RECIPES: Burgers without bread

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Do you like burgers, but at the moment have to limit the use of bread? Then you will surely enjoy this post, as here we will tell and show you how you can replace burger buns. It turns out very tasty! We tested all three options.;)

The idea to cook different options came after we tried a burger without bread in one of the bars. The role of the roll was played by lettuce leaves. But they can be replaced with something else, more satisfying and tasty, but less high in calories. Our choice fell on zucchini (green and yellow), common cabbage (very tasty) and eggplant!

Cutlet

Since the burger should be low in calories, the meat should be chosen appropriately. We had turkey (sirloin) on hand, but you can use veal, chicken, or beef.

Minced meat consisted of ground meat, salt and freshly ground black pepper (nothing superfluous), but if desired, dry herbs (basil or, for example, thyme) can be added there. You don't need to add eggs or flour.

Instead of a roll

We decided to test three options. As mentioned above, the choice fell on two types of zucchini, eggplant and cabbage.

Eggplant. Choose a thicker eggplant, cut it into slices, beat it a little and salt it. Leave it to stand for 15–20 minutes to release the bitterness. Preheat a grill pan, grease it with vegetable oil and send eggplant circles to it. If you don't have a grill pan, you can bake it in the oven.

Cabbage. It is better to choose a younger cabbage, and the leaves should be thinner, but if there is no such option, then the most ordinary one will do. Beat the tough cabbage leaves with a hammer for chops, cut them into thin strips, salt, pepper and leave to stand for 15–20 minutes. Then pour off the secreted cabbage juice and add an egg (one egg for about 150 g of cabbage). Stir well and add some whole grain flour or bread crumbs for a thicker consistency. The specified amount of cabbage will take about 2-3 tablespoons of flour.

Preheat a frying pan, add vegetable oil for frying and lay out the cabbage in the form of small pancakes, the diameter of which depends on the size of the meat cutlets you made.

Zucchini. As it turned out, yellow and green zucchini differ in taste (personally, I like the taste of green more), so we decided to try to combine them: the role of the top part of the loaf was given to green zucchini, and the role of the bottom part - to yellow. Cooking is about the same as in the variant with cabbage, with the only difference that they do not need to be beaten off, but grated on a coarse grater.

Rub, put on a plate and let stand for 20 minutes so that you can get rid of excess juice. Then add the egg, salt, freshly ground black pepper and flour or bread crumbs (one egg takes one medium-sized zucchini). Mix it all well and spread small pancakes with a tablespoon.

As I said, the amount of flour or bread crumbs will depend on the amount and juiciness of the vegetables. The juice will still be released during the cooking process, so you can carefully drain the excess by pressing the grated vegetables with a lid or plate.

In addition, you can do the same with zucchini as with eggplant: cut into slices and send to the grill. Also, instead of zucchini, you can use the most ordinary zucchini or squash.

Sauce

Option for eggplant. The eggplant burger comes with a slice of juicy and sweet tomato, so we decided to choose a very standard and tasty version of the sauce for it: we just took Greek yogurt (or any unflavored yogurt), put some garlic and freshly ground black pepper in it!

Option for cabbage and zucchini. For these burgers, we chose fresh cucumbers, iceberg lettuce and mint yoghurt sauce. To make the sauce, you will need Greek yogurt or any unflavored yogurt (3-4 tablespoons), fresh mint (3-4 leaves), and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

Eggplant burger: two slices of grilled eggplant, meat cutlet, a slice of tomato and yogurt, garlic and freshly ground black pepper sauce.

Burger with cabbage: two cabbage pancakes, meat cutlet, fresh cucumbers (a few slices), iceberg salad and yogurt sauce, fresh mint leaves and lemon juice.

Burger with zucchini: two zucchini pancakes, fresh cucumbers (a few slices), iceberg salad and yogurt sauce, fresh mint leaves and lemon juice.

If you have more vegetable pancakes than meat, do not worry, they go well with the same yogurt with garlic or yogurt with mint, even if they stand for one or two days!