The Backyard Barbecue Burger is built around two signature moves: ground brisket hand-pattied into a third-pound patty, and BBQ caramelized onions slow-cooked on the infrared side burner in a cast iron skillet with Firebug Mild Grillin' Sauce until thick, jammy, and deeply savory. The burgers get seasoned with R Butts R Smokin' R Beef Rub and grilled directly over a charcoal basket nested in the Napoleon gas grill — the combination of gas convenience and live charcoal flavor is what sets this cook apart.
The two-zone finish — charred over direct charcoal, then pulled to indirect heat to reach 160°F — ensures a well-browned crust without drying out the ground brisket. Topped with cheddar, those BBQ onions, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a toasted potato bun, this is the backyard burger at its best.
What You'll Love About This Recipe
- Ground brisket delivers richer, beefier flavor than standard ground beef
- BBQ caramelized onions slow-cooked in Firebug Sauce become a thick, jammy topping
- Charcoal basket inside a gas grill gives you live-fire flavor without a dedicated charcoal grill
- Two-zone cooking builds a deep char without overcooking the patty
- Hickory smoked salt on the onions adds a subtle layer of complexity
- A classic backyard build on a toasted potato bun — nothing overthought
Backyard Barbecue Burger
Tom Jackson
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
American
Servings
4
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Calories
931
Make the unique flavor of the Backyard Barbecue Burger! Chef Tom steps you through making a juicy hand-pattied blend of ground brisket and caramelized BBQ onions, perfect for creating that classic family-grill atmosphere. It's the flavor of spring, a flavor of home and a flavor of comfort. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 4 (1/3 lb) portions ground brisket
-
R Butts R Smokin’ R Beef Rub
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
- 1 large (1 lb) yellow onion, sliced thin
-
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-
1/4 tsp Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt
-
3/4 cup Firebug Mild Grillin’ Sauce
- 4 potato buns, toasted
- Mayonnaise
- Butter or green leaf lettuce
- Tomato slices
Directions
Remove half of the grill grates from your Napoleon Grill Prestige P500RSIB-3. Place a Napoleon Charcoal Basket directly over the gas burners. Fill the basket with lump charcoal. Light the burners underneath the basket and close the lid. When the charcoal is glowing red, turn off the burners.
Place the sliced onions in a Lodge 12” Cast Iron Skillet. Place the skillet on the infrared side burner of the grill. Light the burner and turn the heat to medium-low. Drizzle the onions with the extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt.
- Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened and lightly caramelized/browned. Cook the onions slowly. If they begin to scorch or brown too fast, turn the heat down. To finish, add the Firebug Mild Grillin’ Sauce and cook gently until it is reduced and thickened.
- While the onions are cooking, grill the burgers. Season the burgers on both sides with the R Butts R Smokin’ R Beef Rub. Grill the burgers directly over the hot charcoal. When the bottom is lightly charred, flip and top with a slice of cheese.
- When the burger is well browned, transfer to the opposite side of the grill, close the lid and finish cooking over indirect heat. Remove the burgers when the internal temperature reaches 160ºF.
To build the burgers, spread mayonnaise on the bottom bun. Add the lettuce and tomato to the bottom bun. Top with the burger patty and cheese. Then with the barbecue caramelized onions with the top bun and enjoy!
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why use ground brisket instead of regular ground beef?
Ground brisket has a higher fat content and a deeper, more complex beefy flavor than standard 80/20 ground beef. When hand-pattied and grilled over charcoal, it produces a juicier patty with better crust development because of how the brisket fat renders. If ground brisket isn't available, an 80/20 ground chuck is the closest substitute — avoid anything leaner than that on a burger.
Why cook the onions on the infrared side burner rather than over the coals?
The infrared side burner delivers consistent, controllable medium-low heat that's ideal for slow caramelization — the onions need 20–25 minutes of patient cooking to develop their sweetness without scorching. Direct charcoal heat would be too aggressive and uneven. The cast iron skillet on the side burner also allows the Firebug Sauce to reduce into a thick, jammy glaze at the end without burning.
What does the charcoal basket in the gas grill actually do?
The Napoleon Charcoal Basket lets you run live charcoal over the gas burners, then turn off the burners once the charcoal is glowing — giving you the Maillard crust and smoke character of real charcoal on a gas grill platform. It's the technique that makes this burger taste like it came off a dedicated charcoal grill while keeping the convenience of gas for everything else on the cook.
Why finish the burgers over indirect heat after the charcoal sear?
Finishing over indirect heat lets the burger reach the safe internal temperature of 160°F without burning the exterior. The direct charcoal creates the crust; the indirect side finishes the cook gently. It's the same two-zone logic used across most grilled proteins — crust over direct, finish over indirect.
Can I cook this Indoors?
We rate this a 2 out of 5 for cooking indoors. Can be done inside, but loses key flavor or texture. The patties can be seared in a screaming hot cast iron grill pan and the onions caramelized in a skillet on the stovetop. What you lose entirely is the live-fire charcoal flavor that the charcoal basket delivers — that char and smoke are the defining characteristics of this burger.
Recipe Highlights & Insights
The charcoal basket technique is one of the most useful setups in the Napoleon gas grill catalog. It converts the grill into a hybrid charcoal-gas unit for any cook that needs live-fire flavor — and this burger is the perfect showcase for it. Once the charcoal is glowing, the gas burners turn off and you're cooking purely on charcoal heat from that point forward.
Caramelizing the onions low and slow is the step most home cooks rush and regret. The entire process takes 20–25 minutes over medium-low heat with occasional stirring. Rushing it with higher heat produces browned-but-still-sharp onions rather than the genuinely sweet, collapse-soft result that makes the BBQ onion topping worth building the whole burger around.
Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt on the onions is a small detail that compounds the smoky character of the entire build. The onions pick up the hickory note from the salt, then absorb the smoky-sweet Firebug Sauce, then sit on top of a burger grilled over live charcoal. Every layer reinforces the same flavor direction — that's what makes this feel like more than a standard backyard burger.
At 931 calories per serving this is a full, indulgent meal — and it earns it. The ground brisket patty, BBQ caramelized onions, cheddar, and potato bun are each doing real work. This is a Saturday burger, not a Tuesday burger, and it should be framed and served as such.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 18.11 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 931
- Carbs
- 136 grams
- Protein
- 23 grams
- Fat
- 32 grams
- Sodium
- 314 milligrams
