Refresh Your Burger Night!
Classic burgers never get old, but if you love them as much as we do, you’re always looking for more ways to enjoy one of summer's very best foods! This lamb burger recipe is just made for peak summer, when it’s too hot to even begin to think about warming up your oven. Lamb and the grill are natural partners—they just go together so well. If you’ve never cooked with ground lamb before, don’t be intimidated—it’s much like any other ground meat and you’ll be a pro in no time. OK, let’s make some burgers!
How To Season a Lamb Burger Patty
Meaty and a bit gamey, lamb meat has a powerful flavor that we love. It holds up beautifully to the heat of the grill and it can be paired easily with other bold flavors without being lost. To us, that’s really exciting! It means we can bring all of our favorite big, strong, savory ingredients to this lamb burger party—no need to hold back! So to make these super delicious lamb burger patties, you’ll need:
Ground lamb.
Worcestershire sauce
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Salt
What’s the Perfect Doneness Temperature for a Lamb Burger?
If you cook lamb often, you may know that the general rule of thumb for lamb doneness is that for medium-rare lamb, you should be looking for 145˚F on an instant-read thermometer. You may also know that lamb can get tough if it’s overcooked, and so you might be inclined to aim for that lower number. However! Ground lamb is the exception to the lamb done temp rules—to be super safe, the USDA is very clear that you really need to cook it all the way to a medium doneness, or 160˚F on an instant-read thermometer. But, as soon as you see that number, pull those burgers off the grill!
What to Put On Lamb Burgers
While they’re solidly, recognizably in the burger family of foods, lamb burgers are a bit of their own thing. We wouldn’t reach for ketchup and cheddar cheese for these. Instead, we like to top our lamb burgers with:
- Harrisa! We adore harissa. This North African chili paste is always in our pantry. It’s smoky and spicy and it’s just the best. Lamb meat is a natural partner for Moroccan flavors and this harissa mayo has two other classic Moroccan ingredients—harissa (of course) and fresh mint. It’s simple to make and terrifically tasty, like our Sheet Pan Harissa and Cabbage recipe.
- Pickled cabbage. Crunchy and colorful, pickled cabbage lightens the mood of a grilled lamb burger a bit in a way that’s really nice. It adds a welcome acidity that cuts through the richness of the lamb meat. YUM. If you love pickled cabbage, you might also love our easy Pickled Red Onions!
- Cheese! Chèvre (fresh goat cheese) is our favorite cheese to use on a lamb burger, but feta is nice, too. You want something fresh and light—lamb burgers don’t really need anything else too powerful to top them off!
3 Tips for Making The Best Lamb Burgers Ever
Don’t overmix the lamb meat. As with any ground meat recipe—meatballs, patties of all kinds!—a gentle touch is the way to go. Mix the lamb and seasonings with your hands until the mixture looks relatively uniform and the spices seem distributed, but it doesn’t have to be exactly perfect.
Don’t overcook the lamb meat! Use an instant-read thermometer and keep a close eye on the heat of the grill as well as the patties. Pull those patties as soon as they’re done!
Do make the pickled cabbage ahead of time.
Happy Grilling!
We hope this delicious lamb burger recipe treats you well! We adore it and hope that you—and everyone you share it with—love it too! When you make it, we’d love to hear about it. Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
