13 Fast Food Chains That Always Use Fresh Burger Patties

There was a time when a fast food burger was a frozen patty by default. It makes sense when you consider that fast food chains were created to serve as many people as possible as quickly as possible. So, moving products straight from the freezer to the fryer and grill helped kitchens stay fast and efficient. Even today, plenty of chain restaurants rely on frozen patties, sometimes without making it obvious to customers. As tastes changed and demand for higher-quality ingredients grew, some fast food chains switched to never-frozen beef, while others have been serving it fresh all along.

Today, it’s easier than ever to find a fast food burger made with fresh beef. Some of the biggest names in the industry have committed to cooking only fresh patties, and other smaller brands have built their reputation on quality from the start. Some burger chains even set the bar for their burgers higher, using only Certified Angus Beef or high-quality cuts in their patty mix. The next time you’re craving a fast food burger but want something that didn’t once resemble a rock-hard hockey puck, these are 13 fast food chains that never use frozen burger patties.

In-N-Out Burger has legions of fans who can’t get enough of its burgers, including more than a few celebrity chefs. Anthony Bourdain’s all-time favorite fast food burger was from In-N-Out, Gordon Ramsay loves the Double-Double animal style, and Julia Child was known to frequent the chain often. One reason that even culinary experts love In-N-Out is because the chain uses only fresh burger patties made with 100% USDA ground chuck meat that doesn’t contain any preservatives or additives.

According to In-N-Out’s website, the chain has its own patty-making facilities in California and Texas to control the quality of its burgers every step of the way. The site states, “Each patty is made using only fresh, individually inspected, whole chucks from premium cattle selected especially for In-N-Out Burger. Our team of Associates removes the bones, grinds the meat, and then makes each patty.” The patties are delivered to their restaurants that don’t have freezers or microwaves. From there, each patty is cooked to order and served on a freshly baked, toasted bun.

Shake Shack began life in 2001 as a hot dog stand in Madison Square Park in New York City. Within a few years, it had transitioned to a brick-and-mortar restaurant where people would line up sometimes for hours to get their hands on the restaurant’s stellar burgers, fries, and shakes. Today, there are over 350 Shake Shack locations in the United States, plus numerous branches worldwide, and it’s still as popular as ever for its top-notch burgers made with fresh, never-frozen beef.

A Shake Shack burger starts with 100% Angus beef sourced from suppliers that adhere to strict animal welfare standards. The patties are made from freshly ground beef, then refrigerated, but not frozen. Each patty is smashed thin on the grill until it’s brown and caramelized. The cold temperature of the patty prevents the fat in the patty from drying out while being smashed, so you get a burger that has a nice crust on the outside and juicy on the inside. The burgers are served on potato buns and come with a variety of toppings like cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes, as well as the chain’s famous Shake Shack sauce.

From its early days as a humble burger stand in Corpus Christi, Texas, Whataburger has earned a reputation for being one of the best regional fast-food chains in the United States. Since that first location opened in 1950, the goal has always been to serve burgers that are so substantial and succulent that they cause diners to exclaim, “What a burger!” One way that the chain stays true to that original mission is by using 100% pure, never-frozen beef to create hefty burgers that go above and beyond many other fast food chains’ offerings.

Step inside a white and orange-hued Whataburger and you can expect your burger to be grilled fresh to order and dressed just the way you like it. You can get your burger with single, double, or triple patties and served on the standard five-inch bun or a small four-inch bun, brioche, or Texas Toast. You can also have it without the bun if you prefer. Toppings include cheese, bacon, grilled onions, avocado, jalapeños, pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes. You can also slather on Whataburger’s famous sauces like the Fancy Ketchup or Creamy Pepper sauce.

Johnny Rockets is a themed dining chain with over 275 locations worldwide that offer retro American diner vibes. Think red and white vinyl booths and stools, chrome-accented bars, and jukeboxes. The burgers are the stars, but the chain also serves all-American fare like hot dogs, chicken strips, sandwiches, and milkshakes. Just like the diners that inspired it, Johnny Rockets makes its burgers the old-fashioned way with fresh ground beef patties cooked to order.

There are several burgers on the menu at Johnny Rockets, each made with 100% fresh, never-frozen Certified Angus Beef and served on a brioche bun. If you like your burger with classic toppings, you can opt for The Original with lettuce, tomato, pickles, chopped onions, pickles, mustard, mayo, and relish. The Smoke House kicks the flavor up a notch with beef bacon, cheddar, crispy onion rings, and barbecue ranch sauce. If you’re feeling super hungry, double up on the patties and add extra toppings like jalapeños, Swiss cheese, grilled mushrooms, crispy onion rings, or chipotle ranch sauce.

Wendy’s is one of the few big-name burger chains that has served fresh beef patties from the very start. Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy’s in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969 with the mission of doing things differently from other fast food spots. Fresh beef was a must, and he decided to make the burgers square so they would hang over the edges of the buns. To this day, the company refuses to use frozen beef, so you get a patty made with 100% beef sourced from farmers and ranchers that are Beef Quality Assurance certified.

Interestingly, the decision to use fresh beef also led to the creation of Wendy’s famous chili. Thomas was savvy with food costs and didn’t want to waste leftover burger patties. His solution was to turn them into a hearty chili with generous portions of vegetables and beans. The chili would also become a key offering that set Wendy’s apart from their competition. Today, the chili is right up there as one of the chain’s most popular menu items. According to the company, it sold more than 83 million servings of chili in 2020 alone.

Founded by the Murrell family in Arlington, Virginia, in 1986, Five Guys quickly earned a reputation for having juicy, always-fresh burgers. More locations soon opened around the D.C. metro area, and by 2002, the company was open to franchising. Now, you can find over 1,700 locations around the world. One of the secrets of Five Guys that the average person might not know is that each restaurant must follow strict procedures like never using frozen food (not a single Five Guys has a freezer). That means your burger will always be made with a fresh patty.

Five Guys goes a few steps further with its burgers than just using fresh beef. For one, the burger patties are hand-formed just like they were in the early days. In addition, the burgers are served on buns that are baked fresh every day. You can also pile as many toppings as you like on your burger with options like lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, grilled mushrooms, green peppers, and jalapeños. Sauces include ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, and hot sauce. And if you want fries to go with your burger, those are cut by hand too.

Smashburger may not have been the first to invent the smash burger, but it certainly has the technique down pat. Fans can’t get enough of the juicy burgers with beautiful brown exteriors and crispy, lacy edges. And the company isn’t afraid to share how it makes its burgers. One company news page reads, “Here’s the secret: we press a ball of fresh, never-frozen beef onto a sizzling-hot griddle, creating that golden, crispy crust that other burgers only dream about. This magical moment (thank you, Maillard reaction!) locks in the juiciness while delivering an outside sear that’s pure perfection.”

It’s not just the technique that makes Smashburgers great though. The company is also committed to using only fresh patties made with Certified Angus Beef. The beef is sourced from family-run farms in the U.S. and while it may be refrigerated, it will never hit a freezer. Each location also uses butter on the griddle to give the burgers a richness that you don’t get from oil. Plus, the burgers come with a variety of fresh toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and pickles. Indulgent toppings include bacon, crispy fried onions, barbecue sauce, Swiss cheese, and truffle mayo.

If you happen to be in the Midwest and craving a burger, you could do a lot worse than one of Culver’s ButterBurgers. They’ve been on the menu since the first Culver’s opened in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1984, along with the chain’s famous frozen custard. Each ButterBurger features a fresh beef patty made with a blend of sirloin, chuck, and plate beef. The patty is pressed and seared, then served on a lightly toasted bun brushed with local Wisconsin butter to give it extra richness and texture.

On any given trip to Culver’s you might find different ButterBurgers on the menu, but there are a few staples that are always on offer. The classic ButterBurger can be ordered as a single, double, or triple-patty burger and you can have it plain or with toppings of your choice. The standard ButterBurger is a solid option, but the burger that topped our ranking of every Culver’s burger for its superb flavors was the Culver’s Deluxe. It features a freshly grilled patty (or more if you prefer a double or triple burger) with melty Wisconsin cheese, crisp lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, red onion, and the chain’s signature mayo.

You’ve got to love a fast-food chain that not only serves great burgers but also has a quirky backstory. Fatburger was originally called Mr. Fatburger when Lovie Yancey and her husband opened the hamburger stand in 1947. But when the couple went their separate ways a few years later, she decided to take the “Mr.” out of the equation and it’s been that way ever since. The chain is known for its substantial hamburgers that feature hand pressed, 100% fresh lean ground beef patties. Each burger is made to order with your choice of toppings.

Fatburger works a little differently from other burger chains in that it doesn’t have a selection of burgers with set toppings. Instead, you order your burger by size. The Medium features a single patty weighing three-quarters of a pound and the Large rings in at half a pound. You can also order the XXL Double Kingburger with two patties weighing a total of one pound or the XXL Triple Kingburger for 1.5 pounds of meat. Then you can dress your burger the way you want with toppings like cheese, grilled onions, bacon, chili, and onion rings.

When Gus Belt opened Steak ‘n Shake in Normal, Illinois, in 1934, he was committed to serving only the freshest and tastiest steakburgers and hand-dipped milkshakes. In fact, he was so determined to show customers that his burgers were the best that he took an unconventional route. According to the company website, “To prove his point that his burgers were exceptionally prime, he would wheel in a barrel of steaks (including round, sirloin, and T-bones) and grind the meat into burgers right in front of the guests.”

While you’re not likely to see cooks grinding up beef in plain view at a Steak ‘n Shake today, the chain still uses that same blend of beef and only fresh patties that have never been frozen. The patties are pressed onto a hot griddle to give them a nice outside crust, then placed in a butter-toasted bun and topped with cheese. The result is a full-flavored steakburger that’s both juicy and crisp at the same time. Pair your burger with golden fries cooked in 100% beef tallow, and you have yourself a pretty stellar meal.

With just over 50 locations across the United States, Fuddruckers isn’t a particularly large burger chain. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in ambition — the company proudly claims to serve the world’s greatest hamburgers. Considering the chain only uses fresh 100% USDA premium-cut beef patties and grills every burger to order, it may have a leg to stand on. Plus, Fuddruckers bakes its own buns in-house every day and offers up DIY condiment bars with huge selections of toppings.

Fuddruckers is another spot where you can order your burger by size. The smallest burger starts at a third of a pound and the largest clocks in at one pound. Then, you can choose from a white, wheat, or gluten-free bun and cheeses like American, cheddar, and bleu. Premium toppings can include smokehouse bacon, fresh avocado, and grilled mushrooms. Take your burger to the toppings bar and load it up with even more goodies like lettuce, pickles, banana peppers, pico de gallo, A1 sauce, cheese sauce, and more. If the DIY route seems too overwhelming, the chain offers specialty burgers with set toppings.

Red Robin has gone through several transformations over the past 50 years. It began in Seattle, Washington, in the 1940s as a spot called Sam’s Tavern and was later named Sam’s Red Robin after one of the owner’s favorite songs. Sam sold it in the 1960s, and it became just Red Robin. Soon after, burgers were added to the menu and new locations began to open. Now there are close to 500 Red Robin locations across the United States and Canada where you can try the chain’s famous gourmet burgers served with bottomless steak fries.

Part of what makes Red Robin’s burgers so appealing is they’re made with 100% USDA-inspected beef patties that are free of preservatives and additives and never frozen. In 2023, the chain upped the ante even further, offering burgers 20% larger and switching to cooking on flat-top grills to keep the burgers juicier and more flavorful. Peruse the menu and you’ll find over 25 burgers to choose from. Fan favorites include the Red Robin Gourmet Cheeseburger with classic toppings, the Bonzai with a teriyaki glaze and pineapple, and the Whiskey River BBQ burger.

Founded in 2002, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers has built a solid following for its customizable steakburgers and enticing frozen desserts. The chain prides itself on using 100% premium beef to craft patties that are cooked fresh and to order. Each patty is seasoned with Freddy’s signature blend of spices, then pressed flat on a griddle so that the edges get caramelized and crispy but the middle stays thick and juicy. From there, diners can choose how their burgers are constructed.

The quality and freshness of Freddy’s burgers are definitely a huge draw, but what sets the chain apart from many other big names in the burger world is the numerous ways you can stack your burger. You can choose how many patties you want and whether you want them on a toasted bun, in a lettuce wrap, or with no bun. You can go with standard toppings like lettuce, onions, pickles, American cheese, and tomatoes, or get creative with items like sauerkraut, prime rib, and chili. You can also jazz up your freshly cooked burger with sauces like garlic aioli, tartar sauce, and Freddy’s Famous Fry Sauce.