Our 3 Favorite Tasty Meaty Burger Recipes Without Any Beef
Take action against climate change by replacing beef with pork, chicken, or turkey
We love burgers! The bun, the juicy meat, the sauces, and the toppings. We can barely go through a week without one. But realizing how big of an impact beef has on climate change is making us rethink our dinner plans. How do we get our burger fix while also making more environmentally friendly choices? Turns out that switching from beef to another meat is one of the easiest things you can do to make a big impact. Yes that’s right! No need to go with a veggie burger (although more power to you if that’s what you choose!) If you swap out beef for pork in a meal, your carbon footprint is cut by a third (1). And if you swap out beef for chicken, your carbon footprint for that meal is 7 times smaller! That’s why we love these three easy no-beef burger recipes. They’re so flavorful and delicious that all meat loving eaters will enjoy them!
Simple Chicken Teriyaki Burgers
These are our favorite Asian inspired chicken teriyaki burgers. We love them on a soft bun with lots of fun toppings like grilled onions or pineapple rings. Feel free to substitute with ground turkey as well. If you want to make this recipe super simple, sub in some store bought teriyaki sauce!
Ingredients
Burger Patties:
- 1 lb ground chicken (either purchased, or pulse 1 lb of chicken thighs in a food processor)
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup fresh chopped herbs (cilantro or scallions or both!)
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce**
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, grated or finely minced
- Salt and pepper
To Assemble Burgers:
- Burger buns
- Toppings- lettuce, watercress, cilantro, scallions, pineapple ring, grilled onions
- Sauce- mayo, Sriracha,
Instructions:
- In a bowl, mix the bread crumbs, egg, chopped herbs, soy sauce, maple syrup, ginger, garlic, and salt and pepper. Add the ground chicken and lightly combine so that the ingredients are mixed in. Divide the meat into 4 parts and form into burger patties. Refrigerate the burger patties for at least 20 minutes. This helps them keep their shape on the grill.
- Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate. Otherwise, heat up a cast iron skillet over medium high heat if cooking inside.
- Grill or pan fry the burgers until the meat reaches 165 degrees F, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- To assemble, place the burger on a bun, and pile on toppings and sauce.
** If you want to make this recipe super simple, instead of soy sauce, maple syrup, ginger, and garlic, use 3 Tbsp of a store bought teriyaki sauce!
BBQ Pork Burger with a Honey Dijon Coleslaw
If you want the tasty indulgence of a pulled pork sandwich without the hours of work, this is the perfect burger for you! The burgers come together in minutes and are super juicy and full of flavor. The tangy coleslaw is the perfect companion and comes together easily as well.
Ingredients:
Coleslaw:
- 2 cups finely sliced cabbage (green or red)
- 1 grated carrot
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Burger patties:
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 shallot, finely minced
- ⅓ cup bbq sauce (homemade or store bought)
- Salt and pepper
To Assemble Burgers:
- Burger buns
- BBQ sauce
- Optional: Cheese
Instructions:
- In a bowl, combine the cabbage and carrots.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the apple cider vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, and salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until the dressing is smooth and thick.
- Drizzle the dressing over the cabbage mix and set aside.
- Lightly combine the ground pork, shallots, bbq sauce, and salt and pepper. Form into 4 burger patties.
- Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
- Grill the burgers until the meat reaches 160 degrees F, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- To assemble, place the burger on a bun, drizzle extra BBQ sauce, and place a scoop of coleslaw on top.
Turkey Zucchini Burgers
This Ottolenghi inspired burger is a great flavor filled way to use up some extra zucchinis and get some extra veggies into a meal. We made a few changes to the recipe so that the burgers are a full sized meal and are super juicy. We also added some fun toppings to really pull the burger together.
Adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi, and Sami Tamimi
Ingredients:
Burger patties:
- 1 lb ground turkey meat
- 2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup freshly chopped herbs (any combination of green onions, mint, cilantro, and dill)
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
Yogurt sauce:
- ⅔ cup greek yogurt
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove, minced or grated
- 1 Tbsp sumac
- Salt and Pepper
To assemble the burgers:
- Burger buns
- Toppings: Lettuce, Tomato, Cilantro, Mint, Grated cucumber
Instructions:
- Make the yogurt sauce by combining all ingredients in a bowl and mixing well. Set aside.
- Squeeze the grated zucchini to get rid of excess moisture. Use a clean kitchen towel to blot out any extra liquid.
- In a bowl, lightly combine the turkey, with zucchini, egg, bread crumbs, garlic, herbs, cumin, salt, and pepper.
- Form the meat mixture into 4 burger patties. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to help them keep their shape on the grill.
- Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate. Otherwise, heat up a cast iron skillet over medium high heat if cooking inside.
- Grill or pan fry the burgers until the meat reaches 160 degrees F, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- To assemble, place the burger on a bun, drizzle yogurt sauce, and top with lettuce, tomato, fresh herbs, and grated cucumber.