How to Make Healthy Hamburgers

By : Jodie Shield | 1 Comment | On : May 1, 2015 | Category : Adults, Kids, Seniors, Teens

Four tips for making lean and tasty burgers!

By: Jodie Shield, RD

It’s hard to resist a juicy burger, especially during May, National Hamburger Month. But let’s face it. Living in a fast food, super-size-me world, the burger has gotten a bad rap. No surprise when a deluxe bacon-cheddar burger with all the fixings has a whopping 1, 140 calories and 75 grams of fat! That’s more than half of some people’s total daily requirement! Sure, veggie and turkey burgers are a healthy option. But when my family says, “Where’s the beef?” I swear by these four burger-making tips.

1. Start Lean. Look for ground beef with the least amount of fat. For example, sirloin is leaner than chuck – and that’s a start.  However, ground beef labeled “lean” still has 10 grams of total fat per ounce; 4.5 of which has that bad boy saturated fat. I buy extra lean ground beef instead. It has only 5 grams of fat and 2 grams of saturated fat per ounce.
2. Size Matters. Many fast food and diner burgers are ginormous! Even burgers you pick up prepackaged from your freezer case are about a half-pound. I recommend that you make your own burgers and aim for 4 ounces. This looks like about the size of a deck of cards. Or, try making mini-burgers, better know as sliders. Stay tuned, as I’ll be sharing my favorite slider recipe.
3. Grill Baby, Grill! As you cook ground beef burgers, on average they lose about an ounce of weight. That’s because the fat oozes out. Baking and pan-frying burgers leaves the meat wallowing in this fat. So, for leaner burgers, opt for cooking methods like grilling and broiling. Both techniques allow the fat to drip away from the meat.
4. Finish Strong. Now that you have a lean and tasty hamburger, make sure you keep it that way. Slathering on mayonnaise along and chunks of cheese adds lots of calories and fat. A healthier option is to pile on lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard and a dollop of ketchup.   Roasted peppers and a slice of avocado taste great too.

Got tips for making healthier hamburgers? I would love to hear them. And for more quick, easy, and healthy recipe ideas download my app Time to Eat Healthy from the iTunes store.