The 10 Best burgers

To describe your burgers as the "ultimate" is pretty bold. Of course, these won't compare to the triple-bun bacon cheese destroyer you guzzled in New York, but for a supermarket, these 95 per cent beef patties, simply seasoned with sea salt, are darn good.

£18 for eight, marksandspencer.com

2. Taste the Difference Lamb Burgers with Mint

Some minty lamb burgers can be a little too sharp, with the mint overpowering the meaty taste, but these chunky ones get the mixture just right. Be warned; they don't need as long as you think on a hot barbecue.

£3.29 for two, sainsburys.co.uk

3. Taste the Difference Beef Burgers with West Country Cheddar

Save yourself cutting a slice of cheese to put in your bap, with these delicious, if rather salty, burgers that are pre-mixed with West Country cheddar.

£3.29 for two, sainsburys.co.uk

4. Heston Lamb and Cucumber Burgers

From the man best known for culinary experiments, Heston Blumenthal has created a distinctly simple burger for his Waitrose range. Still, the combination is delicious, the cucumber adding a refreshing twist. And at least it's not stuffed with popping candy.

£3.49 for two, waitrose.com

5. Good Life Spicy Bean Quarter Pounder

Free of meat, dairy and egg and less than half the price of its meaty equivalents, this is one of the best veggieburgers around. Full of beans, literally, with tongue-tingling chilli seasoning, it is a healthy and delicious way to get your protein fix.

£1.99 for 4, ocado.com

6 . Scotch Steak Burgers

From the butcher that provides meat for the likes of Marco Pierre White and Nigella Lawson — who has been a customer for the past decade — these Scotch steak burgers really are a treat; 100 per cent beef, made from top of the rump and striploin, they truly are steak through and through.

£3.80 for two, allensofmayfair.co.uk

7. Luxury Beef Burgers

Forman & Field brings the finest products from small, independent producers around Britain. The price really does say luxury, but you won't be disappointed. They are freshly made with the highest quality Welsh beef, white onion and parsley.

£9.95 for two, formanandfield.com

8. Linda McCartney Mozzarella Quarter Pounders

If you want a vegetarian alternative that still has that dense, meaty texture, these quarter pounders should keep you chomping. The succulent soya-based patties are filled with rich mozzarella cheese and are just as good as the "real" thing.

£1.50 for two, tesco.com

9. Wilsons Texan Burger

If anyone's going to make you up a good burger, it's England's best independent butcher. These Texan-style 6oz patties are made with the finest cuts of lean chuck, mixed with a touch of chilli oil and freshly chopped green chillies.

£6 for four, wilsonsbutchers.co.uk

10. Purebred English Wagyu Burgers

Hailing from the UK's only supplier of purebred Wagyu beef, the cows that go into these meaty, amply-marbled patties rest on straw and are fed on maize to give a meaty, rich flavour.

£3.40 each, lidgates.com

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DIY Veggie Burgers

Constructing a delicious meat-free burger takes creativity and experimentation, says Chicago chef Jimmy Bannos, Jr., of The Purple Pig. Here, he shows how to turn a long list of ingredients into a fantastic patty.

The secret to a great hamburger is simplicity, but coming up with the recipe for a great veggie burger requires an enormous amount of thought. That’s because a veggie burger has to combine many different ingredients to get just the right balance. “If veggie burgers were easy to create, people would eat a lot more of them,” says Jimmy Bannos, Jr., the chef at Chicago’s The Purple Pig and a self-professed all-beef-burger lover who is also a genius with vegetables. “What we look for in a hamburger is juiciness, with fat dripping down, and the challenge is that vegetables don’t naturally have that.” A bad veggie burger can be dry and pasty, like a third piece of bread inside the bun. “You need more components, so that the patty isn’t just a pureed blob,” Bannos says. To come up with the ideal recipe, he defined six essential veggie-burger qualities, then picked ingredients that matched: chickpeas for heft, quinoa for texture, Greek yogurt for moisture, lemon juice for acidity, herbs for freshness and roasted garlic for flavor. Bannos’s veggie burger reflects his Mediterranean style of cooking, but the beauty of his approach is that it’s easy to use his framework to create your own version. He’s already done all the hard thinking for you.

Every ingredient in a veggie burger is important. Here, Jimmy Bannos, Jr., lists the qualities essential to a great patty—heft, flavor, texture, freshness, acidity and moisture—and matches each to ingredients in his recipe, offering easy substitutions where possible.

Fregola “I love the nuttiness that fregola—a toasted pasta from Sardinia—gives the burger, but you could substitute orzo, couscous or another pasta.”

Chickpeas “I use canned chickpeas in the recipe, but you could swap them out for lentils or almost any bean.”

Scallions “They’re delicious in the burger, but you could also substitute onions.”

Roasted Garlic “It’s like the salt and pepper of my kitchen; I just love it. It adds so much complexity. It’s the one ingredient that actually would be tough to replace.”

Asparagus “Barely cooked so it’s still crunchy, it adds a pop of texture to the burger, along with freshness. You could try corn, carrots or snap peas instead.”

Quinoa “Without a grainy ingredient to simulate the texture of beef, your burger will taste like a bean cake. I really enjoy the flavor of quinoa, but you could also use farro.”

Basil, Parsley and Mint “These herbs add so much brightness to the veggie burger. Mint doesn’t get used enough in savory dishes, I think, but you could substitute pretty much any fresh herb: sage, oregano, thyme, tarragon, chervil or chives.”

Marinated Artichoke Hearts “Marinated hearts add acidity and earthy flavor to the burger. Or replace them with pickled fennel, celery or chard stems.”

Lemon Juice “Acidity is as essential to a dish as salt. Instead of the lemon juice I use here, you might try lime juice or vinegar.”

Greek Yogurt “Yogurt helps bind the burgers while keeping them from becoming dry and contributing a lot of tanginess and fresh flavor. Plus, it fits into my Mediterranean theme. Good, real Greek yogurt is a beautiful thing, but you could also switch it out for crème fraîche or sour cream.”

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Crab Cake Burgers

From EatingWell:  June/July 2005 These burgers have a true crab flavor that isn't masked by fillers or strong seasoning. Serve on a bun with tartar sauce or with a lemon-juice-dressed salad of greens, sprouts and sliced peaches. This recipe works best with convenient pasteurized crabmeat, usually found in the refrigerated case near the fish counter. If you prefer lump crabmeat, cut it into small, uniform pieces.

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