A patty is a disc-shaped serving of meat or meat substitutes. The meat is ground and then packed and re-shaped to form round discs, cooked (if applicable) and eaten. They can be eaten a la carte, as a Salisbury steak, or in a hamburger, or, by some people, alone on a plate.

In some countries (including the United Kingdom) the patty itself is referred to as a burger or (for a hamburger patty) a beefburger (see below).

Burger patties

Patties made of ground or minced beef or ground chuck are generally used in hamburgers. When other meats such as venison, bison, pork, chicken, turkey, or fish are used, the name of the burger generally changes accordingly, prefixed by the name of the meat source. For example, a turkey burger uses a patty of ground turkey meat, and buffalo burgers are made with bison patties. A Jersey burger consists of hamburger and fish (filet or burger) in one bun. Veggie burgers (alternately called a tofu burger. vegiburger or garden burger) use a meat substitute (for example, tofu, TVP, seitan (wheat gluten), or an assortment of vegetables, nuts or soy protein, which are ground up and mashed into patties) for the vegetarian and vegan consumer. Burgers with non-beef patties are often marketed as more exotic than hamburgers or as being healthier than beef-patties.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the word burger is used in lieu of patty, the latter being more common in the USA. A burger may be served on a plate to be eaten without bread, using a knife and fork, often accompanied by chips however it is most commonly eaten in a bun. A burger of this type need not be made of minced beef; frozen turkey and chicken burgers (which are sometimes coated in breadcrumbs) are popular foods for eating in this style amongst children and students. It is worth noting that a 'burger sandwich' is almost never referred to in the UK, instead burger is the term used both for the meat itself as well as the whole sandwich.

In the UK, the term "patty" refers to a small pie or pasty. In North East England "patty" refers to mashed potato mixed with sage and deep fried in batter, alternatives such as cheese patty or meat and carrot patty are often served in chip shops.

Shape

In addition to the disc-like shape that is typical of burgers, or patties, there can be other shapes to the ground meat as well. The fast food restaurants Wendy's and White Castle, for instance, serve square burgers.

In boxed burgers, it is not uncommon to find burgers with seemingly abnormal shapes, with a bumpy perimeter. These groove-like bumps are caused by the machine that forms the patties. They are used in production to keep the burgers in line, so they won't fall off the assembly line, and can be manipulated by the various machines. In other boxed burgers small punctures can be seen in the top and bottom flat sides of the burger. These punctures are there for similar reasons.