The Ultimate Lamb Burger Recipe

You might have heard that Australians love to have backyard barbecues — and the cliche is true! While we enjoy grilling food on the barbecue for special occasions, cooking food this way is actually a really quick and easy option for making delicious meals at any time — and they can be healthy too. If you want to keep up your healthy habits, no matter the occasion, this tasty lamb burger recipe is for you!

This recipe makes 8 mini burgers, so it is the perfect easy meal to make for a family. 

If you intend to cook this ground lamb burger recipe for more people, simply adjust the ingredients to suit your needs — get ready to enjoy an amazing Aussie lamb burger!

Mini Lamb Burgers with Beetroot Salsa

No matter where you live, this lamb burger recipe is the perfect barbecue food to make and share with loved ones. It caters for a variety of dietary preferences and can be made to be dairy-free, gluten-free and nut-free — give the recipe a try now! 

Prep time: 10 mins + 30 mins chilling time    

Cook time: 15 mins    

Total time: 25 mins + 30 mins chilling time

Serves: 8

Dietary Preferences: Dairy-free option, Gluten-free option, Nut-free

Ingredients:

• 500g (1 pound) lean minced (ground) lamb (or meat of your choice)

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley

• ¼ small brown onion, finely diced

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

• 1 large egg

• 30g (1 oz) salt-reduced, low-fat feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

• oil spray

• 8 wholemeal slider buns or gluten-free slider buns

• ½ avocado, mashed

• 1 small handful baby spinach leaves

Beetroot Salsa

• 80g (3 oz) cooked beetroot, chopped

• ¼ lemon, juiced

• 6 fresh mint leaves

• ¼ small red onion, chopped

• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Method:

1. Place the minced meat, dried oregano, fresh parsley, onion, garlic, egg, and feta, if using, in a medium bowl and mix until just combined. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. 

2. Shape the lamb mixture into eight small evenly sized patties. Place on a plate, cover with plastic film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, place the beetroot salsa ingredients in a food processor and pulse for 10 seconds or until combined. The salsa should still be a little chunky. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

4. Heat a non-stick fry pan over medium-high heat and lightly spray with oil spray. Add the patties and cook for 4-5 minutes, then carefully turn and cook for a further 4-5 minutes or until cooked to your liking. 

5. To serve the lamb sliders, cut the slider buns in half and toast lightly in a toaster or under a hot oven grill. On one half of each bun, layer the avocado mash, baby spinach, lamb patty and beetroot salsa. Top with the other half of each bun. Enjoy!

What makes this lamb burger recipe healthier?

Remember, being healthy is about making wholesome choices and food swaps — it shouldn’t be overly restrictive, and the healthy food choices you make should be sustainable for the long term. Food is such an important part of so many cultures and is a way of bringing people together. This is why it’s so important that you allow yourself to eat the foods you’ve always loved, but making more nutritious choices where possible.

This lamb burger recipe is a delicious example of a healthy food swap — it uses lean minced meat (ground lamb), salt-reduced feta and wholemeal buns, as well as other nutritious ingredients such as avocado, egg and baby spinach.

It swaps traditional burger ingredients that can be quite high in saturated fat and simple carbohydrates for leaner meats, a healthier cheese and bun, and includes vegetables — overall making it a better-for-you burger compared to other varieties.

Healthy food swaps don’t have to be hard

If you’re looking for other delicious and healthy meals, make sure you try out this rainbow salsa recipe, as well as our roasted beetroot, goat’s cheese and walnut salad recipe. 

What’s your favourite healthy food swap recipe? Let us know in the comments below!