Greek Burgers with Tzatziki

Welcome to Week 2 of the Healthy Greek Eats blogger challenge!

In case you missed last week’s post, Healthy Greek Eats is an Orlando-based brand that offers a selection of traditional Greek meze.

Healthy Greek Eats is sponsoring a challenge for Orlando food bloggers. They provided participating bloggers with three of their products: hummus, tzatziki and Greek yogurt.  Each week of the challenge is themed with one of the products and we are tasked with creating a recipe incorporating the product of the week.

All of their products are vegetarian and gluten-free, and many are vegan, too.  To purchase any of the Healthy Greek Eats products, you can visit The Meat House in Winter Park.  Or for more retail locations, visit healthygreekeats.com.

Last week’s challenge was hummus, and this week’s recipe features Healthy Greek Eats Tzatziki.  YUM!

Tzatziki is a Greek condiment made from greek yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, dill, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  It is delicious on gyro sandwiches, as a dressing for Greek Salads, as a dip for veggies, or in this case… on my newest burger creation!  Greek burgers with tzatziki. 🙂

In this recipe I took ground beef and gently combined it with oregano, then seasoned with salt and pepper.  Once it was grilled to perfection I topped it with feta cheese, tomato, grilled red onion, arugula, and fresh mint.  Then sandwiched it inside a toasted bun spread with the Healthy Greek Eats tzatziki sauce.

The toasted burger bun was for my non-gluten-free boyfriend.  I didn’t have any gluten-free buns on hand so I had my burger sans-bun, which is really my preference anyway!

Grilling the onions provides a nice texture and flavor, and it prevents the onions from being too strong and overpowering the entire burger.  All you need to do is slice a red onion into circles, don’t separate the rings just yet, rub with oil and grill over high heat until they are slightly charred on both sides.

I doubled the below recipe and made eight burgers, and turned the leftover burgers into Greek-style salads with romaine, tomatoes, leftover grilled onions, peperoncini, feta cheese, kalamata olives and the tzatziki as dressing!  Delish!

To prepare your burgers, once you remove from the grill, transfer to a plate and immediately top with the feta cheese.  The heat from the burgers will start to soften and warm the feta.

Spread each half of a bun with the tzatziki sauce (or if you’re not using buns, spread onto your plate), then place the burger inside the bun and top with the grilled onion, sliced tomato, arugula and freshly chopped mint.

Enjoy while it’s hot and serve with your favorite sides.  I mixed cultures a little bit with this meal and served with spicy grilled Mexican corn.

Greek Burgers with Tzatziki
Original Recipe by Lauren from Hugs ‘n Kitchen

Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs ground chuck
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• kosher salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, sliced into circles
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• Healthy Greek Eats tzatziki
• fresh mint, chopped
• arugula, for garnish
• burger buns (optional)

Steps

1. Preheat your grill to high heat and oil the grates.
2. In a medium bowl mix together the ground beef with the oregano.  Use your hands to mix together until the spices are evenly distributed, then divide the meat into four patties.  Season both sides with salt and pepper.  Press your thumb into the center of each patty a little bit and brush the burgers with the oil.
3. Grill the burgers until they start to turn brown and slightly charred, about 3-5 minutes per side, depending on how you prefer your burgers cooked.
4. While your burgers are grilling, rub the onion circles with oil and carefully grill your until they are charred and soften a bit.  As they cook, the rings will start to separate and it’s challenging to keep them together, but carefully flip, trying to avoid dropping them through the grates, so you can get a nice char on both sides.
5. Toast your burger buns, if desired.
6. Once your burgers are done, transfer to a plate and immediately top with the feta cheese.  The heat from the burgers will start to soften and warm the feta.
7. Prepare your burgers: spread each half of a bun with the tzatziki sauce (or if you’re not using buns, spread onto your plate), then place the burger inside the bun and top with the grilled onion, sliced tomato, arugula and freshly chopped mint.
8. Enjoy while it’s hot!

Hugs, kisses & yummy dishes… xoxo
Lauren

Next week is the final week of the Healthy Greek Eats blogger challenge.  Check back for a recipe featuring their rich and creamy Greek yogurt!