The Fake Shack (or the Shack Burger at Home)

Here's how to make your own Shack Burger at home, including a homemade version of Shack Sauce.

The Fake Shack (Shack Burger copycat)

Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Why It Works

  • A combination of ground sirloin, chuck, and brisket is key to duplicating the signature flavor of the Shack Burger patty.
  • Smashing ground beef firmly into a lightly greased pan increases contact points, delivering burger patties with maximum crust and maximum flavor.
  • Mayonnaise is spiked with mustard, ketchup, garlic powder, and cayenne, and then blended with dill pickles, resulting in a burger sauce that is both creamy, sour, spicy, and sweet.

I admit it: My tastes are not strikingly original. I'm obsessed with the Beatles, Beethoven is my god, and I even think Bono is a pretty neat guy. Nevertheless, I've consciously tried to avoid all things at the intersection of over-hyped and New York, until a couple years ago when I finally forced myself to stand in line for a hamburger in the name of research—a hamburger that changed my life.

Yes, I'm talking about the Shack Burger from Shake Shack, of which more than enough has been written about already. I'm not here to wax poetic about what Josh Ozersky has dubbed "the platonic ideal of a hamburger." Rather, I'm here to talk about a way to avoid traipsing out on a rainy Tuesday night: Just make the Shack Burger at home. Easier said than done.

There's nothing special about the burger—regular squishy bun, a 1/4-pound patty of griddled meat, lettuce, tomato, and sauce—but like all good burger experiences, the sandwich is far more than a sum of its parts. To recreate the experience at home, I had to eat it, dissect it, deconstruct it, research it, eat it some more, rebuild it, break it down again, reconfigure it, taste it, eat it one more time, and finally reconstruct it again. Here are the results of my labor, from the ground up.

The Bun

Overhead view of ingredients needed to assemble a fake shack burger.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

This one's easy. The soft, squishy buns have the unmistakable sweetness and pale yellow hue of potato sandwich roll size. The buns are very lightly buttered, then toasted to a light golden brown.

The Meat

Collage of beef before and after grinding.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

According to Adam Kuban's sources, the meat is a 50:25:25 blend of sirloin, chuck, and brisket. On the other hand, according to Ozersky, the mixture is actually mostly brisket, with chuck and short rib mixed in.

I did a side-by-side comparison of the two purported blends next to a Shack Burger, and found that Adam's mix is closer in flavor, offering the right level of tenderness from the sirloin, rich beef flavor from the chuck, and slight sour/metallic notes from the brisket.

Collage of a burger patty being pan-fried, then flipped and smashed with the help of a wok spatula and a fish turner.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Close-up of a smashed, well-browned burger patty.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Even the most casual of Shack fans knows the smash and scrape technique: forming the patties into hockey puck-shaped disks, placing the on the griddle, smashing down with the back of a spatula, then scraping them off when it's time to flip. But despite the right meat blend and following this technique, I wasn't getting the right texture. The crust on a Shack Burger forms a sort of flat sheath over the top of the burger, rather than the crispy nooks and crannies I was getting on my burgers at home. What was I doing wrong?

At first, I thought it was my grind size. I was passing the burger once through a 1/4-inch die, which was giving me a rather coarse grind. Doing a double pass helped the texture come closer to Shack standards, but I still wasn't getting the right crust.

After closely examining the highly informative behind-the-scenes video from the Feedbag, I discovered the secret: don't use too much oil. Normally, when I cook in a traditional (i.e. not nonstick or cast iron) skillet, I'll add a generous amount of oil to prevent food from sticking. With a Shack Burger, you want the meat to stick to the pan—that's how it gets that flat, sheath-like crust.

The Toppings

A topped and garnished fakeshack burger, ready to be closed.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

This part was also a snap. Neon-yellow American cheese, placed over the patty soon after flipping to give it ample time to melt into the meat is a given. The shack uses two slices of ripe plum tomato in each sandwich—always cut from the center of the fruit—and one piece of green leaf lettuce, the tender green ends of the leaf only.

The Sauce

I would argue that the Shack Sauce is almost as important on a Shack Burger as the patty itself—it's what differentiates the Shack Burger from Shake Shack's regular cheeseburger. It's so important, even though we include the directions for it below, we also published it separately.

So as not to bury the lede, here's an excerpt of that story:

Upon tasting it, my immediate thoughts are mayo, ketchup, a little yellow mustard, a hint of garlic and paprika, perhaps a touch of cayenne pepper, and an elusive sour quality that I can't quite pinpoint. It's definitely not just vinegar or lemon juice, nor does it have the cloying sweetness of relish. Pickle juice? Cornichon? Some other type of vinegar? I can't figure it out. This was going to take a little more effort.

I walked back into the restaurant, went straight up to the manager, and asked point blank: "Is the Shack Sauce a secret, or can you tell me what's in it?"

A little laugh, and then, "It's mostly mayo, with some ketchup, mustard, a few spices, and pickles blended in."

"So, pickle relish, or pickles?"

"Actual pickles—the sliced pickles we serve with the burgers. I couldn't give you exact tablespoon measure or anything because I don't know them off hand, but that's the general idea."

Note to self: Always ask nicely before moving on to breaking-and-entering.
Two attempts to recreate Shack Sauce.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

The rest was easy: I brought the extra sauce home, then tinkered around with a blender and my spice rack until I got a pretty damn-close approximation. Can you pick out which is the real sauce in the pic above?

As for applying the sauce, the key here is generous, even coverage. For the sake of absolute authenticity, I transferred the sauce to a squeeze bottle, and squeezed out three lines onto the top half of the bun, going back and forth three times along each line.

The Assembly

Author holding the assembled fakeshack burger, cradled in wax paper.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Final phase of construction: place patty with cheese on toasted bun bottom. Close bun to encase patty, cheese, tomato, lettuce, and sauce. Slip into a wax-paper sleeve (or in this case, a jury-rigged parchment paper sleeve), wait 30 seconds for steam from patty to penetrate and soften bun, then consume. A perfect taste-alike.

October 2009

Recipe Details

The Fake Shack (or the Shack Burger at Home)

Prep 15 mins
Cook 15 mins
Chilling Time 10 mins
Total 40 mins
Serves 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Shack Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup (120ml) mayonnaise

  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) ketchup

  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) yellow mustard

  • 4 slices kosher dill pickle, finely chopped

  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika

  • Pinch cayenne pepper

For the Burgers:

  • 8 ounces (225g) beef sirloin, trimmed of gristle, and cut into 1-inch cubes

  • 4 ounces (115g) well-marbled beef chuck, trimmed of gristle, and cut into 1-inch cubes

  • 4 ounces (115g) well-marbled beef brisket, fat cap intact, trimmed of gristle, and cut into 1-inch cubes

  • 4 potato sandwich rolls

  • 2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, melted

  • 4 tablespoons (60ml) Shack Sauce, divided

  • 4 leaves green leaf lettuce

  • 8 center-cut slices ripe plum tomatoes

  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, divided

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 4 slices yellow American cheese

Directions

  1. For the Shack Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a countertop blender jar and blend on high until smooth, scraping down sides of blender with rubber spatula as necessary, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer sauce to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use (sauce can be refrigerated for up to 5 days).

    collage: before and after of blending sauce for Shack Burger

    Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

  2. For the Burgers: Place feed shaft, blade, and 1/4-inch die of meat grinder in freezer until well-chilled. Meanwhile, place meat chunks on rimmed baking sheet, leaving space between each piece and place in freezer for 10 minutes until meat is firm, but not frozen.

    Chunks of meat on a parchment-lined baking sheet

    Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

  3. Combine meat in large bowl and toss to combine. Pass meat through grinder twice. Form into 4 disks, about 2 inches tall, and 2 1/2 inches wide. Refrigerate until ready to use.

    A collage: grinding beef; ground beef in a mixing bowl; beef formed into patties

    Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

  4. Open buns but do not split hinge. Brush lightly with butter, then toast under broiler or in toaster oven until golden brown, about 1 minute. Spread 1 tablespoon (15ml) Shack Sauce on top half of each bun (for true authenticity, squirt out of squeeze bottle into three lines, three passes on each line). Place 1 leaf lettuce and 2 slices tomato on top half of each bun.

    assembling the buns with lettuce, tomato, and shack sauce

    Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

  5. Using wadded-up paper towel, rub inside of heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet with 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil, then place over medium-high heat until just beginning to smoke. Season 2 beef pucks on top side with salt and pepper, then place, seasoned side down, in skillet. Using back of heavy, flat spatula, press down on beef pucks firmly to form 4-inch round patties. Season top side with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp brown crust has formed, about 2 minutes.

    Two beef patties in a skillet; smashing with a flat spatula

    Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

  6. Carefully scrape patties from skillet, and flip. Immediately top each patty with 1 slice American cheese. Cook until cheese is melted, about 1 minute longer. Transfer patties to burger bun bottoms, and close sandwiches. Wipe out skillet and repeat cooking process with remaining 2 beef pucks. Serve immediately.

    Burgers flipped, nicely browned

    Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian

Special Equipment

Large stainless steel skilletheavy flat spatula

Read More

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
662 Calories
36g Fat
38g Carbs
45g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 662
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 36g 47%
Saturated Fat 14g 70%
Cholesterol 146mg 49%
Sodium 1128mg 49%
Total Carbohydrate 38g 14%
Dietary Fiber 4g 15%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein 45g
Vitamin C 8mg 38%
Calcium 406mg 31%
Iron 5mg 30%
Potassium 770mg 16%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)