🍔 The History of the Smash Burger
Updated July 2026
The smash burger feels like a recent trend, but the core technique — pressing a ball of beef hard onto a hot flat-top to maximize the browned crust — is old diner and short-order cooking. What's new is the name, the cult status, and a wave of restaurants built entirely around the method.
Old technique, new name
Griddle cooks have smashed patties for a very long time, because a thin, hard-pressed patty cooks fast and develops a deep, crisp crust through the Maillard reaction. Regional traditions like the Oklahoma fried-onion burger, which presses shredded onion into a thin patty on a griddle, show the smash idea living in American cooking well before the term "smash burger" was popular.
Why smashing works
Smashing forces the maximum amount of beef against the maximum amount of hot metal. More contact means more browning, and browning is flavor. The trade-off is that you smash once, early, before the meat sets — smashing later just squeezes out juice. This is why the technique rewards a screaming-hot surface and a light touch afterward. See our smash burger guide for the method.
The modern smash-burger revival
In recent decades the smash burger became a movement. Chefs and fast-casual chains put the thin, crispy-edged patty at the center of their menus, and social media's love of a lacy crust and cheese pull accelerated it. The result is that a humble short-order shortcut is now a signature style people seek out — and recreate at home on cast iron.
📚 Sources & notes
Pointers for verification — real, checkable sources on this topic. These are references for further reading, not claimed direct quotations.
- Regional Oklahoma fried-onion burger tradition — Documented mid-20th-century griddle technique that embodies the smash approach; useful for showing the method predates the modern name.
- Food-science references (Maillard reaction) — General culinary-science sources explaining why maximizing surface contact increases browning and flavor.
- Contemporary food journalism — Coverage of the fast-casual smash-burger revival; a starting point to verify the modern timeline and named restaurants.
Frequently asked questions
Is the smash burger a new invention?
No. The technique of pressing a thin patty onto a hot griddle is old short-order cooking. The name and the restaurant trend around it are recent.
Why do you smash the patty?
To maximize contact between beef and hot metal, which increases browning and flavor. Smash once, early — smashing after the meat sets just squeezes out juice.
How is a smash burger different from the Oklahoma onion burger?
They're close cousins. The Oklahoma onion burger presses shredded onion into a thin smashed patty, an older regional expression of the same smash idea.