When I took my first bite of these homemade lamb burgers, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were beyond delicious! We don't eat a lot of lamb—ok, we never eat lamb—but I've been trying to branch out a bit in the meat department, and when my Mom mentioned that she made Greek lamb burgers, I was intrigued. I love Greek food, and I needed a new burger recipe, so I found frozen, lean, Spring ground lamb at the co-op grocery store, bought some Greek fixings (such as feta cheese, olives, red onion, etc.), and proceeded to concoct a tasty Greek lamb burger.
I wasn't shy with the ingredients—I kept adding as I went, thinking, "Oh, this would go nicely. Oh, and this!"—so these burgers are jam-packed full of flavour. You can customize your ingredients to your liking, though most of the ingredients are optional if you feel like leaving one or two out.
Lamb tends to have a bit of a higher fat content than most of the meats that we use more regularly, such as bison, extra lean ground beef, chicken, and turkey. Fat doesn't really bother me too much, though, because I find that it adds flavour and adds to the fullness-factor in foods (fat is digested slower than carbohydrates and even protein, so it has a satiety effect). Of course, with fat comes calories, so it's important not to go overboard. With that said, I would consider these burgers to be healthy, as they are full of naturally nutritious ingredients, and lamb contains many important nutrients, such as protein, selenium, niacin, iron, vitamin B12, and zinc.
Aside from my Smoked Gouda And Mushroom Bison Burger Recipe, this has become one of our favourite burger recipes.
Ingredients:
Heat half of the olive oil in a pan over medium heat, add mushrooms, green onion, red onion, and garlic. Saute until mushrooms are tender and mixture is fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In the meantime, combine ground lamb, feta cheese, olives, sundried tomatoes, oats, the rest of the olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add mushroom/onion mixture when it is cooled, and with your hands combine all ingredients until dispersed nicely, and form into burgers. Place on a clean platter, cover, and chill until ready to be grilled.
Cook on the preheated grill until the burgers are cooked through. Serve on whole grain buns with tzaziki sauce and desired fixings (we had tomatoes and lettuce), and a green salad or grilled vegetables on the side.
(Yields: 4 burgers)
If you're looking for some more yummy recipes, check out my top 10 Dietitian-approved family-friendly recipes.
My kids both loved these lamb burgers, but it's sometimes a challenge to get them to eat enough veggies. If your kids are the same, you may want to read my article on hiding vegetables in your kids' food.
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