Beet, Mushroom and Beef Burgers

Name: Beet, Mushroom and Beef Burgers
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 1/4 pound peeled roasted beets (1 medium); 1/2 pound roasted mushroom mix; 1/2 pound lean ground beef; 1 tablespoon minced chives; 1 shallot minced; 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (more or less to taste); Salt; Freshly ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon finely chopped mint; Olive oil for cooking (no more than 1 tablespoon)

By Martha Rose Shulman

Updated June 27, 2024

Beet, Mushroom and Beef Burgers — Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Total Time: 20 minutes
Rating: 5(153)
Notes: Read community notes

I incorporated a roasted beet into the beef and roasted mushroom mix, allowing me to shave another couple of ounces of beef off the formula, and the resulting burger is a winner. The beet contributes moisture, texture and great color – almost a rare meaty look – to these almost-veggie burgers (I tried the grated roasted beets and mushrooms as a mix without the meat and it didn’t hold together; I plan to work on a vegetarian version at a later date.) Meanwhile I love the texture of this patty and the herbal flavors of the mint and chives. If you want to splurge a little (after all there are only 2 ounces of beef in each patty), melt a little blue cheese or gorgonzola on top. I like to serve this with a spicy green, like baby arugula or mizuna.

Featured in: Cutting Out the Meat With Mushrooms

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4

¼pound peeled roasted beets (1 medium)
½pound roasted mushroom mix
½pound lean ground beef
1tablespoon minced chives
1shallot minced
1teaspoon fresh lemon juice (more or less to taste)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1tablespoon finely chopped mint
Olive oil for cooking (no more than 1 tablespoon)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Grate beet on large holes of a grater.
Step 2
In a large bowl mix together all of the ingredients except the oil for cooking until well combined. Shape into 4 patties. I like to pile the mixture into a 3-inch ring and pull the ring away, then when I place the patties in the hot pan I press them down with the back of my spatula so they are about 1 inch thick.
Step 3
Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add a small amount of olive oil, just enough to coat pan. Cook patties for 4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and serve. You can use a bun or not (I think they are fine without). Baby arugula, mizuna or spicy micro-greens make a very nice accompaniment.

Tip

The burger mix will keep for a day or two in the refrigerator.

Ratings

5 out of 5

153 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Jlm6 years ago

Rave rewiews! I served this to 5 adults and it so well received that everyone wanted the recipe. I used my VitaMix and prepared this with double the beets and mushrooms. No mint or bun. I used free range beef. It made 7 burgers. They were a little softer than I would have liked, so next time I'll increase the the beef to 3/4 pound and buy some mint!

HTownActor6 years ago

I've made this several times now and its a winner. I like to flavor it with some balsamic and Greek seasonings but its open to anything. A wonderful way to retain a loved food and cut the cholesterol.

Doris5 years ago

One of the best hamburgers I’ve made. I served it on Russian rye, mixed the mint into sour cream to layer on the bread and placed sliced white onion on the burger. I was duplicating the “Russian Deluxe” at my college hangout.

Barbara2 weeks ago

Good idea. Note the mixture does not freeze as patties very well. Gets too watery.

Stefanie3 months ago

Does it matter if you use yellow or purple beets?

skylar2 years ago

Delicious! Served with goat cheese and arugula. Be careful when cooking, the burgers fall apart easier than your standard patty.

hilldown4 years ago

These are delicious burgers. I’ve made them three times with no changes to the recipe. The last time I served them to a couple of young visitors. They loved them and said they were better than your basic all beef burger. No one notices that they’re not cooked on a bbq.

Doris5 years ago

HTownActor6 years ago

Clare6 years ago

The directions seemed to be missing info about roasting the beet, and mushrooms-and form of the mushrooms for the patties. I used a food processor -after slicing and roasting the beet and the mushrooms-to grind it all together and then mixed with meat. Overall pleasant taste but the mint was a bit too much.

Jlm6 years ago

Messed up my rating! It was five stars!

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