Here’s a hamburger that Popeye would be proud of: a beef patty chock full of greens.
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My eight-year old son is the resident “picky eater” around here. Almost everyone else will eat almost everything. At least without complaining. He doesn’t keep his opinions secret.
And he’s been known to gag on stuff that he convinces himself he doesn’t like. Even though he’s never tasted it.
So, his taste buds are often the growling dog that I try to sneak past when it comes to meal preparation. When he compliments a meal, I take note, dissecting it and contemplating how to up its nutritional value. When he said he loved my spinach meatballs, I remembered.
And then made spinach burgers. Bwahaha.
All the family loves hamburgers. When it comes to burger toppings, though, the kids can tend to skimp on the lettuce and tomato and pile on the condiments. I decided to put the greens in the burger!
The kids saw that the burgers had green stuff in them. And, yes, they were a little skeptical. But, they fought over the leftovers, so I guess that means they were a hit. Make them slider size so that little hands can more easily grasp them.
I use bread crumbs to bind the ingredients and stretch the meat just a bit. If you use the heel of the sandwich loaf, you’re making good use of something that might otherwise be left for the trash.
Popeye's Burgers with Spinach
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 slice sandwich bread ground into crumbs, about ¾ to 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
- ¾ cup kale (chopped) or other greens
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 2 clove garlic chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 hamburger buns or sliders
- 1-2 tomato sliced
- condiments for burgers , such as cheese, mustard, ketchup, mustard, and additional greens
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the beef, bread crumbs, greens, milk, garlic, salt, and pepper. Combine well, but do not overmix.1 lb ground beef, 1 slice sandwich bread, ¾ cup kale (chopped), 2 tablespoon milk, 2 clove garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- Divide mixture into eight sliders or four quarter-pounders and form patties.
- Patties can be frozen at this point if you want to make them ahead of time. Divide them with layers of waxed paper. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Place in a ziptop freezer bag and freeze. Thaw completely in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.
- Cook in a skillet or over a hot grill until cooked through.
- Serve with buns and toppings.4 hamburger buns, 1-2 tomato, condiments for burgers
Notes
Nutrition
Stephanie Pease
Can you use frozen spinach instead of fresh?
Jessica Fisher
Yes, but thaw and squeeze it as dry as possible before adding to the meat.
Sandra
Yumm. I must say that I took creative license, but even without my changes it would have been super good.
I found some pretzel buns on sale for 50% off and decided that would be an awesome replacement to homemade buns. For the beef, I only had 12 oz of 80% lean beef, so I added a bit of ground pork to make up the weight difference. I skipped the salt, because I’d rather add it later if it needs it. I grilled my burgers on the Foreman grill. These burgers received very rare praise from Husband. He generally likes what I cook, which is evidenced by the fact that he goes for seconds, but tonight he was full from the first plate and told me TWICE that it was really good. Yeah!!
Jessica Fisher
Sounds like a great tweak and I’m so glad your husband said so!
Ashley
I have a picky eater too and he will not only gag but throw up. I usually stretch the meat by adding a small amount of pinto beans mashed up. It looks gross but taste good. My picky 6 yr old said it was better than McDonalds and he doesn’t even eat pinto beans so it worked out great for me. But when I make burgers again I will add some Spinach.
KimH
I’ve stuffed burgers with lots of things but never thought of spinach or greens. I’m gonna give that a shot one of these days. Thanks!
Alicia S
Good job with hiding the greens! My husband is the picky eater around here, and I’m always trying to get him to eat more healthy things. So I do a lot of hiding of veggies in stuff. I throw chopped spinach into spaghetti sauce, into meatloaf, into hamburgers and meatballs… you name it. In fact, meatloaf and hamburger patties are made the same at my house. I stretch the meat with oatmeal, diced tomatos, and a couple of cups of finely chopped (food processed) carrots, as well as chopped spinach. My husband (and his dad, who’s even pickier) loves them!