In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder.
Gently press the beef mixture into an ungreased glass or ceramic square 8-inch pan.
Bake until cooked through, 12-15 minutes. A meat thermometer should read 160°F. If there's a lot of cooking liquid in the pan, you can drain some. I like to keep it and allow some of it to get absorbed back into the burgers as they rest.
Top the cooked meat with the cheese slices.
Return the pan to the oven and bake just until cheese is melted, for 1-2 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and allow the burgers to rest for 5 minutes. Cut into four squares and serve.
Video
Notes
A nice variation is adding a generous pinch of cumin, and I also like to add ½ teaspoon of dried oregano or thyme.
I typically use lean ground beef (85/15). Extra-lean (90/10) ground beef can be tricky in this recipe. It's drier and can also be more crumbly. Having said that, I do use ground bison on occasion, as shown in the photo below. Despite being 90% lean, it's delicious.
Although I recommend using an 8-inch square pan for this recipe, I sometimes double the recipe and use two pans. One of the pans I own is a square 9-inch pan, so I use both and bake them at the same time and for the same amount of time. This works just fine, although the burgers baked in the 9-inch pan are slightly flatter.
The best way to ensure the burgers are done is to use an instant-read thermometer. It's OK to pull them out of the oven when they reach an internal temperature of 155°F since you will return them to the oven to melt the cheese, at which point they should reach 160°F.
You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in a sealed container, for 3-4 days. Reheat them gently in the microwave at 50% power, or enjoy them cold.