copy cat white castle burgers

Yum, yum yum, yum yum, yum yum. Did you catch any of that? These little things are sooo good! And quite possibly better for you than actual take out White Castle burgers- at least in the extent that there is no oil, no butter and you can even make them with ground turkey or super lean ground beef. They microwave nicely, they smell divine and you can eat several without feeling guilty! Or, at least not tooo guilty.

Okay, so the essential makeup of these little beauties is ground beef, a package of onion soup mix, milk and peanut butter. Secret Ingredient Alert!! Yes, yes, peanut butter. A little sweetness, a little salty, but most importantly, it's a good binder. You won't even notice that it's peanut butter.

Once it's all been mixed together pretty well, transfer the beef into a shallow baking tray. Press it into one very flat layer over the entire tray- you can use your fingers, a rolling pin, a drinking glass, whatever works.

Just like this. Perfect. Into the oven it goes, and 10 minutes later...

Look how much it shrinks up! This is perfect. Now for the next step.

This picture is terrible, but you get the gist. Sprinkle finely diced onions around the meat, and back into the oven.

10 more minutes, and the onions will be lovely. Ignore the color of the beef, it's still nice and juicy, I promise.

Flick the onions onto the top of the beef and then layer with American cheese. You can use other cheeses if you would like, but that's not as much fun. Back into the oven for 5 minutes to let the cheese melt a bit.

Just a few more steps to go... place the tops of the buns on the beef and cheese and then back into the oven for 3-5 more minutes. You don't want the buns to get crispy at all, but you do want them to get very soft and infused with a bit of the beefy goodness.

Alright, home stretch! Using a pizza slicer or very sharp knife, you can slice right through the beef right around each bun to make perfect little burgers. Transfer the beef, cheese and bun top right onto the bun bottom with a spatula and that's it! You'll make these all the time, I'm sure of it!

Copy Cat White Castle Burgers
Adapted from Family Favs!
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
1 package onion soup mix
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
1 onion, finely chopped
6 slices American cheese
Soft slider rolls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, onion soup mix, peanut butter and milk until completely incorporated. Transfer ground beef mixture onto a baking tray and press into corner so that beef is in one very thin layer on the tray. Place in preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. The beef should shrink up considerable. After 10 minutes, sprinkle the chopped onion around the edges of the beef and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Spoon cooked onions onto the top of the beef and top with slices of cheese. Cook for an additional 5 minutes then top with the top portion of the buns. Finish cooking for 3-5 minutes, but not long enough for the buns to get crispy. Remove from oven and slice with a pizza cutter. Transfer each beef and bun onto the bottom bun portion with a spatula and enjoy!