Juicy, flavor packed Hawaiian style grilled teriyaki burgers are perfect for outdoor cooking. All you need is less than 30 minutes and you’ve got yourself a delicious portable lunch or dinner.
Time to bring out the grill. There’s just something about being outside and cooking over an open fire. That smoky flavor complements so many yummy dishes.
What better grilling recipe is there than burgers? Hawaiian style teriyaki burgers to be exact.
Juicy ground beef seasoned and hand formed into patties tossed on the grill and glazed with homemade teriyaki sauce. All you need is a few simple ingredients and you’ve got yourself a delicious meal.
What is teriyaki?
Teriyaki is a traditional Japanese cooking method where meat, seafood, or veggies are grilled with a sweet and savory sauce. Today the term teriyaki is also used to describe the sauce itself.
While teriyaki is a traditional Japanese dish, it has become ever so popular here in Hawai’i and has become a mainstay in local cuisine. Dishes like teriyaki chicken kabobs, air fryer teriyaki meatballs, and teriyaki chicken stir fry to name a few.
First let’s talk ingredients. You’ll need:
- Teriyaki sauce. I love to use homemade teriyaki sauce, but you can always use the store bought ones. I tend to find the store bought ones are often more on the thin side
- Ground beef. I like to use 80% lean and 20% fat. You can definitely use a leaner mix if you’d like.
- Onion. Sweet Maui onions give a milder onion flavor.
- Garlic salt
- Pepper
- Hamburger buns
- Nonstick cooking spray of choice
How to season teriyaki burgers?
The first step of seasoning a teriyaki burger is adding the seasoning to the ground beef itself. Gently mix the beef with the seasoning. Over mixing the beef with cause the meat to be tough. I also like to add a little of the teriyaki sauce itself in the meat. The final seasoning will be done while grilling. Basting with the teriyaki sauce will give it a shiny glaze and layer on the flavors.
What goes on grilled teriyaki burgers?
- Grilled pineapple
- Lettuce
- Sliced tomatoes
- Cheese
- You can also add ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise if you’d like.
What to serve with a hamburger?
Burgers and fries are just meant to be. Air fryer sweet potato fries are a great pair.
Want to cut back the carbs? Nix the bun and serve sandwiched between lettuce.
What temperature should hamburgers be cooked to?
The FDA recommends the safe internal temperature of ground beef to be at 160F. However, there are varying temperatures that hamburgers are served. For rare 125F, medium rare 135F, medium 145F, medium well 150F, and well 160F.
How to store teriyaki burgers?
Burgers are best eaten fresh. If you happen to have leftovers it is best to store the hamburger and buns separately. Leaving the burger in the bun will cause the bun to get soggy. Place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. This will keep for 3-4 days.
How to reheat?
The easiest way to reheat would be to use a microwave. You can also heat the burgers up on the stove top or in the oven.
Other great grilling recipes
How to make teriyaki burgers?
For the teriyaki sauce
- Set a pot over medium-high heat.
- Add shoyu, mirin, sake, and brown sugar. Mix until well combined.
- Heat until sugar dissolves. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture to add to the ground beef mixture. Continue cooking until the sauce just begins to thicken, about 15-20 minutes.
- To a small bowl mix cornstarch and water until well combined.
- Pour cornstarch slurry into the teriyaki mixture to thicken.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
For the burger
- Preheat the grill to medium high heat, about 350F.
- To a bowl add ground beef, onion, teriyaki sauce, garlic salt, and pepper. Mix until well incorporated. Form beef into 6 burgers.
- Spray grill racks with nonstick cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Grill burgers for 5-7 minutes or until an internal temperature of 145F for medium, flipping halfway through. During the last few minutes of cook time brush the burger with the teriyaki sauce.
- While the burgers are grilling you can toast the hamburger buns for 2-3 minutes. Also grill the pineapple rings and onions for 3-4 minutes, flipping halfway through, if you wish.
- Remove the burgers from the grill, you can add a little more teriyaki sauce to your burger if you’d like, assemble, and ENJOY!
Teriyaki Burger
Ingredients
For the teriyaki sauce
- 1 cup shoyu
- 2/3 cup sake
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
For the burger
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 6 hamburger buns
Instructions
- For the teriyaki sauce: Set a pot over medium-high heat.
- Add shoyu, mirin, sake, and brown sugar. Mix until well combined.
- Heat until sugar dissolves. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture to add to the ground beef mixture. Continue cooking until the sauce just begins to thicken, about 15-20 minutes.
- To a small bowl mix cornstarch and water until well combined.
- Pour cornstarch slurry into the teriyaki mixture to thicken.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- For the burger: Preheat the grill to medium high heat, about 350F.
- To a bowl add ground beef, onion, teriyaki sauce, garlic salt, and pepper. Mix until well incorporated. Form beef into 6 burgers.
- Spray grill racks with nonstick cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Grill burgers for 5-7 minutes or until an internal temperature of 145F for medium, flipping halfway through. During the last few minutes of cook time brush the burger with the teriyaki sauce.
- While the burgers are grilling you can toast the hamburger buns for 2-3 minutes. Also grill the pineapple rings and onions for 3-4 minutes, flipping halfway through, if you wish.
- Remove the burgers from the grill, you can add a little more teriyaki sauce to your burger if you'd like, assemble, and ENJOY!
Notes
Nutrition
© Relle Lum for Keeping It Relle. Please do not copy and paste or screenshot recipes online or on social media. I’d love it if you share a link with a photo instead. Mahalo!
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The ingredients says 2/3 c sake twice. Is that correct? ; )
Thank you for letting me know. It should only be listed once. I have fixed it. Have a great day.
These were so easy and tasty! Adding to our dinner rotation.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
These burgers look amazing. Yum!
these were so simple and very yummy
loved this burger perfect combo of salty and sweet
Nowhere in your instructions does it say what to do with the teriyaki sauce. Your text says you like to add a little to the meat but then are you basting the burgers with the sauce at some point as well?
Aloha Valerie. Thanks for pointing that out. The instructions were cut off. I have updated the post. Thank you. Have a great day.