the grill for over 30 years after graduating from the US Coast Guard Academy. His love of finely-grilled steak and chicken led him to buy his first Weber grill to put on his apartment patio in 1992. Each military move led to a new grill (a mixture of gas and charcoal) until he fell in love with the Big Green Egg in 2008. Since then, he has added another 4 grills to the collection. Yes, he has a problem. Jason loves smoking in the ceramic BGE with exotic woods including olive wood from Egypt and hard to find varieties such as sassafras and orange wood. Jason takes the term “foodie” to a whole new level, jumping at the chance to take food tours and cooking classes during foreign travels. These have provided inspiration to incorporate new ideas into recipes when he gets back home. He has been featured in Fox News, Parade, Yahoo News, Kansas City Living and more. After retiring from the military and moving to southwest Florida, he has focused grilling and smoking locally sourced meats and fish (read: he likes to catch his own fish!)
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