Pizza burgers, loaded with a tender, succulent, cheesy, beef patty and all the pizza fixin's you can pile on a bun - what a gloriously juicy and flavourful way to satisfy that pizza craving!
Put your hand up if you love pizza. 🍕
Put your hand up if you love burgers. 🍔
Why not meld the two into one decadent, drool-worthy food experience?
This pizza burger has all the best of both. It's got that zesty, tomatoey pizza sauce, a beef patty loaded with meatball fixings to give it extreme tender juiciness (lots of Parmesan cheese, more tomato sauce, and pizza spices), and a whole lotta ooey gooey melty mozzarella cheese. Then there's a layer of crispy, chewy pan-fried pepperoni slices (who needs bacon?) to take your burger to the pinnacle of pizza-ness.
Add a sprig of fresh basil and a few crunchy onion slices, and pile it all between two halves of a soft brioche bun - it's a pizza burger magnifico!
What You'll Need
It's that juicy beef patty, the zesty tomato sauce, and the spicy, slightly crispy pepperoni that make this burger so special. Add other cheeses or toppings if you wish.
Use your favourite burger buns - I use gluten-free brioche burger buns and they take the burger up another whole notch of delicious.
Let's Make Pizza Burgers!
First, you'll need to stir together a simple pizza sauce using a good quality marinara sauce (purchased, or try this Easy Marinara Sauce) and a bit of oregano and garlic powder to amp up the zip-factor. Then mix up all the ingredients for those succulent pizza burger patties - they're like a large, tender, pizza meatball.
Form four nice big patties (tip: make an indent in the center of the patty to keep the middles from bulging up) and fry them in a bit of olive oil. Once you flip the patties, lay a couple thick slices of mozzarella cheese on top of each one to melt as the patties finish cooking.
While the pizza burger patties are cooking, fry the pepperoni slices in another skillet until they're lightly browned and getting crispy at the edges.
Then add a bit of olive oil to the pan and fry the burger buns, cut-side-down, until they're nice and golden.
To start layering the buns, add another drizzle of olive oil to the bottom bun - because, you know, olive oil! Spread a generous dollop of tomato sauce onto that warm bun, top with spinach leaves, then slide on the ooey, gooey, draped-in-melting-cheese burger patty.
Now layer on those beautifully sautéed pepperoni slices with the crispy edges, then add your favourite toppings to customize your pizza burger to your own taste buds.
It's burgertime . . . pizza burger time!
A Few Other Favourite Burgers
Any time is burger time, and here are a few that are a real hit in our household:
- Lamb Burgers
- Venison Burgers, Thick, Juicy & Flavourful
- Crispy Fried Oyster Burgers
- Bison Burgers and Bannock Buns
- Wine & Cheese Burgers
- Mexican Burgers with Smoky Chipotle Sauce
Add some sensational burger sauces:
And serve them with a side of fries:
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Guten Appetit!
Pizza Burgers
Ingredients
for the pizza sauce:
- 1¼ cups (300 ml) good quality marinara sauce, purchased or homemade
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
for the burger patties:
- 1 lb (454 g) lean ground beef
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup (50 g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup (25 g) fine dry bread crumbs, gluten-free, if necessary
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried chili flakes/red pepper flakes (or ½ teaspoon black pepper)
- ¼ cup pizza sauce (see recipe above)
- 8 thick slices pizza mozzarella cheese or fresh mozzarella cheese
- olive oil
to assemble the burgers:
- 16 slices pepperoni (150 g)
- 4 hamburger buns, gluten-free if necessary
- 1 cup pizza sauce (see recipe above)
- fresh baby spinach leaves
- thinly sliced onions, fresh or sautéed
- 4 sprigs fresh basil (or 12-16 leaves), optional
Instructions
make the pizza sauce:
- Stir together the marinara sauce, ½ teaspoon oregano, and garlic powder. Set aside for the flavours to blend while you prepare the other ingredients.
make the pizza burger patties:
- Place the ground beef, egg, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, garlic, oregano, salt, and chili flakes into a large bowl. Measure out ¼ cup (4 tablespoons/60 ml) of the prepared pizza sauce and add it to the meat ingredients. Mix everything together with your hands until it is well combined. Form the beef mixture into 4 large patties, about ¾-inch (2 cm) thick. Make an indent in the center of each patty to keep it from bulging up while cooking.
- Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the pizza burger patties until lightly browned on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the patties, top each one with two slices of mozzarella cheese, and continue to cook them until the other side is nicely browned, the burgers are cooked through, and the cheese is just melted. If the cheese isn't melting and the burgers are almost cooked, cover the skillet with a lid or baking sheet for the last minute or so to help melt the cheese.
- While the burger patties are cooking, heat up a second skillet, add a little bit of olive oil, and fry the pepperoni slices, in batches, until they are lightly browned and just crisping a bit at the edges. Don't fry them too long, as they will continue to crisp up after they are cooked. You want them still nicely pliable, like bacon slices. Set them aside to keep warm.
- When the pepperoni slices are finished, add a bit more olive oil to the skillet, and fry the buns, cut-side-down, to lightly crisp them up, until they are just golden.
to assemble the pizza burgers:
- Drizzle a little bit of olive oil onto the bottom half of each grilled bun. Then spread each bottom half with about 2 tablespoons of the remaining pizza sauce.
- Pinch the stems off the spinach leaves, and layer a small handful of leaves on top of the pizza sauce.
- Lay the cheese-topped burger patty on top of the spinach.
- Arrange 4 slices of sautéed pepperoni on each burger.
- Top that with some fresh or fried onion slices and a sprig of basil (or a few large leaves).
- Spread the cut side of each top bun half with another 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce and slide it on top of the pizza burger stack.
- Pass out lots of napkins and enjoy immediately.
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