Blended burgers are made with a mixture of ground beef and mushrooms. They taste the same as regular burgers, but with less red meat.
What are Blended Burgers?
There's no question that homemade hamburgers are a major crowd pleaser. People just love burgers, no matter what time of year it is.
But some people want to reduce their red meat intake whether it's to help the planet, for health reasons, or to cut costs. That's where Blended Burgers can be a helpful alternative.
Blended burgers are simply burgers made with a combination of ground beef and mushrooms so that the overall beef content is a little lower. It helps stretch the beef a little bit, so that you can make more burgers with the same amount of meat, and each burger contains just a little less meat in it.
However, that doesn't mean blended burgers taste like mushroom burgers, or are noticeably different in any way at all! I've been feeding them to my picky kids for well over a year, and they haven't noticed any difference yet (and I don't plan on telling them...shhh!)
What's the best mushroom to beef ratio to use for blended burgers?
I've made blended burgers with a variety of different mushroom to beef ratios. I started low, with a 1:2 mushroom to beef ratio. The most recent batch I've made (pictured in the photos in this post) used a much higher 2:1 mushroom to beef ratio. I used 2 pounds of raw mushrooms and one pound of ground beef.
My preferred ratio is 1:1 mushrooms to beef (by weight).
All of the ratios worked just fine, and my kids didn't detect the mushrooms in any of them. You could use any of them and end up with a perfectly great burger. I'll tell you a bit more about each of the ratios I tried below so you can make your own decision based on your preferences.
1:2 Mushroom to Beef Ratio
This is a great ratio to use if you're just starting with blended burgers. With half the amount of mushrooms to beef, you probably won't notice them at all. However, with a smaller amount of mushrooms, you won't stretch the beef as much, so the blended burger benefits will be less.
1:1 Mushroom to Beef Ratio
This is probably my preferred ratio to use. With an equal amount of mushrooms and beef, you still won't notice the mushrooms, but you'll get approximately 1.5 to twice the number of hamburger patties you would get from a pound of ground beef.
2:1 Mushroom to Beef Ratio
At double the amount of mushrooms to beef, you will start noticing the mushrooms in your burger (however, my picky kids still ate them happily). The color of your cooked burger patties will definitely be darker. You can see that in these pictures - no, they're not burnt. And you will definitely taste the mushrooms. But, if you're a mushroom lover like me, that might be a good thing. The burgers will still hold together nicely, and you will really stretch that pound of ground beef to make more burgers.
How do you cook blended burgers?
The most important thing to remember when it comes to cooking blended burgers is that the ground mushroom mixture needs to be cooked before adding it to the raw ground beef to form patties. Once the mushroom mixture is cooked, it resembles cooked ground beef itself (see first photo in the blog post or the picture in the recipe instructions).
The cooked mushroom mixture can then be mixed with the ground beef, formed into patties, and cooked however you normally cook your burgers. I cooked them in a skillet for this post because we don't have a working grill yet, but they can just as easily be grilled. Make sure you use an instant read thermometer to ensure they've reached a safe internal temperature (160°F), which should be the case with all burgers you make.
Want more Burger related recipes?
Blended Burger Nutrition Notes:
The nutrition information in the recipe below uses 1 pound of mushrooms for the calculations, and includes one hamburger bun, but does not include any additional toppings.
If you use less mushrooms to make your burgers, the patties will be slightly smaller with little appreciable change to the nutrition info.
If you use more mushrooms, your burger patties may be larger with little appreciable change to the nutrition info, or you may make an extra hamburger patty or two, which would mean each patty would have less calories, fat, protein, etc.
Blended Burgers
Ingredients
For the hamburger patties
- ½ to 2 pounds mushrooms (Read the section titled "What is the best ratio for blended burgers" in the blog post and see note below)
- 1 Tablespoon canola oil
- 1 small onion, minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt or other seasoning mix, (or ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper)
For the hamburgers (all optional - dress your burger to taste)
- 4 hamburger buns
- cheese
- pickles
- ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo, etc.
- sliced onions, lettuce, and tomato
Instructions
- Gently wipe any dirt off the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Break the mushrooms into pieces and place into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse mushrooms, scraping down the sides and stirring as needed until they are minced fine (avoid over processing to the point that they become a paste).
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the minced onion and mushrooms, stirring occasionally. Cook until the mushrooms have released all their moisture, and the mixture becomes browned, dry, and crumbly (it will resemble cooked ground beef - see photo), about 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Mix the cooked mushroom mixture into the ground beef until the two are incorporated. Form into 4 hamburger patties. Season each of the patties evenly on both sides with seasoning or salt and pepper.
- Cook burgers fully with your favorite burger cooking method (they can be grilled, or cooked on a griddle or skillet) until they are fully cooked (the center of the burger should read 160°F on an instant read thermometer).
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer: I try my best to make sure the nutrition information I provide is accurate to provide you with the best information possible. However, due to ingredient discrepancies and other factors, the above nutrition information should be considered an estimation only.
Leave a Reply