When temperatures are low, your mind can’t help but wander into fantasies of warmer weather. Sunny beach days, poolside hang-outs and festive barbecues where a juicy burger, fresh off the grill, becomes irresistible. Biting into that juicy grilled burger and washing it down with your favorite ice pop sounds like heaven. Your mouth has to be watering by now, right?

Burgers? Indoors?

When you absolutely need a burger but don’t want to brave the elements just to fire up the grill, look no further than your own kitchen. This stovetop burger recipe is as simple as can be, and the payoff is huge. It requires a hot cast iron, just a touch of neutral oil, like canola or vegetable, and ground beef – that’s it! Oh yeah, and all the melty cheese, pickles, ketchup and toppings your heart desires.

Making Your Stovetop Burger

Instead of the flame charred burgers of summertime cookouts, these burgers are smashed against a hot cast iron pan or griddle, giving you a crusty exterior and a juicy interior. The key is making the patties by hand from ground beef. No pre-formed burgers here! Buy ground beef and roll your own evenly sized balls, each weighing roughly a quarter pound. Once the oiled cast iron gets hot, place one ball in the middle and smash the patty down with a metal spatula. Your burger should sizzle when it hits the pan. Season the burger with salt and pepper and cook to your liking, just like you would a grilled burger. You’ll only want to flip once to develop the perfect exterior crust. Once flipped, add a slice of cheese (or two) and remove it from the heat.

Really Turn Up the Heat

Are you used to a loaded burger? Me too. Before cooking the patties, dice up some white onion, grab the pickle jar, mix up your special sauce and get ready to stack a sky-high burger the second it comes off the heat. Amp up this stovetop burger recipe and toast some fluffy potato rolls while the burgers sizzle away. Be sure to have your plates and condiments ready, and don’t forget to grab plenty of napkins. You’ll need extras!

This stovetop burger recipe is the perfect taste of summertime when winter’s chill just won’t quit. It’s an easy weeknight dinner or a fun crowd-pleaser when you absolutely need a taste of summer amid the winter chill.