It was 2 AM on a cold winter night in college when I first experienced the magic of White Castle sliders. Those perfectly square, impossibly thin patties, with their distinctive oniony aroma, became an instant obsession. Today, I’m sharing how to recreate these iconic burgers in your own kitchen, complete with that signature steam-grilled flavor that made White Castle famous back in 1921.
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Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
White Castle’s signature sliders aren’t just regular mini burgers – they’re a carefully engineered fast food masterpiece. The secret lies in the unique steam-grilling process and the paper-thin patties with five holes punched through them. These holes allow the burgers to cook quickly without flipping, while the steam infuses them with the sweet flavor of grilled onions.
What are the ingredients in a White Castle burger?
The ingredients are pretty straightforward and simple.
For the Patties:
- Ground Beef – Provides the base protein and essential fat for flavor
- Water – Creates steam and helps achieve the signature thin texture
- Salt – Enhances overall flavor and helps bind the meat
- White onion – Creates the signature White Castle flavor and aroma
- Beef bouillon – Adds depth and umami to the onion mixture
For the Assembly:
- Dill pickle slices – Adds tangy crunch and balances the rich meat
- Dinner rolls – Serves as the traditional slider bun
That’s it!
Best Buns for Sliders
Use dinner rolls for them. They are a perfect size and look just like the real thing. Some people like sweet rolls. But White Castle doesn’t use sweet rolls. If you want to stay authentic, use regular dinner rolls.
How to Make White Castle Burgers at Home
Step-by-Step Instructions
Prepare the Meat Mixture
- Place ground beef, 1/4 cup water, and salt in a food processor
- Pulse until the mixture becomes paste-like (about 10-15 pulses)
- Place mixture between two sheets of parchment paper
- Roll to 1/4-inch thickness
- Cut into 3-inch squares
- Using the end of a straw or tip of a pen, poke 5 holes in each patty
- Refrigerate patties until ready to cook
Prepare the Onion Base
- Process onions in a food processor until very finely minced
- Dissolve bouillon cubes in 1/2 cup hot water
- Spread onion mixture evenly in a large skillet
- Pour bouillon mixture over onions
Cooking the Sliders
- Heat skillet with onions over medium heat until simmering
- Place patties directly on top of the onion mixture
- Cover and steam for 3-4 minutes until patties are no longer pink
- No flipping needed!
Assembly
- Serve immediately
- Slice dinner rolls horizontally
- Place cooked patty with onions on the bottom bun
- Top with 2 pickle slices
- Add top bun
Finally, fry your beef patties in a pan with water in the bottom.
If you follow these steps, you will have the most amazing little patties.
How do you dice the onions so small?
I prefer to use a food processor to chop my onions this small. I know there are many hacks for chopping onions and not crying, but it’s easier to let the food processor do the work for me.
You can also buy frozen chopped onions, saving you all the work entirely.
Once the onions are diced, they are cooked with beef bouillon for authentic White Castle flavor.
How do you make White Castle burgers in the oven?
The most authentic way to make them is by frying the patties. But if you want, you can bake them in the oven too.
Thyme for Cocktails has a fantastic recipe for them. Basically, it involves baking the hamburger meat on a cookie sheet and then cutting it up into squares afterward.
Storage & Reheating
- Store assembled burgers wrapped in foil for up to 2 days
- Reheat in microwave for 20-30 seconds
- For better results, separate patty from bun when reheating
- Steam patties in a covered skillet for 1-2 minutes
Popular Fast Food Recipes
Want to try some more fast food recipes? Here are some of my favorite ones.
- Best Steak and Shake Burger
- BK Whopper
- McDonalds Hamburger
- Culver’s Butter Burger
- Copycat Chick Fil A Nuggets
- Krispy Kreme Donuts Recipe
- Pizza Hut Garlic Bread
- Copycat Panda Express Chow Mein
- Sonic Tots
- Black Bean Vegan Burger
- Easy Orange Julius Recipe
Homemade Burger Recipes
- Best Backyard Burger
- Double Garlic Cheeseburger
- Best Way to Season a Burger
- Southern Pimento Cheese Burger
Check out all my restaurant copycat recipes and tasty game day eats.
White Castle Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup water for beef
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup onion diced
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 1/2 cup water for onions
- 12 dinner rolls (Parker house shape, 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ size)
- dill hamburger slices
Instructions
- In a food processor place ground beef, salt, and water. Process for a few seconds so water and salt are blended through ground beef and meat should look a little pasty.
- Place plastic wrap on the bottom of an 11 x 13-inch jelly roll pan. Place blended hamburger in the middle and cover it with another piece of plastic wrap. Roll the hamburger out to 1/4-inch thick.
- Remove the plastic wrap and cut the meat into 3-inch squares. Leave the ground beef pieces on the tray. You should get between 12 and 14 squares.
- Perforate each piece five times with the end of a plastic straw, this will give the meat little steam holes. Cover the hamburger with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer until the meat is partially frozen but not solid.
- Place onions, beef bouillon, and 1/2 cup water in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Saute and stir onions until they are clear, more water may be added as needed. Turn the heat off until ready to cook hamburger patties.
- When beef patties are ready to prepare, turn the heat to medium-low heat and add enough water to onions just so the bottom of the frying pan is covered. Place patties in pan and cover with lid. Frying time is just a few moments.
- Turn the patties and cook until done but not dry. The patties should be juicy. When hamburgers are finished cooking, place on top of a roll, add pickles, cover hamburgers so they will steam slightly or pop them in the microwave covered just for a few seconds until ready to serve.
Notes
Pro Tips from a Slider Enthusiast
Meat Preparation
- Temperature matters: Keep your meat very cold until processing. This helps achieve the perfect texture
- Don’t overprocess: Stop pulsing as soon as the meat becomes paste-like. Over-processing can make the patties too dense
- Use a bench scraper: This tool is perfect for cutting uniform squares and transferring the delicate patties
- Make a template: Cut a 3×3 inch cardboard square to use as a guide for perfectly sized patties
Nutrition
Common Questions & Troubleshooting
Why aren’t my patties thin enough?
- Make sure to use the food processor method
- Roll between parchment paper
- Use a ruler to measure 1/4-inch thickness
- Don’t skip the holes – they prevent puffing
Can I make these ahead?
- Prepare patties up to 24 hours in advance
- Store uncooked patties between wax paper in refrigerator
- Cook just before serving for best results
Substitutions & Modifications
- Vegetarian Option: Use Impossible or Beyond Meat
- Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free dinner rolls
- Lower Fat: Use 93% lean beef (though flavor will differ)
- No Food Processor: Very finely hand-chop onions and hand-mix meat with water
Scaling the Recipe
- Double ingredients for large gatherings
- Can freeze uncooked patties for up to 3 months
- For smaller batches, freeze unused rolled meat mixture
Barbara Glynn
I grew up in Louisiana, and we ate them by the sack full. Ours had Mustard, but not ketchup. Hardly could wait to get home with them. Sometimes ordered Fries, and of course Taste Donuts ! That’s where we found these burgers. Loved them. We all did. I’m going to make these for dinner tonight. Perfect timing. Thanks !
Barb A. J.
I made these for dinner two nights ago. I must admit, I had my doubts. I followed the recipe as close as I could. I used 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef. These were absolutely delicious. I’m going to keep this recipe and make this my go to burger recipe. I did add the sliced dill pickles & Mustard. Thanks ! And my family thanks You too. Happy Thanksgiving Y’all’s ! See, I am from the South. And proud of it. God Bless.
Veronica Bright
I suggest caramelizing the onions first, then placing a few burgers onto the onion. Personally, I love them this way, and I think they taste close to WC.
Cat
WC onions aren’t caramelized. The burgers are cooked on top of a bed of diced onions.
Mickey
Could we PLEASE, PLEASE have a recipe for Sloppy Joe sliders. SO GOOD! THANK YOU!
Stephanie Manley
Thank you for the suggestion.
FRED DUMIRE
ON THE GROUND BEEF SHOULD I USE 93 OR 82 PER CENT. WHAT DO YOU RECOMEND?
Stephanie Manley
I would use the 93%, but I think they use something closer to 82%.
FRED DUMIRE
THANK YOU
Matt
Thanks for this. The only thing I would say is that it’s “addictive,” not “addicting.” But that’s just me being a grammar Nazi.
Jean
Our WC I back home Illinois had onions, meat, (cheese optional), pickles and mustard. I got mustard pkg on side I liked to add my own on some and some plain. and ketchup was for fries..
They sound good will have to try will let you know if it tastes like our WC.
Thanks for recipe
Kendall
Aww!! All this talk about making White Castle Burgers has me and my wife hungry! After waking up this morning craving a White Castle….we both agreed to drive 3 miles to our White Castle in Saint Paul, Mn. Nothing better than the real thing! Thank you for the Recipe, hope to make some at home someday. 😊❤️
Dan Allen
I too frequent the st Paul white castle however I’m in spring valley its closer to 90 miles for me. These burgers do the job.
CRYSTAL
I grew up in Indy where instead of burger king and mcd’s, you have White Castles and Steak n’ Shake on almost every corner…EXCELLENT! I wish I could afford to move back there.
Ralph Hosier
I grew up in South Chicago and loved going to White castle . 10 cents for a hamburger and 12 cents for a cheeseburger . in high school we would see how many we could eat at one time . i think 2 dozen was my limit but my buddy would go way over that . it was always fun at night after being out, before they closed, and everyone talking in line . i met my wife while waiting in line there one night . miss that place and my old neighborhood . can’t wait to try this recipe.
Bill Hibbett
Many, many years ago, long before the internet, there was a copycat recipe for White Castle in the newspaper. It said that the real secret of the Whitecastle taste was that the meat contained liver. They said that it was added to the meat during the depression to increase the nutritional value. When I was a kid I know liver was considered very healty.
The recipe is similar to the one here but they added a jar of Gerber strained liver babyfood.
Barbara Erdman
I am going to try this. Frozen Whitw Castle don’t even come close to fresh. Here in NC no one ever heard of White Castle. I am a die hard NJ gal and miss so much of the food from there. WC, hard rolls, Italian pastry, just to name a couple. Now I am hungry. Will let you know how the WC came out.
Stephanie
I agree the frozen aren’t anything like these at all. I hope you enjoyed these.
Pat Bjornsen
So sorry, maybe it’s me but I didn’t taste White Castles, followed recipe exactly.
GretchenM
This recipe is SPOT on!!! My kids love them & request them frequently! I used King’s Hawiian Rolls & there is NEVER one left over…
THanks!
mike
just what i was thinking to do. hawaiian rolls.
Bekki
going to try this tonight. Since I have moved away from white castle country and there is nothing close around Pensacola….
jade2011
Krystal hamburgers are very close to being the same as White Castles!
Yadaa
NO THEY ARE NOT!!!! Krystal burgers are DISGUSTING, and come nowhere CLOSE to WC except in appearance. That said, I’ll be trying this. I moved to GA from Chicago, and miss WC like CRAZY.
Crystal M. Braddock
Have you ever had a frozen White Castle burger? They taste EXACTLY like Krystal burgers. In Southern California, grocery stores sell both WC Hamburgers and WC Cheeseburgers, in both regular-sized boxes and family-sized.
Mark
You know what they say ? There are Yankees and damned Yankees. The damned Yankees are the ones that stay here, 😉
Joey
Theres Krystals which is identical to white castles the only difference is krystals puts mustard instead of ketchup
Selbeeps
White Castles did NOT come with ketchup. I grew up in Cinci & ate plenty of them!
LMH
Selbeeps: I’m with you. I’ve lived in the Cincinnati area all of my 71 years and I never saw a White Castle with catsup or mustard on it. And Krystals are horrible !!
Gayle
What about the sauce?
iendecker
Sauce? White castles have catsup, not sauce. Your thinking a big mac
Stephanie Manley
But you could put Big Mac sauce on this.
Selbeeps
White Castles did not come with ketchup or catsup! Originals had nothing but bun, onions and burger patty. I grew up in Cincinnati and we ate them by the sackful!
Rlester80
When do you put onions on
Jené Rayford-Jackson
Onions go on the cook top before the meat. They and the water help to steam and flavor the burgers. But that turning over stuff…not convinced about that part. But, I’m gonna try ’em with a lid to steam them. One of the reasons I miss St. Louis! Before everyone else did, White Castle served burgers 24/7.
Tommy Mac
When I was a child my father would buy 100 White Castle hamburgers for our family of seven, and my uncle would buy 100 hamburgers for his family as well. In those days customers were served in the order they were placed, and everyone in line would moan when my father placed his order. You could only imagine what happened when my uncle placed his order. My father tried to imitate cooking White Castle’s hamburgers in the 1970’s… they were good, but not the same. So, I will try your recipe on my Dear O’l Dad…He’s 80 now and his memory is fading, but this: I think he will remember.
Sandraokulovich
These taste just like true sliders yum. They worked out great for New Years eve
Anonymous
I am glad they worked out well for you!
Liz Nelson
Love White Castle, I made these for the kids and they loved them.