Healthy Homemade Burger & Chips
A much healthier option than taking a trip to mcdonalds.
Difficulty Level: easy
Ingredients
- Serves 2 with a big appetite, makes 4 burgers
- for the burgers:
- 500g minced pork
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 red chilli, chopped & de-seeded
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 large egg
- a little plain flour
- a little olive oil
- 4 large pitta breads (a delicious and healthy alternative to burger buns)
- 1/4 of a bag of spinach
- 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 of a cucumber, sliced
- for the chips
- 2 medium-large baking potatoes
- a glug of olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp mixed herbs
Instructions
1. Start by preparing your burgers. Take a large mixing bowl (or something similar) and add the mince, followed by the onion, garlic and chilli.
2. With well-washed hands, use your fingers to combine the ingredients together. It feels really squidgy and horrible but it’s worth it.
3. Crack the egg into the mixture and combine that into the mix.
4. Take a little mixture into your hands and shape it using your palms into a small patty. Check its consistency: does it feel like it’s quite firm or will it fall apart? If it feels like the burger isn’t firm enough (ie it’s a bit liquid-y), then add plain flour to your burger mix, a teaspoon at a time, until it does.
5. You should have enough of this meaty mixture to make about four good-sized burger patties. Shape them and place them onto something like a baking tray and cover with cling film. Leave them to rest for about fifteen minutes to half an hour in the fridge. (this means that there will be more flavour and that the burgers will firm up a bit more).
6. While the burgers are resting, you can prepare your chips. Before you do this, pre-heat the oven to about 250 degrees c.
7. Take your baking potatoes, making sure to wash any grit off of them. It’s up to you whether you want to peel them or not, i prepare not to. Slice the potatoes in half. Then cut little wedge shapes by slicing the half into about 6 or so sections.
8. Put the sliced potato onto a baking tray or in a baking dish. Add a glug of olive oil and season with salt and pepper, before sprinkling over some dried mixed herbs.
9. Place the chips on the top shelf of the oven. They’ll take about 30-45 minutes but keep checking that they’re cooked by stabbing them with a fork. If they slide off the fork they’re not cooked.
10. Put a large non-stick frying pan on full heat (on the hob) and allow it to get hot.
11. While waiting for this to happen, prepare the spinach, tomatoes and cucumber and mix together in a bowl.
12. It’s time to get your burgers out. Season them with a pinch of salt just before you begin cooking them (the reason you didn’t do this beforehand is because the salt will dry out the moisture from the burgers).
13. Add a tiny bit of olive oil to your pan and place your burgers in there using something like a spatula or a fish slice.
14. Watching them so that they don’t burn, cook the burgers on one side for six minutes. After this point, flip them so that the other side can cook for a further six minutes.
15. While you’re waiting for the other side to cook, put your pitta breads into a toaster on a relatively low setting. They can just rest on a plate once they’re toasted.
16. Check both sides of the burgers to make sure that they’re quite brown on top. The pork mince is paler than beef which you’re probably used to for making burgers, so don’t be alarmed that the meat isn’t all brown. If you’re unsure that it’s not cooked enough, place a fork into the middle of the burger and touch the fork tip when you’ve taken it out. If it’s hot the meat in the middle’s cooked, if not fry for a bit longer. Leave the burgers to cool for a minute once cooked.
17. Your chips should hopefully be done by now (if you’ve been checking them). Split them between two plates.
18. Slice your toasted pitta breads into halves by slicing horizontally through the middle. Place each burger onto a pitta bun, top with the salad you prepared earlier and then put the other pitta ‘lid’ on top. And there you have your burger and chips.
tips:
– you don’t have to use pork mince. I chose to use it because it’s lean and it’s tasty. Turkey is another really healthy option but you could use chicken, lamb, beef of course, or any other kind of mince that takes your fancy.
– you don’t have to use the same flavourings either. I used garlic, chilli and onion but mix things up a little. Get inventive with herbs, spices and other flavourings and see what works best.
– you can use any salad you like, of course, or not have any at all, but this was just my suggestion.
– if you have any mince mixture left over, you could also make some meatballs as they are basically just round burgers. Just roll into balls instead of patties with a smaller amount of mixture. Cook them and freeze them for another time.
– if you use a little too much olive oil and your burger or chips become greasy, a good way to make it less so is to wrap it in kitchen towel for a few seconds, which will get rid of any excess oil before serving.
– experiment with condiments (burger relish, mayo, caramelised onion); side dishes (corn on the cob, grilled veg) and burger buns (brioche, poppy seed roll, bagels).
– you could use sweet potato to make the chips for a different flavour.
– remember that this recipe contains the basic principals for making burgers and is completely adaptable to your needs.
Explore More:Recipes