Vote in the Sargento Ultimate American Cheeseburger Contest #SargentoCheeseburger

Summer is in full swing here in Miami...which means that it's so hot that I break into a sweat just checking the mail and that it's raining almost constantly!

Rain or shine, there's one thing that we always do a lot of during the summer, and that's cook on the grill! Whether we are entertaining friends and family or just cooking dinner for the evening, I love using the grill - and I love when my husband uses the grill and I get to watch from inside the air conditioned house through the kitchen window. (insert cheesy grin here)

In celebration of Sargento's Ultimate American Cheeseburger Contest on Facebook, I created my own little cheeseburger recipe using my favorite cheese in the world: Sargento Natural!

What's so special about Sargento Natural Cheeses? Well, duh, it's natural!

Unlike some of those highly processed cheese food products on your supermarket shelves, Sargento Natural Cheese has very simple ingredients: pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes, annattoo (vegetable color), natamycin (a natural mold inhibitor).

There are plenty of Sargento Natural Cheese varieties to choose from - but like many Americans, Cheddar Cheese is by far my favorite!

Sargento Natural Cheese offers Colby Jack, Mild and Sharp Cheddar, Jarlsberg, Baby Swiss, Pepper Jack and Monterrey Jack, Munster, Mozzarella, Provolone, Swizz, Havarti...and the list goes on and on!

I keep several varieties of Sargento Natural Cheese in the fridge at all times. Between sandwiches, omelets and as a quick snack when I am on a low-carb diet, we go through them quickly! Honestly, I love Sargento so much that their cheese is the only one I buy anymore. I used to buy the store brand to save money, but they just don't taste the same - and their list of ingredients is a lot longer, which doesn't sit well with me.

I started with lean ground beef and one packet of onion soup mix - that's all you need to create mouth-watering burgers. The onion soup mix lends enough flavor that you don't have to worry about salt, pepper, herbs, spices, etc - it's one stop shopping for all of your flavor!

Ingredients:

2 lbs lean ground beef

1 packet Onion Soup mix

Sargento Natural Mild Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix your ground beef and onion soup mix thoroughly.

Form into patties a little bigger than the palm of your hand, because they will shrink while cooking. I used to have a fantastic little burger-shaping mold but it was accidentally thrown away!

If you have a grill, I really recommend using it instead of a frying pan. There's something about grilling burgers that you just can't replicate on the stove! I am a total sucker for grill marks on my burgers!

Heat your grill to medium heat and place the patties on the bottom rack. Close your grill and let them cook for about 5 minutes - now, if you are cooking super thick burgers, you will want to adjust your cooking time accordingly. After that 5 minutes are up, flip your burgers and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

At the very last minute, add your cheese and close the grill for about a minute. That's all you need to melt your Sargento Natural Cheese to perfection!

Now, I know that a lot of people love to add ketchup, mayo, mustard...lettuce, tomato, onions, etc to their cheeseburgers - but me? I like 'em plain. And these cheeseburgers are so juicy that you really don't need any condiments! I like to make a side house salad with our cheeseburgers - so we are still getting our veggies!

Right now, you can take your cheeseburger craving to new heights with the Sargento Ultimate American Cheeseburger contest on Facebook! Sargento Cheese asked chefs in Milwaukee, Chicago, Miami, San Diego and New York to create a cheeseburger featuring Sargento Natural Sliced Cheeses to showcase their city or state’s famous culinary flair!

The entries in the Sargento Ultimate American Cheeseburger Contest are:

• Brooklyn, NY: 67 Burger “Pastrami Spiced Swiss Burger”
• Miami, FL: The Filling Station “The Filling Station Cheeseburger”
• Chicago, IL: Butcher & the Burger “Drill Sargento Burger”
• Milwaukee, WI: Sobelman’s “Bacon Double Cheeseburger”
• San Diego, CA: Crazee Burger “Crazee Cheeseburger”

The restaurant in Miami is The Filling Station, and I've voted for them! You can see the recipe for their amazing Sargento Ultimate Cheeseburger in my previous post here. Don’t let your state fall behind in the contest! Check out the map on the Sargento Cheese Facebook page and vote for your favorite recipe.

Photo courtesy of Sargento

Isn't the Filling Station cheeseburger amazing?! While they have everything from pulled pork to homemade chili on their menu, the Filling Station in Miami is really famous for their Flame Grilled Burgers!

Photo courtesy of The Filling Station In Miami

My husband and I are planning on taking my daughter when she gets home from her visit with her grandparents on Saturday! They have such a diverse menu, there's definitely something for everyone - you can even grab beers at their bar!

You can create a twist on the classic cheeseburger and upload photos of your own cheeseburger recipes using Sargento Natural Sliced Cheeses - I'd love to hear your recipes and I am sure that Sargento Cheese would love you to share them on the Sargento Cheese Facebook wall!

Visit Sargento.com to see lots of other delicious cheeseburger recipes!

While I received compensation from Sargento Foods Inc. and The Motherhood as part of my participation in this campaign, all opinions are my own.