The Black Pepper Burger is a classic with a twist — a heavy hit of cracked black pepper gives it an extra bite. Don’t worry, it’s not overpowering, just the right amount of spice. We love a little jab of heat!

We cooked this favourite campside after a big day of walking through the stunning Kamikōchi National Park in Japan. Fun, warming, and easy to pull together outdoors, it’s the kind of recipe that belongs with a cold beer (oh, that rhymes!).

✨ Watch as we cook riverside in the Japanese Alps and share a taste of slow travel, good food, and fire cooking.

 

Black Pepper Burger

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

A burger is my feel-good treat. There’s just something about beef, bacon and melted cheese that hits the spot, especially when it’s cooked over a fire.

While travelling around Australia, we always loved camping on stations, but one of our favourites was Bullara Station, just outside Exmouth. The place has such a great energy — animals for the kids, live music, incredible scones and a burger night where everyone comes together for a damn good time.

A huge hotplate is suspended over the fire and hundreds of burgers are cooked for everyone staying at the station. It’s one of those simple experiences that sticks with you.

So this is my black pepper burger — beef, bacon and melted Swiss loaded with freshly roasted black peppercorns, toasted in a little cast-iron pan straight over the fire. An ode to the good people you meet, the meals you share and the experiences you have while travelling. After all, that’s why we do it, right?

Ingredients

For the Burgers

• 500g quality grass-fed ground beef
• 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
• ½ tbsp American mustard
• ½ tbsp salt
• 100g streaky bacon
• 4 slices Swiss cheese
• 4 fresh burger buns
• 1 red onion, sliced into rings
• 2 large truss tomatoes, sliced
• Burger pickles
• 200g rocket
• Butter, for the buns
• Tomato sauce, to serve

Special Sauce

• 4 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 2 dill gherkins, finely diced
• 1 tbsp gherkin juice
• ½ tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp finely diced white onion

Method

1. Make the special sauce

Combine the Kewpie mayonnaise, mustard, diced gherkins, gherkin juice, paprika and white onion in a small bowl. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to let all those flavours come together.

2. Prepare the fire

Get your coals going and allow them to burn down until you have a steady medium-high heat. Place your grill grate over the coals.

3. Fire-roast the peppercorns

Place the whole black peppercorns in a small cast-iron saucepan directly over the fire. Toast for 2–3 minutes, shaking the pan regularly, until beautifully fragrant.

Remove from the heat and roughly grind in a mortar and pestle. Keep them fairly coarse — those little hits of smoky, freshly roasted black pepper are what make this burger.

4. Make the patties

Place the ground beef in a bowl with the American mustard, salt and freshly roasted black pepper.

Gently work everything together with your hands, then divide into four even portions. Roll each portion into a ball and toss firmly from one hand to the other a few times to help the meat bind, then shape into patties.

There’s no need for egg or breadcrumbs here — good beef should hold its own.

5. Cook the burgers

Place the patties onto the hot grate and press them down slightly. Cook for around 4–5 minutes before flipping.

Cook the bacon on the grate alongside the burgers until beautifully golden and crisp.

When the patties are almost cooked, place a slice of Swiss cheese over each one and let it melt.

6. Toast the buns

Place the buns cut-side down on the grate until lightly golden and toasted. Remove from the heat and butter while they’re still warm.

Assembly

Spread a generous spoonful of special sauce over the bottom bun.

Layer with the cheesy black pepper patty, red onion, crispy bacon, tomato, plenty of burger pickles and a good handful of rocket.

Give the top bun a healthy squeeze of tomato sauce, close it up and get stuck in.

Best eaten outside, preferably around a fire, and washed down with an icy-cold IPA.

Notes

You can swap the beef for ground turkey if you want something a little lighter, or change the Swiss for something more robust — blue cheese works brilliantly.

If you’re cooking the bacon in a pan rather than over the fire, start it in a cold pan and bring it up to temperature gradually. This helps render the fat and gives you beautifully crispy bacon.

The Slow Road Tip: Don’t skip roasting the peppercorns. A couple of minutes over the fire releases their oils and gives them a deeper, toastier flavour. Grind them roughly rather than into a fine powder — you want those proper little hits of smoky black pepper throughout the burger.