6 expert tips and healthy recipes for the best burgers

Summer’s here. Father’s Day is upon us and Burger Season is officially in full swing. While EatingWell has dozens of healthy burger recipes, our Spanish Pork Burger is one of my favorite ways to mix up my burger repertoire. It’s boldly flavored with sautéed onions that keep it moist, plus Spanish paprika, garlic and green olives. The creamy mayonnaise spread is tangy with lemon and a hint of earthy saffron.

On top of fabulous flavor, this burger’s got decent nutrition marks. With just 364 calories, it makes a generous and utterly scrumptious meal that even works for someone on a diet. Just add a little green salad to get your vegetable servings in. An added bonus: 3 cups of sliced onions and whole-wheat burger buns give these burgers 5 grams of fiber per serving.

EatingWell worked with meat expert and cookbook author Bruce Aidells on keeping burgers healthy and delicious, and he developed this Spanish Pork Burger recipe as well as 5 other amazing burgers. When we spoke with him recently he said that his approach to a burger is exactly the same as with sausage (one of his specialties). The most important step is getting great flavor combinations into the meat.

Bruce’s 6 tips for a better and healthier burger:

• Add flavor and moisture to lean burgers by incorporating other ingredients. Cheese, wild rice and barbecue sauce are great options. Try this in Smoky Bison Burgers.
  
• Don’t overcook the meat.
  
• Mix seasonings into the meat. Don’t just sprinkle your formed burgers with salt and pepper. Bruce adds cilantro, garlic, chili powder, cumin and oregano along with salt and pepper to "Fajita" Burgers before shaping.
  
• Adding a leaner, neutral-tasting meat like turkey to a fattier cut like lamb reduces saturated fat and cholesterol.
  
• Stud white-meat burgers with color to give them a little visual appeal.
  
• Get creative. Use flavor combinations from your favorite ethnic foods. Green olives, pimenton de la Vera, saffron and manchego give these pork burgers a Spanish flair.

By Jessie Price

EatingWell food editor Jessie Price’s professional background in food started when she worked in restaurant kitchens in the summers during college. She started out testing recipes for EatingWell and then joined the staff here full-time in 2004 when she moved to Vermont from San Francisco.

Related Links from EatingWell:

• Love burgers? Try these other delicious burger combinations: Mozzarella-Stuffed Turkey Burgers, Crab Cake Burgers and Burgers with Caramelized Onions.
  
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