Tasty Feta Burgers (Egg-Free)

Here is a simple, Greek-style recipe I developed last week. In fact, I’ve had the idea of these burgers on my mind for a very long time, and now I finally wanted to try out how the burgers will turn out in practice. After some fine-tuning they tasted so good and my family was raving about them, so I thought the recipe is worth publishing. Hope you like these burgers as much as our family does!

 

 

 

Tips for making the Tasty Feta Burgers

This is a very easy recipe, no tricks needed in making the burgers. The most important thing is to mix the mixture long enough, so that it’s really well mixed and you can easily form patties from it. Another important thing is not to overcook the burgers, otherwise they turn out dry. Also fatty meat helps keep the burgers juicy.

So, let’s get started.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. The mixture is easier to mix in a large bowl than in a smaller bowl.

 

Mix well with clean hands until the mixture is very well mixed. Usually this takes some 2–3 minutes.

 

Form into even-sized patties. Place the patties on an oiled plate. I use olive oil for oiling the plate. And because I like flat burgers rather than plump ones, I like to press a small hollow on the center of each patty. You might notice that my patties are tiny (my son prefers those!); the yield was 20 patties.

 

I like to cook my patties in the combination of organic olive oil and organic butter. I heat a large skillet over high heat and add the butter and the olive oil.

 

When the butter is melted and got some brownish color, I turn the heat to medium and add part of the patties. I recommend to cook the patties in 2–3 parts, depending on the size of your skillet.

Cover the skillet and let the patties cook until you can see no red, raw meat anymore. Then flip them over and cook until juices run clear. Like I said, it’s important not to overcook the patties, otherwise they turn out dry. And naturally, the larger or thicker the patties, the longer they take to cook. My tiny patties were ready in 4 minutes.

 

Tasty Feta Burgers (Egg-Free) 14 oz = 400 g organic ground beef 4 oz = 115 g crumbled organic feta cheese 2 teaspoons dried organic oregano 2 organic garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 2 oz = 60 g organic full-fat plain Greek yogurt   Directions Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well with clean hands until the mixture is well mixed. This takes a couple of minutes. Form into patties of your preferred size. Cook the patties in a skillet in butter or in olive oil. You can also grill them. Don’t cook too long, only until the patties are just cooked through. Otherwise they might turn out dry.

Nutrition information	Protein	Fat	Net carbs	kcal
In total:	96.6 g	69.2 g	3.6 g	1024 kcal
Per burger if 4 burgers in total:	24.2 g	17.3 g	0.9 g	256 kcal
Per burger if 6 burgers in total:	16.1 g	11.5 g	0.6 g	171 kcal
Per burger if 8 burgers in total:	12.1 g	8.7 g	0.5 g	128 kcal
Per burger if 10 burgers in total:	9.7 g	6.9 g	0.4 g	102 kcal
Per burger if 12 burgers in total:	8.1 g	5.8 g	0.3 g	85 kcal
Per burger if 16 burgers in total:	6.0 g	4.3 g	0.2 g	64 kcal
Per burger if 20 burgers in total:	4.8 g	3.5 g	0.2 g	51 kcal

(Oil or butter used for cooking left out from calculations.)

 

 

My feta burger experiments

The basic idea for these burgers I got from biftekis, which are Greek patties made from ground beef and filled with feta cheese. My husband loves those and I have made them numerous times.

Somehow I got the idea to crumble the feta and add it straight to the mixture with ground beef rather than fill the patties with slices of feta. I also wanted to add some Mediterranean spices and thought oregano goes well with feta.

In my first experiment I used 14 oz (400 g) ground beef, 2 oz (60 g) crumbled feta cheese, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon unrefined sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. The result: quite dry, bland burgers. A slight disappointment, so to say.

So, how to improve the taste and get juicier burgers? First of all, I decided to add more feta, since 2 oz (60 g) didn’t give enough flavor. Secondly, garlic powder gave a bit dull taste. I wanted fresher and stronger garlic taste and added fresh, crushed garlic. I also reduced the amount of oregano slightly. 2 teaspoons sounded just perfect. Since I added feta, I thought there is no need for additional salt.

To get juicier burgers I decided to add some Greek yogurt. Nothing fat-free or fat-reduced here, I use as fatty yogurt as I can find, usually with 10 % fat. I was pondering how much to add and finally used 2 oz (60 g) Greek yogurt. That was just perfect! The burgers were juicy and they held very well together. Absolutely no need to add any eggs, breadcrumbs or so. Sometimes I add psyllium husk powder to help keep the patties or meatballs better together, but you easily add too much and the result is somewhat rubbery.

I also noticed that short enough cooking time also ensured juiciness. Too long cooking time made the burgers dry.

I served these burgers with Duchess Cauliflowers and simple brown gravy. Also my soon to be 3 year old son loved them, even he usually doesn’t like feta.

 

 

 

Tips for variation

The possibilities for variation are endless. You can replace the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, even nothing beats fresh garlic. Or, you can leave the garlic out and use onion, red onion or onion powder instead. Fresh chives or green onion would give some fresh color and flavor.

Oregano is the best herb for these burgers, but in case you don’t like it, feel free to replace it for example with thyme. Or, you can leave the herbs out and use for example Cajun seasoning. Just be careful with it that the spice doesn’t overpower the other flavors. Good old black pepper or white pepper is also foolproof option for seasoning these tasty burgers.

I prefer feta cheese for these burgers, however nothing prevents you from replacing it with another sharp cheese. I haven’t tried out yet, but next I might try Swiss cheese. Also Parmesan sounds like a good option.

Because of feta, I didn’t feel any need to add salt to these burgers. You can add some unrefined sea salt, if you feel the need, or simply serve the burgers with a little saltier sauce.