Copycat Krystal Burgers or White Castle Burgers with Venison
These tasty, mustard-y burgers were a big part of my childhood here in Alabama. In later teen and college years, they were the perfect snack when I was out with friends. Many years later as a mom, I developed these copycat Krystal burgers to enjoy at home.
Depending on where you grew up, you may know these little square burger sliders as “White Castle” or “Krystal” burgers. Whatever your memories of late-night burger runs, you can recreate the magic at home for your kids with this recipe for copycat cheese Krystal burgers. These taste like the real thing with the added twist of a venison mixture for the meat.
You may know that we’re a hunting family, and I started this blog many years ago to share recipes for venison and other wild game. My husband is still an avid hunter, and we always have plenty of ground venison in the freezer. So I’m always coming up with new ways to incorporate venison into classic recipes.
One of the things I crave all the time is a good burger. It’s about as American as anything, and that first bite of a perfectly cooked burger is just the best. I get sad when it’s over, but my stomach is really happy.
How to Make Copycat Krystal Burgers
In these and other burgers, I like to mix half venison and half ground beef for great flavor and optimal fat content. For the slider buns, I use small Hawaiian rolls similar to those Krystal uses.
Other “Krystal burger” ingredients are American cheese slices, yellow mustard (lots of it!), and onion. You can use fresh or dried and minced onion for your burger topping. Some people like to use Lipton onion soup mix for extra flavor.
In assembling the burger sliders, add pickle slices and salt and pepper to taste. You can also add a slice of bacon if you like. Voilà! Copycat Krystal burgers or, if you’re from the North, White Castle burgers.
Serve these sliders up with double-fried French fries and a big Italian salad. Let me know what you think! Also be sure to check out my other burger recipes. I’ve gathered them for you here.
Venison Copycat “Krystal Burgers” or “White Castle Burgers”
Ingredients
- ¾ cup onion 1 medium onion, minced or ¼ cup of dried minced onions
- 1 pound ground venison
- 1 pound ground beef
- 8 Hawaiian rolls
- 16 dill pickle slices
- 2 slices American cheese cut into 8 squares (optional)
- yellow mustard for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the venison and ground beef.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat. Form the meat mixture into 1/4-inch thick square patties on a piece of parchment paper. Flip the parchment over into the hot skillet, allowing the meat to retain its shape. Poke holes with a fork or the end of a wooden spoon to keep the shape of the patties.
- Allow the patties to cook for about 1 minute or until the bottoms of the patties are done and then turn them over and cook for another minute. If you are adding cheese, once you flip the burger, place a slice of cheese over the patty and continue cooking until the cheese is melted.
- If you are using dried minced onions, add ½ cup hot water to the dried onions and set aside. If you are using fresh onions, add ⅓ of the onions to the side of the skillet without the patties and pour about ¼ cup of water over the top of the onions to allow them to steam. After the steam dissipates, place the tops and bottoms of the buns over the onions for one minute.
- If using dried onions, toast the buns in the skillet with the meat. Remove the buns to a plate with the bottom bun cut side up. Put a patty on each bottom bun. Then add a teaspoon of onions, a squirt of mustard, and 2 pickles. Put the top bun on each burger. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
