This time of year for some reason I find myself making venison burgers often. I don’t know if it’s a change in the weather, the fact that we have a freezer full of fresh venison, or what. Most people like to grill their burgers, which we do sometimes. I find that a cast iron skillet makes a fabulous burger, so mine are usually cooked inside in my vintage griswold skillet. One of things I love about making burgers is that they’re quick and easy, it usually only takes 15-20 minutes to have them ready, and when the weather is this nice that makes for extra time to spend in the garden.
As you can imagine we don’t do regular normal burger toppings. Naturally we use homemade buns, which I bake up and keep in the freezer so we always have some on hand. The burgers are topped with: homemade roasted pear chutney, caramelized onions and local raw milk blue cheese. Our burgers are usually enjoyed with a few of our homegrown potatoes fried in coconut oil. It sure makes for a quick, simple, delicious and healthy meal!
What are your favorite burger toppings?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
That looks ridiculously good, even at 7 in the morning.
I’m afraid I’m very much a traditionalist with burgers. The ususal is lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and catsup. Sometimes I just eat them straight up without a bun with dinner fries and potato salad. You are right about being simple and quick. There’s nothing complicated about a burger. They are of course the best grilled on the Barbie.
Have a great burger day.
bacon lettuce and tomato, pickles tomato, lettuce, and onions, swiss and onion, cheddar and bacon, sliced boiled egg and lettuce, slaw and pickles, salsa, mozzarella, and lettuce…oh I can’t choose!
Now I’m hungry……….:)
Tomato if they’re in season and a nice big slice of an onion. My husband makes fun of me because I usually have as much onion as burger.
I would love to see your bun recipe! I’ve dabbled in making my own buns but we still buy them more often than not.
Homemade buns are so good, these were half whole grain. I used my favorite recipe that I’ve blogged here. Thanks for reminding me, I added a link in the post above as well.
We have been eating veggie burgers here lately though! We haven’t eating a beef burger in a couple years or so now. We top our veggie burgers with mustard, mayo, ketchup, bread and butter pickles, and roasted peppers.
Amy
Mushrooms and Swiss cheese!
Maybe some arugula would be good?
Arugula would be fab, I always love it on sandwiches!
Do you share your recipe for roasted pear chutney? I have a good recipe for ginger pear chutney, but its not roasted. My mom has pear-apple and pear trees and she makes chutney every year, but we’ve never tried roasting the pears.
Sure, I’ll have to look it up and do a post about it. It could easily be made with apples, peaches, and other fruits substituted in. The roasted pear is one of my favorites as is the peach chutney I made.
It looks and sounds delicious! And…nothing beats a cold Coke in a BOTTLE!!
Ah yes, this is Mexican Coke made with real sugar in real glass bottle. We don’t drink it often, but it sure is good with a burger!
Cheese. There must be cheese on my burger. I love the usual bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo, especially in the height of summer, and also go the mushroom, bacon, cheddar, BBQ sauce route. I love kimchi on burgers (anything pickle-ish is great), tomato jam (a nice sweet one), and caramelized onions, which we make in big batches in the oven and keep in the fridge and put on EVERYTHING.
Your Mexican Coke is killing me!
Ooooh… Care to share that venison burger recipe? I, too, have tons of ground venison in the freezer, but I’ve never found a suitable way to use it for “hamburgers”.
It’s pretty simple, I usually just salt/pepper them heavily on the raw side while I’m cooking them in the pan. Our venison is rarely “gamey” because Mr Chiot’s usually tries to get does & yearlings. The meat is also taken to the processor the same day it’s killed so it never hangs, which can create that typical “gamey” flavor that venison can have.
You can also add some garlic if you want, that should help with the venison flavor. BBQ sauce would help as well. If it’s too much flavor to eat as plain hamburger, I’d recommend using for sloppy joes. When we have a big old buck that’s got some flavor to the meat that’s how we use that specific meat.
You might also try adding a good bit slivered chipped onion and garlic powder (or fresh mashed) to your venison. I also usually add just a little bit of worchestershire sauce and Montreal seasoning… But even before that.. bring your meat out & let it sit on the counter & become room warm.. about an hour.. then add all the above..and let that sit for about 20 minutes.
Makes for great burgers whether you’re using venison or beef.
Oh yes, bringing the meat to room temp before cooking makes them cook much better, they’re much juicier because they don’t need to be cooked long at all. I usually put mine out an hour or so before I cook them.
Sounds great! I’ll have to give it another try. Thanks!
Oh my! Gruyere and caramelized onions. There is a place in Los Angeles called Father’s Office that serves them with sweet potato fries.
I will have fries with that please! I like red onion on my burgers, I also like beets.So good. I also like reading what everyone else puts on theirs too and your information on deer. We grew up with venison. I was too young to know anything about the processing of it, and I would now like to get some venison in our freezer. So thank you for the tips on doe and yearling, etc. Emily
Hello! When you freeze the buns do you bake them first of freeze the dough?
Usually I bake the buns first, then I can pull out 2 for a meal and I don’t have to worry about them going stale. I often will make 2-3 batches of them so I have them, especially in the summer. They also work well for egg sandwiches and dinner rolls.
Thanks!!! Im not used to getting an answer from a blog so I forget to check back LOL. Thank you for answering!
Sounds fabulous! I love a slice of cream cheese and avocado on my burger. Also chile aioli and sauteed bell peppers.
Care to share your bun recipe?
Found it!! Thanks!
I love my Bison burgers topped with my homemade spicy peach chutney and three pepper mayo. I’ve never tried but I think Brie would go great with that too. Mmmm