Grilling season has arrived and I am ready! Now, growing up we would grill out year-round, even in the snow, so I’m definitely left craving grilled dishes a lot. We have ventured outside here and there in the cold and rain, but usually we wait until spring when things start to heat up. I have had juicy homemade burgers on my mind for some time now, so I finally decided to make this Zesty Burger with Veggies when we had guests.
Let me just toot my own horn for a minute (I rarely do this): my burgers turned out awesome! I do enjoy eating hamburgers, but they have to be as simple as can be. No lettuce, no tomato, nothing really that would make me feel like I’m eating healthy. For a change, I decided to mix some veggies into the burger to give it some flavor while still allowing me to enjoy eating it. Let’s just say–it worked.
These burgers were simple to make and yielded enough for a decent dinner party or extras to freeze. I served them with homemade sweet tea, fresh melon and grapes, and homemade hashbrowns.
Ok, funny story. I actually tried to make crinkle cut fries using golden potatoes…don’t bother. They don’t hold up like russet potatoes and turned to mush, so the next best thing was to chop them up for hashbrowns. Really though…I meant to do that.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs lean ground beef
- 1/4 cup red pepper, minced
- 1/4 cup green pepper, minced
- 2 Tablespoons yellow onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Directions
1. Add in the peppers, onion, and garlic.
2. Dump in the worcestershire sauce, oil, and seasonings.
3. Mix until well-combined. I used my hands (wash them first, of course, as well as immediately after touching raw meat!) You can use a spoon if you’d like, but again I recommend staying away from anything porous with raw meat (i.e. wooden or plastic spoons.)
4. Scoop out some of the meat mixture and form it into a ball then flatten it to make a patty. I did balls about 2 inches in diameter, but you can use any size you would like. Burgers will shrink in diameter but get thicker, so keep this in mind. Place each burger flat onto a glass cutting board or plate. I also stored some of the extra patties in a couple gallon freezer bags. Make sure you get all the air out and store flat in the freezer.
5. Head out to the grill. Cook time will really depend on your personal preference and the size of your patties. I prefer mine well done, so we do direct heat and cook it a little longer, but the size patty we made cooked up pretty quickly. We did double patties rather than thick patties.
6. Don’t forget to toast the buns! Butter the inside of the buns then lay them flat on the grill over indirect heat and cook until toasty. In my opinion, this is the key point to a really good burger.
7. Top with whatever you wish. I just used my usual mustard, ketchup, and pickles, but you can add cheese (swiss or pepper jack would be awesome), onions, lettuce, anything that sounds good.
- 3 lbs lean ground beef
- ¼ cup red pepper, minced
- ¼ cup green pepper, minced
- 2 Tablespoons yellow onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- In a medium mixing bowl (I recommend glass as it is not porous), add the ground beef and peppers.
- Add in the onion and garlic.
- Dump in the worcestershire sauce, oil, and seasonings.
- Mix until well-combined. I used my hands (wash them first, of course, as well as immediately after touching raw meat!) You can use a spoon if you'd like, but again I recommend staying away from anything porous with raw meat (i.e. wooden or plastic spoons.)
- Scoop out some the meat mixture and form it into a ball then flatten it to make a patty. I did balls about 2 inches in diameter, but you can use any size you would like. Burgers will shrink in diameter but get thicker, so keep this in mind. Place each burger flat onto a glass cutting board or plate. I also stored some of the extra patties in a couple gallon freezer bags. Make sure you get all the air out and store flat in the freezer.
- Head out to the grill. Cook time will really depend on your personal preference and the size of your patties. I prefer mine well done, so we do direct heat and cook it a little longer, but the size patty we made cooked up pretty quickly. We did double patties rather than thick patties.
- Don't forget to toast the buns! Butter the inside of the buns then lay them flat on the grill over indirect heat and cook until toasty. In my opinion, this is the key point to a really good burger.
- Top with whatever you wish. I just used my usual mustard, ketchup, and pickles, but you can add cheese (swiss or pepper jack would be awesome), onions, lettuce, anything that sounds good.
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-What are your favorite burger toppings?
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I love sneaking healthy ingredients into burgers, esp if they are going to be cooked on the grill! Oh boy do these look good and now I want to do this for Memorial Day!
Me too! These were awesome grilled. My husband wants me to make more so he can try frying them on a skillet.
I absolutely love this recipe and so does my picky husband! You must try it!!!
Thank you, Laiken!
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