Vintage Barbecue Burgers
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These Vintage Barbecue Burgers are full of flavor and are a snap to pull together when you are looking for an easy sandwich option.
They are also a good choice when the weather is not conducive to grilling out. And sometimes a burger cooked on the stove top (in some butter) just sounds delicious.
Barbecue Burger Recipe
Barbara found this recipe in a vintage cookbook from the 1970s (not sure I like her thinking that a cookbook from the decade I was born as “vintage”) – A Campbell Cookbook, Cooking with Soup. So it is no surprise that this recipe features…wait for it…a can of condensed tomato soup. She used large patties and simmered them for about 20 minutes.
These bbq burgers are a great alternative to the same old hamburger. No need to get out the ketchup or the relish (or pickles) because those flavors are already in the sauce. These were so yummy so Barbara has added them to her regular recipe rotation. Try them with this Sweet and Sour Coleslaw.
Ingredients
- Condensed tomato soup
- Sweet pickle relish
- Chopped onion
- Brown sugar
- Vinegar
- Worcestershire sauce
- Ground Beef patties, if frozen, thaw first – Pre-pattied beef burgers are a great option for this meal.
- Butter
How to Cook Barbecue Hamburgers
Step by Step Instructions
- Mix tomato soup, relish, onion, brown sugar, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl.
- Heat butter in a large skillet or cast iron skillet; brown burger patties.
- Add BBQ sauce to skillet on top of the burgers.
- Simmer burgers in the sauce until patties are done to your desired level of pink on inside. Flip with tongs.
- Serve on your favorite variety of hamburger buns or lettuce wraps, and choose your favorite toppings.
Storage Instructions
Let leftovers cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container or to a dish covered tightly with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator.
Recipe FAQs
- Cook the burgers to your desired doneness. This could mean medium, medium-well, medium-rare burgers, rare or well done burgers.
- If desired, season the bbq burgers with salt and black pepper.
- For even more flavor, add garlic powder, onion powder or chili powder.
Burger Toppings
- Bacon
- Sliced Cheddar Cheese or American Cheese
- Jalapenos
- Mushrooms
- Pickles
- Shredded Lettuce
- Fried Egg
Favorite Side Dishes with Burgers
We love serving old-fashioned side dishes (other than french fries) with our barbecue burgers. Don’t overthink when it comes to what to serve with hamburgers. Instead think of what you can prepare quickly or even ahead of time and pull out when the burgers are ready.
Here are some of our favorite, easy side dish recipes that got perfectly with bbq burgers.
- Sweet and Sour Coleslaw
- Buttermilk Macaroni and Cheese
- Macaroni Salad
- Sweet Potato Salad
- Cream Cheese Grape Salad
- Asparagus Casserole
How do I make sure my burgers are done?
The most efficient way to check the doneness of a burger is with an instant read thermometer. Cook the burgers until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
Vintage Barbecue Burgers
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz. condensed tomato soup
- 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 4 large beef patties or 6 small patties if frozen, thaw first
- 1 Tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Mix tomato soup, relish, onion, brown sugar, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Heat butter in skillet; brown patties.
- Add barbecue sauce to skillet on top of the burgers.
- Simmer burgers in the sauce until patties are done to your desired level of pink on inside.
Notes
Nutrition
Why the ridiculously inane, “wait for it,” when mentioning tomato soup?
Joe – Just trying to have some fun. Sorry you didn’t enjoy it. Have a great day!
He seems nice.
Super tasty, thank you my hubbie hate ketchup lol
This is a favorite dish when I was a kid. We lost the recipe card and I was excited to find it here. Simply delicious!
Ronda, so glad you found the recipe! Thanks for sharing.
The local recipe from South Central PA….
Bury’s Hamburger Recipe
1 cup ketchup
2 cups water
1 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 TB sugar
4 TB dried onion
Boil all ingredients, then simmer 10 minutes. Add cooked hamburgers and simmer.
Looking for recipe hamburgers in sauce do you this is it?
Hmmm…we don’t have a recipe for that but we’ll look for one. Good luck on your search.
Simmer sauce for cooked/grilled Hamburgers or use sauce to make sloppy joes. Can double the recipe and add cooked burgers in the crockpot. Even better the next day.
Hamburger Simmer Sauce
1 c ketchup
2 c water
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tsp vinegar
Salt & pepper
2 TB brown sugar
4 TB minced dried onion
Worcestershire sauce to taste
Mix ingredients. Boil the sauce on med for 10 min then simmer with cooked burgers for a minimum of an hour. The longer the burgers are in the sauce, the better they taste. Make it the night before a party, refrigerate burgers in the sauce in gallon zip lock bags then dump in crockpot on low next day.
Brown burgers on both sides until med rare…just a few min, then you can simmer for hours. It’s hard to ruin this. Burgers, of course, will be well done. Crockpot on low for many hours is just fine.