Take your homemade burgers to the next level with these juicy beef burgers topped with tomato sauce, cheese and slices of pepperoni.
For those of you that don’t know, tomorrow (Thursday 25th August) is National Burger Day, so to celebrate I thought I’d create a new burger recipe. I’ve slowly become more adventurous with my homemade burgers over time, starting with nice simple homemade beef burgers and then moving onto oozy cheese-filled burgers, both of which are consistently popular on here month after month. This time I’ve decided to knock it up another notch adding toppings to create these pizza burgers.
I decided to go for pepperoni pizza because 1) it’s my favourite and 2) I thought the flavours would go really well with the beef. If you wanted to you could take the basic idea and adapt it to whatever topping you feel like. My boys aren’t as fussed on pepperoni as me so I make them simple margarita versions instead which they love. What’s your favourite pizza topping? Do you think it would work as a burger?
I had to cheat a little bit with the pepperoni for my burger as I could only find larger slices in the supermarket. When I was testing the recipe I just plonked one big slice on top, but I thought they’d look much cuter with little slices so I fashioned some little circles from the bigger slices. Once I tried cutting cute flower shapes in the pepperoni using fondant cutters but I decided that it was a step too far!!
How to make sure homemade burgers are juicy
Usually when I’m making anything with beef mince I choose the lean 5% fat version – check the label and the numbers will make you smile a lot more than their higher fat relatives. However, I tried these with the low fat mince and they simply didn’t cut it – they tasted a bit dry and lacking a bit of flavour. I’ve read in the past (although as per usual I cannot remember where to tell you to take a look) that burgers are best made with a higher fat % mince and that advice is spot on. Simply switching the mince makes these much juicier and more flavoursome. Anyway, I cook these on a grill so much of the fat drips away so they’re not so bad after all 🙂
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Pepperoni Pizza Burgers
INGREDIENTS
- 500 g beef mince - 10%+ fat - anything less than 10% fat tends to give a less juicy burger
- 2 tsp tomato puree
- 1 ¼ tsp dried oregano
- 100 g grated cheddar cheese
- 20 g small pepperoni slices - you can cut up large slices if you can't find the small ones in the shops - that's what I did!
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat your oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan.
- Grate your cheese (100g)
- Divide your beef mince (500g) into 4 equal sized pieces. Form one piece into a burger shape using your hands.
- Make a well in the centre of the burger using the bottom of a glass or your hands. If there are any little cracks/splits in the sides give them a gentle squeeze to join them back up again.
- Add ½ tsp tomato puree and ¼ tsp dried oregano and spread it into the well in the burger using the back of a spoon.
- Sprinkle in ¼ of your grated cheese (25g) and then top with slices of pepperoni.
- Repeat steps 3-6 until you've made all 4 burgers.
- Place the burgers onto a grill rack (or a cooling rack in a baking tray if you don't have a grill rack) and then cook for 13 minutes until the burger is piping hot all of the way through.
- Serve.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
- Corn-Free
- Egg-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Nut-Free
- Soy-Free
The ingredients for this recipe are easily available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
Meghan says
I love homemade burgers. Don’t know how you could go back to shop bought after trying real ones!
These look extra special. ☺
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Meghan. I tend to switch between shop bought an homemade depending on how much of a rush I’m in but you’re right homemade alway taste the best!
Mel says
Your burgers look scruffy, sweetie! I love pepperoni but I would never have thought of adding a few slices to a burger. You’re a genius!
Charlotte Oates says
Oh I’d really recommend it, the pepperoni goes really well with the beef.
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
Great idea Charlotte! They look fab and sound delicious. Love how you made a dip in the middle to fill with lots of good stuff. xx
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Kate, the dip helps stop everything falling out. It could be filled with pretty much anything, I keep dreaming up new flavours to try!
Eb Gargano / easypeasyfoodie.com says
Oooh – what a fab idea! Bet they taste amazing!! Love how cute they look 🙂 Eb x
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Eb. They do taste really good and the kitchen smells amazing when they’re cooking!
Mandy says
Such a creative idea Charlotte, although I’d like to see a photo of the floral pepperoni pieces! I must say that your grill looks incredibly shiny too! Thanks for linking up with #CookBlogShare
Charlotte Oates says
Sadly I’m not sure I’ll bother making the flowery version again to photograph it, the pieces of pepperoni end up too small and get a bit lost with the meat, cheese and tomato sauce. I’m still amazed at how shiny I got my grill to look (it really looked nothing like that a few weeks ago!), I’d definitely recommend giving Oven Pride a try.
Karly says
Pizza and burgers and pepperoni, OH MY!!! I think I’ve fallen in love with this post. These are sure to be a hit with my family and I cannot wait!
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Karly. I hope you and your family enjoy them when you give them a try x