Pork Burger with Hatch Chiles
It’s grilling season again and I want to share this pork burger recipe with you! If you’ve been around here awhile, you know my deep-seated love for all things pork and that love extends to pork burgers.
I wanted to create something that reminded me of pork tacos. It had to have some heat, a vinegary bite from pickles, and the creaminess of avocado that you find in good tacos. It has all that and mixed with the juicy pork burger, it is absolutely delicious. I think I nailed it.
To quench your desire for all things burger, my newest creation is a Middle Eastern Lamb Burger with Tahini Yogurt sauce. It is simple, but so full of flavor!
Pork Burger Recipe
Pork sometimes gets a bad reputation and I’m not really sure why. It has tons of flavor and it makes one super delicious burger. It is juicy and in my opinion, not as heavy as a beef burger.
Because the meat isn’t as strongly flavored as beef, you have so many options to flavor it however you’d like, which is fantastic if you want to create a really unique burger.
If you’re really into burgers, like we are, I also made a Bacon Goat Cheese Burger with Pepper Jam last year and the year before that, an Italian Sausage and Peppers Burger. Do you notice a theme here? I like peppers on my burgers.
Pork Burger with Hatch Chile
I enjoy spicy food. I don’t want my face to melt off, but I like the tingle of “ooh, that’s got some kick”. I made these burgers for dinner and invited our neighbors over to partake.
I used a habanero cheese in the middle of the burger for an extra bit of heat.
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Pork Burger with Pickled Red Onion and Avocado
The key to an exceptional burger is obviously the burger itself, but what really sets it apart is the garnish. The toppings can make or break a burger.
Pickled red onions are one of those staples we always had in the restaurant. They offer amazing flavor for very little effort, plus the color is incredible. The oniony bite is tempered by soaking them before putting them into the pickling liquid.
They hang out in the fridge overnight and that’s all there is to it. It is a great garnish to have on hand for burgers all through the grilling season.
What can I serve with this burger?
- Pimento Cheese Potato Salad
- Tomato Cucumber Salad
- Summer Grain Salad
- Rosé Sangria with Summer Fruits
- Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Pork Burger with Hatch Chiles and Pickled Red Onion
Ingredients
For the Burgers
- 1 pound ground pork
- 4 ounces diced chilies *see note
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 4 ounces pepper jack cheese sliced
- 4 Brioche Buns sliced
For the Pickled Red Onions
- 1 extra large red onion sliced into 1/4″ rings
- 1 tablespoon pickling spice *see note
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ cup rice wine vinegar
- ½ cup white wine vinegar *not the gallon jug of plain white vinegar
- ¼ cup water
Burger Toppings
- Provolone Cheese
- Sliced Avocado
- Cilantro
- Grilled Chile Pepper Strips for the chile heads only!
- Tomatillo Salsa Salsa Verde
Instructions
Make the pickled red onions
- The day before serving, make the pickled onions. Bring a kettle of water to boil. Place onion slices in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them soak for 3 – 4 minutes, then drain.
- Combine the pickling spice, salt, sugar, vinegars and water in a glass jar and add onions. Put the lid on, give it a little shake and refrigerate overnight.
Make the Burgers
- Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands until combined. Divide into 4 equal portions and flatten slightly. Place 1 slice of spicy cheese into the middle and fold pork around to cover the cheese. Flatten into patties and place on a lined sheet pan. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.
- Heat grill to medium high (500°F) and grill for 4 – 5 minutes per side. Top with provolone cheese, remove from heat and let them rest for 5 minutes.
- Place burgers on buns and top with pickled onions, cilantro, avocado and salsa.*Remember that you have molten cheese inside and a trip to the ER with a burn on the roof of your mouth isn't fun for anyone.
Chef’s Notes
- Diced Chilies – I had canned hatch chiles, if you cannot find these at your market substitute a small can of diced green chiles from the Latin Food section.
- Pickling Spice: 1 teaspoon each: mustard seed, allspice berries, black peppercorn plus 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves garlic cut in half lengthwise, 1 dried chili pepper broken in half.
- I stuffed a slice of Cabot Habanero cheese inside, but if you don’t care for that much heat, downgrade to pepper jack or you could omit altogether.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. Use your preferred nutritional calculator using the products and brands you are using for exact information.
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I made these tonight and they were beyond salty! Unfortunately to point of being inedible 🙁 1 tsp of kosher salt is just too much salt for ground pork! Really bummed out because these burgers turned out beautiful otherwise!
I’m sorry they were too salty for you. What brand of kosher salt did you use? If it was Morton’s, that might be the issue. It weighs more than Diamond Crystal, which is what I use in my recipes. I hope you’ll remake them sometime and adjust the salt to your personal palate.
These sound wonderful. Do you drain the canned diced chilis?
I do, Pauline, but I also add a *little bit of juice (a tbsp or so) when I want a little extra kick.