Nothing is better than a good burger in the summer. With a few extra steps it’s easy to give a basic burger a little bit of flare. This recipe uses nuts as a binder instead of breadcrumbs. It also has cheese inside the burger instead of on top to give everyone a bit of a surprise when they dig in. Another plus is the cheese stays melted longer. The burger is topped with sweet and savory balsamic onions. These burgers are so good you can enjoy with or without a gluten-free bun.
Ingredients
- TOPPING
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 7 mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- BURGERS
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons gluten-free Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon gluten-free BBQ sauce
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese or cheese of your preference
Directions
Prepare the topping first by placing the onions and mushroom in a small saucepot that’s well covered with gluten-free cooking spray. Sauté on high heat until the onions start to brown, about 3 minutes.
Add sugar, butter and balsamic vinegar. Mix together well, lower heat and continue to cook on low for 20 minutes while you prepare the burgers. Add a bit of the water every few minutes to help keep the mixture moist and soft. Once liquid is all gone, remove from heat and set aside.
To make the burgers, put the ground beef in a large bowl. Add the egg, Worcestershire sauce, BBQ sauce, almond flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion power. Mix very well and separate into four even portions.
Work with each portion one at a time. Flatten the meat into a round disk, placing 1 ounce of the cheese in the center. Fold the meat around the cheese and form into a burger patty. Repeat with the remaining 3 portions of meat.
Heat a well-oiled pan to medium high and add burgers. Cook one side for about 4 minutes, flip each burger and cover, continuing to cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the lid and check the burger’s doneness by pressing down on the meat. The harder the burger the more well-done it is. Serve burgers with balsamic onions on top. Optional additions include tomato, pickles, lettuce and sprouts.
You can also easily make this on a grill by simply reducing the cooking time by 1-2 minutes.
Nutrition Analysis: 300 cal, 13 g fat, 125 mg chol, 900 mg sodium, 16 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 31 g protein.
Laura Hahn, winner of Philadelphia’s 2012 NBC Next Local TV Chef competition, operates a restaurant consulting company and blogs about gluten-free food at GuiltFreeFoodieCutie.com.
