The Secret Ingredients Behind 2025's Winning Derby Burger

If you are looking for some creative ideas for your next burger night there are few better places to look than the winners of the Derby Burger competition. Held as part of the larger Kentucky Derby Festival, the Derby Burger Challenge is a cooking competition open to amateur chefs, with 2025 being the 13th ever event. Contestants first submit recipes that are voted on by fans online before the burgers are then cooked for a final panel of judges. The winner is chosen not just on taste, but also creativity and ease of preparation. And all three factors are clearly in the favor of this year's winner, named the "Kentucky Fiesta Cheese Burger."

Created by Ira Mowman of Louisville, you can probably guess from it's name that the Kentucky Fiesta Cheese Burger has a lot of southwestern and Mexican influence. The toppings were a combination of pico de gallo and an avocado spread with chihuahua cheese and romaine lettuce, and the seasoning was a chipotle seasoning blend, salt, and rosemary. By the competition rules all the burgers had to be made using ingredients from three sponsors, including a seasoning from Dan-O's and greens from Kentucky's 80 acre farms, but other than that contestants were free to let their imaginations run wild, with some of the other finalists including toppings like prosciutto, red pepper jelly, and apple butter. But Mowman's combination of Mexican flavors made great use of some classic ingredients.

Mowman's Kentucky Fiesta Cheese Burger combines a lot of fresh flavors with a few more savory notes to complement the meaty pub-style burger patty. Pico de gallo and avocado are classic bright flavor combinations, and combined with the crunch of fresh romaine there is a lot of veggie flavors to balance out the meat. One of the more unique flavors in this burger was the addition of rosemary. Normally rosemary has a strong piney flavor, and it can sometimes overwhelm dishes, but given the other heavy flavors of beef and cheese, it actually makes a lot of sense. It's also another flavor that's a traditional pairing with fresh tomato.

The two more interesting additions are the chipotle seasoning and the chihuahua cheese. Cooking with chipotles brings a wonderfully deep smoky flavor and mild sweetness which would add a lot of depth to the burger by itself, but the mix Mowman used also includes two kinds of citrus zest which would also add a real complementary brightness that meshes well with the other Southwestern ingredients. Chihuahua cheese may be the addition burger lovers most want to check out. Chihuahua is an excellent melting cheese that is often used in quesadillas. While still buttery and mild, it has a stronger flavor than a lot of other good melting cheese, and is comparable to cheddar. That sounds like a perfect burger cheese no matter what your other toppings are.