Italian Sausage Burger with Peppers

It’s the quintessential Brooklyn street fair food. There are food trucks at every single fair or festival selling that spicy sweet mix of sausage, peppers and onions. The scent of it wafting through the air brings back memories of walking through booths of games, cotton candy vendors and frozen lemonade stands. That is the inspiration for my sausage burger with peppers and onions.

When I realized that after 5 years of doing this blog, I didn’t have a single burger recipe on here, well… you can imagine my dismay. I have failed. In an attempt to make it up to you, I made a burger with the flavors of Italian sausage and peppers.  

Sausage and Peppers Burger

May is National Burger Month and although I don’t need an excuse to make a burger, it’s the perfect time to finally put a burger recipe on the blog. I am a BIG fan of burgers, like most people, and my love of them runs the gamut from a good ‘ol plain cheeseburger to all kinds of interesting toppings. 

Italian Sausage Burger

For this burger, I wanted the taste of my favorite street treat to really come through so it’s packed with flavor. I like heat and I’ve added some hot Italian cherry peppers to the mix, but if spice isn’t your thing, you can leave them out. The peppers and onions will still be delicious without them. It can also be made a day ahead and warmed up when you are serving.  

*On a side note,  do you notice anything missing?  That would be the beautiful lolla rosa lettuce that I bought SPECIFICALLY for this post and forgot to put on the burger. That’s what happens when you cook burgers at 7am before the caffeine has kicked in.

Here are a few more burgers that we love: Lamb Burgers with Tahini Yogurt Sauce / Pork Burgers with Hatch Chilies / Bacon Goat Cheese Burger with Pepper Jam

If you don’t have a grill, you can make them on the stove. For burgers, I prefer either a cast iron skillet or a grill pan.

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Yield: 4

Italian Sausage and Peppers Burger

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a delicious burger with the flavors of a classic Brooklyn street food - sausage and peppers.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Burger Cook Time 12 minutes

Peppers and Onions 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 2 minutes

Ingredients

For the Burgers

• 1/2 lb. ground chuck
• 1/2 lb. Italian sausage, sweet or spicy
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp. minced garlic, sauteed and cooled

Cheese

• 4 thick-cut slices of sharp provolone

For the Peppers and Onions

• 1 bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 TB. tomato paste
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 - 4 TB olive oil
• 2 TB balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• splash of white wine, optional
• 1/8 cup chopped Italian hot cherry peppers, optional

Instructions

Make the peppers & onions

1. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add peppers, onions and tomato paste. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper (and cherry peppers and/or wine if you are using)
2. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes or until peppers are very soft and tomatoes have cooked down. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Make the burgers

1. Mix all ingredients together and portion into 4 burgers. Grill for 6 - 7 minutes per side. I don't recommend a medium rare burger here, because of the pork sausage, you'll want to cook them through. Top with provolone right before you are ready to take burgers off the grill or out of the pan.

Notes

I like to toast the buns for my burgers, but be careful! They go from toasty to burnt VERY quickly, so you need to keep an eye on them.

Open the buns and flip them so cut sides are up, slide under the broiler and watch them closely after about 30 seconds, they will start to brown.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 503Total Fat: 68gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 51gCholesterol: 88mgSodium: 1538mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 4gSugar: 10gProtein: 30g

Nutrition was calculated by a third-party company and is provided as a courtesy. It is intended as a guideline only.

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