A delicious burger straight off the grill is the quintessential American summer in a meal. It’s everything we love about grilled food: a little char, juicy in the middle, full of flavor, and easy to eat! When you grill up a stack of burgers and end up with leftovers, you might be wondering how to reheat a burger. We’ve got you covered with options in spades.
❗ Tips and Tricks
Grill Extra Burgers for Leftovers. Intentionally make a few extra burgers because leftover burgers make fabulous lunches and quick meals on busy days. Here are a few tips for grilling extra burgers.
Cheeseburgers. Don’t add cheese. Cheese gets gross on a leftover burger and doesn’t reheat like you think it should. Instead, make your extra burgers plain and add the cheese after reheating the burger.
Keep Seasoning Minimal. If you are making a stack of extra burgers just to refrigerate or freeze for later, keep seasoning to a minimum with just basic salt and pepper. This allows you to add fresh seasoning as you reheat the burger. You can vary the flavor profile of each burger simply by using a different rub, seasoning mix, or sauce to match your toppings of choice. This is a great way to change up your burgers for the second time around.
Cook the Burgers So They Reheat Beautifully. If you know you will be grilling some of your burgers to reheat later, make sure you do not overcook the meat. If this is the plan, grilling your burgers to medium (140º-145ºF) or medium well (150º – 155ºF) may be a good idea. Just be aware that you can get sick from undercooked meat so be careful not to let them be undercooked.
🍽️ How to Store Leftovers
Use an airtight container. Plastic containers or sealed freezer-quality baggies will keep your meat safe and fresh longer. It also helps prevent drying out.
Refrigerate or Freeze? If you will use up the leftovers within one or two days, you can refrigerate the burgers. If you plan to use them next week or just want to have them on hand for a fast meal when things get busy, put your leftover burgers in the freezer. Freeze the burgers individually on a tray and then move to a freezer quality zipper bag after a few hours. Then you can just grab the number of burgers you need to reheat.
🔥 How to Reheat Safely
Get it hot. Make sure you reheat your burgers to the proper internal temperature for food safety. Ideally, you want your burger to reach 165ºF for food safety purposes, per the USDA. Test the burger in the center using an instant-read thermometer for doneness.
Get them cold fast. Put the extra burgers in the refrigerator as quickly as possible. Food left to sit out at room temperature is at that sweet spot for extra bacterial growth. Bacteria growth happens between 90ºF and 140ºF so you don’t want your burgers to hang out in that range for very long. Getting the food cooled down is essential for safety.
Don’t reheat twice. Once you’ve cooked the burger and the meat is no longer raw, it can only be reheated safely once. If you reheat too many at once and don’t need them, they should be thrown away and not refrigerated again.
Reheat on the Stovetop
A cast iron skillet or non-stick skillet will both work well for reheating a burger on the stovetop. Add fresh seasoning or sauce to freshen up your burger. Get the skillet hot first, then place the burgers on the skillet for three to four minutes per side. Once the burger is ready, you can add cheese and let it melt before removing your food from the heat.
This method also works for how to reheat a cooked frozen burger. If the burger is frozen, make sure to begin on medium to low heat so that the outside doesn’t burn before the inside thaws.
Reheat in an Air Fryer
Place your burgers inside. (Don’t preheat the air fryer.) Set the temperature to 300º (or the closest setting to that on your model) and heat the burgers for two or three minutes. Check the internal temperature and repeat as needed.
Reheat in the Microwave
Reheating a burger in the microwave is probably the easiest method. Pop the burger on a plate, and place a paper towel on top to avoid getting grease splatter on the top of your microwave. Reheat for thirty seconds at a time until the burger is good and hot all the way through. Do not overcook the burger. A microwave will not caramelize the outside or aid the flavor in any way, but it gets the job done if you are in a rush.
Reheat in the Oven
Turn your oven on the broil setting. Place the burgers on a baking sheet and place them in the oven. If you want to avoid washing the sheet pan, line it with foil first. Broil the burgers for three to five minutes until they are hot all the way through. Flip once halfway through to crisp up the other side and heat the burger more evenly.
Reheat on the Grill
Preheat your grill, and then place the burgers inside. Cook them for three to four minutes with the lid down. They should be hot, bubbly, and 165ºF. Don’t forget to add fresh sauce or seasoning to your burger.
It may seem like reheating burgers on a grill would be extra work versus just throwing them in a skillet. Perhaps you want to grill new sides such as corn on the cob, potato packets, or asparagus. In this case, using the other half of the heated grill to reheat your burgers is brilliant. You will keep the heat out of your kitchen and conserve energy at the same time.
🍔 The Best Ways to Serve Burgers
What To Serve With Burgers – Looking for some creative side dishes? We curated some of our favorites to provide some inspiration.
Best Lettuce for Burgers – Break out that inner Foodie and try some creative lettuce mixes instead of settling for plain old iceberg.
Best Onions for Burgers – You can really change up the entire burger but just changing up the onions. I prefer sautéed shallots and the bright spring onions.
Best Buns for Burgers – I love all the different choices available. We provide the best options to consider to make it a bit unique!
Smoked Hamburgers – Sure, we usually grill our burgers, but taking a bit more time to smoke them makes such a huge difference in the flavor. Try to change up the smoking wood choices to taste the depth of flavor.
❓ FAQ
Start with thirty seconds and repeat as necessary until your burger reaches the proper temperature. Remember that a microwave can create pockets of heat so check in a couple of different spots.
Do not overheat your burgers. Check the internal temperature and do not heat past 165º. You can also add fresh sauce for moisture. A great way to make sure you have juicy burgers on day two is to make sure you don’t overcook your burgers to begin with. When you grill your burgers only cook them to medium or medium well doneness. This way when you reheat them, they can go up to 165º without drying out.
Follow the same methods as outlined above. You will have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Burgers have natural fat content, but if you get them hot enough you should not notice a greasy taste. Burgers from fast food restaurants may be more difficult to reheat without greasiness.
Place your burgers in the oven on a sheet pan and set it to broil. Heat until they are cooked through. Flip once for best results.
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