Grilled Tomatillo Burger

June 10, 2012
In our house, we are pretty vocal about our love of cheeseburgers and plain burgers as well. In fact, it was being antagonized by somebody, who shall remain nameless, into taking a bite of a greasy cheeseburger that swayed me away officially from being a vegetarian.
To tell you the truth though, the last year of my ten year stint as a vegetarian was just a slippery slope of taste tests and samples of foods containing meat. It was like I was already looking for a way out.
So now that you get the importance of burgers in our house, you can probably guess that we eat them at least once every two weeks. I wish it was more but, we are getting old and try to sub in some healthy turkey burgers instead of beef every once in a while.
After having to use up a tomatillo before it went bad, I came up with this burger. It tastes like a burger with built in salsa! While eating, my husband and I just looked at each other mid-chew and had that unspoken ESP conversation:
“This is good!”
“I know!!! I made it!”
“I could eat this every day!”
“What about in a week or so?”
“Done!!!”
And so it was decided that tomatillo burgers, of the beef and turkey variety, became a part of my go-to weekday/weekend menu.
Ingredients (Makes 4 Burgers)
1 lb. Extra Lean Ground Beef
2 Tomatillos, roughly chopped
1 Jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon Pepper
4 Burger Buns
4 Slices of Cheddar Cheese (optional)
Pull the ground beef out of the refrigerator and place into a large mixing bowl so it slightly comes to room temperature while you prepare the tomatillos and jalapeno.
Remove the husk and then rinse the tomatillos under cold water before roughly chopping. Seed the jalapeno and then roughly chop it.
Add the chopped tomatillos and jalapeno to a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds. You still want to be able to tell what each vegetable is.
Add the tomatillo and jalapeno mixture to the ground beef along with the salt, pepper, and cilantro. Using your hands, combine all the ingredients until evenly dispersed.

Divide the meat mixture into fourths using your hand and then roll each fourth into a patty.
Set your grill/grill pan to medium heat. Lightly oil down the grates of the grill before cooking the burgers. Place each burger on the grill and cook, with the lid closed, for five minutes each side to reach the perfect medium doneness.
The last minute of grilling is when you should add cheese to each burger, if you are using it.
When done, let the burgers rest for five minutes before serving/eating. Toast the buns. Top with a little avocado, lettuce, tomato or whatever your heart desires.

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  • Betty Castillo
    August 21, 2014 at 10:30 pm

    OMG best burger so far, my family were very surprised on the taste. I will grill more tomorrow

    • Stefanie
      August 21, 2014 at 10:53 pm

      Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

  • ko
    June 17, 2012 at 2:29 am

    Looking good and Love the story!

  • Peter @Feed Your Soul
    June 11, 2012 at 8:27 am

    really nice spin on the burger. love anything with a mexican twist.

  • Ovensports
    June 10, 2012 at 10:53 am

    Wow, these look delicious! I love the flavor of tomatillos, but I hadn’t thought of putting them in burgers before. Thanks for the idea!