Red Wine Burgers are a decadent treat for your summer BBQ. Seasoned with a red wine-shallot reduction, topped with melted cheese and served simply with a thick slice of tomato and lettuce. Yum!
OK. You all know I’m a girl who likes her wine. Give me a rich bold Cabernet, a bright tangy Rosé or a butter bomb of a Chardonnay and you’ve basically won my heart.
I don’t discriminate – I like all wine, but I typically shy away from the heavy red wines in the summertime – Instead, reaching for a Viognier, Riesling or Pinot Gris.
So, what’s a girl to do in the summertime when she has a lot of red wine on her hands but doesn’t want to drink it until rainy-October makes its way back around?
She makes red wine burgers. That’s what!
Of course, I’m not talking break open your prized bottle of Cabernet. No… There’s no fancy wine needed here. I actually used a Cabernet-Merlot blend from one of those jumbo bottles that you find in the grocery store.
And then I made Sangria from the rest of it.
Note – That’s a great plan of attack. Sangria pairs perfectly with a backyard BBQ and these red wine burgers. I made a blackberry sangria loosely based off of this recipe. Talk about a perfect pairing.
In order to get a great red wine flavor infused into the burgers, I created a red wine reduction. It’s simple to do by simmering your wine for 20-30 minutes until it thickens up a bit and becomes concentrated.
Here are my 13+ favorite red wines for cooking.
I also threw some shallot into the mix to give it even more flavor. When it got nice and reduced (by about half), I melted some butter and brown sugar into that mixture to add even more depth and make it extra rich.
Some of that red wine reduction will get mixed into your burger patties before they go on the grill, the rest will be used to baste the burgers as they cook away.
When they’re finished, they’re the most beautiful color and SO flavorful.
Because I wanted that red wine burger flavor to really shine through, I kept the toppings on these burgers minimal. Adding a slice of cheese to each patty as they came off the grill and then simply topping each with a thick slice of tomato and a few leaves of lettuce.
Of course, you can get as creative as you’d like with your burger toppings. You really can’t go wrong here.
These would be fantastic with a bit of blue cheese dressing and caramelized onions, or try them with a garlic aioli and swiss cheese and quick pickled onions. The possibilities are endless.
How would you top your red wine burgers? Would you keep things simple, like I did? Or, would you really dress them up? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
What to Serve with Them
- MORE 35+ Sides for Burgers
- PLUS 35+ Sauces for Burgers
- PS – Check out these 35+ Favorite BBQ Sides to serve too!
Wine Pairings
- Cabernet
More Burger Recipes
Did you try these red wine burgers?
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Full Recipe
Red Wine Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1 ½ cups red wine
- 1 shallot (minced)
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 Burger buns
- 4 slices of your favorite cheese
- 8 large tomato slices
- Lettuce (for topping)
Instructions
- Boil wine and shallots in medium saucepan until reduced by half, 20-30 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon butter and brown sugar; whisk until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Mix remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Set aside.
- Prepare grill for medium-high heat. Mix beef, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup wine-shallot mixture in bowl. Form meat into four burger patties. Grill burgers until brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn burgers and brush with additional wine-shallot mixture. Continue grilling burgers until cooked to desired doneness, turning and brushing occasionally with wine-shallot mixture, about 4 minutes longer for medium-rare. Top with a slice of cheese and remove from grill.
- Grill the buns, cut sides down, until lightly browned. Top bottom buns with burgers, then tomato slices and lettuce. Cover with top buns and serve immediately.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in 2017. It was updated in 2024 to add new photographs. The red wine burger recipe remains the same. Enjoy!
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