Another vegetarian dish that I fell in love with at first try. I cannot have enough of this dish and lately, my kiddos keep asking for these beetroot and Halloumi cheeseburgers again and again.
I strongly believe that kids are the best judges, so every time they ask me if a particular recipe went up on the blog, I know that's a well-worth-sharing recipe.
On this, they've asked me twice recently and I did promise I will do it so, here I am. I can't mess around and postpone it any longer.
how did this halloumi cheeseburgers idea really emerge?
Well, I came home from work on a Friday afternoon, a while back now, we really fancied some burgers for an early dinner. I have had the freshly bought beef mince in the fridge.
I’ve quickly made those homemade burgers (oh, by the way, I have a very own superb recipe for meat homemade burgers which I must share with you as soon as) which are the best burgers on Planet Earth (I’ve only heard of a better recipe available on one of the five planets of Kepler-186 orbit recently discovered). Seriously I will now have to really hurry and put that beef burger recipe up soon since I have told you about it.
It will, I promise it will be up here pretty soon as it’s already on the pipeline probably halfway there. Oh, if I only had 40 hours in a day, I could do so much more.... 😉 but bare with me...
Of course, I did manage to get distracted and slightly carried away here but, to carry on about the history of this lovely recipe and how this emerged...
With every meat dish, we must have a lot of veggies (a rule here in our house) but the veggies that I did have at that moment in the fridge were not the best choice to go in with a beef burger, well, at least this was what I thought at that moment. I was I had some cauliflower and broccoli stalks from the day before since I never throw these away and always use them, some partially cooked beetroots and the Halloumi cheese which I absolutely love. So, okay I said let’s just do something with those.
Ingredients for halloumi cheeseburgers
- eggs - helps with binding
- beets - baked are the best for the best ever flavour
- courgette or zucchini - grated on big holes grater
- Halloumi cheese - grated
- cauliflower head - add the leaves too either finely chopped or minced in a food processor
- broccoli stalk (such a great idea for these not to get wasted)
- leek - can be subsituted with red onion
- sesame seeds - sprinkle some in for extra flavour
- balck pepper - freshly ground
- Cayenne pepper - for extra kick - can be subbed with red chilli flakes
- 1 pinch nutmeg - optional but I highly recommend you do add this as it will enhance flavours even further
- olive oil - this is for cooking, you may add coconut oil too if you like
- salad leaves (chopped)
- yoghurt to make a drizzling sauce which you may add some zaatar, lemon juice and tahini too
Tips:
This halloumi cheeseburgers recipe will serve 8 as a side dish or a starter and 4 as a main.
I did not add any salt to this as the burgers will have sufficient salt from the salty cheese. Of course, add more if you like but for my taste this was sufficient. You may use broccoli and cauliflower florets as well.
These burgers can also be baked on parchment paper for about 20-25 minutes in a preheated oven at 190°C.
Instead of pitta bread, I have also made those with this gorgeous homemade flatbread which you will need to make a little thinner and bend while warm to get the same results.
Absolutely divine with a warm naan bread too and some yogurt, mint, and cumin powder sauce.
A sparkly idea just quickly popped into my head, hmmm.... what about having another burger, a vegetarian one this time next to the beef burger.... and that’s exactly what I did. The outcome was these amazing vegetarian beets and halloumi cheeseburgers.
I have made this a few times since at my little munchers’ demands. Yes, I know, they are very demanding .... 😉
You can serve them in a bun but we did almost every time on flatbread or pitta pockets either inside or outside (in the picture) where we bend those oval-shaped pitta bread making these perfect delights.
I'm going to get on with revealing this divine recipe.
Beetroot and halloumi cheeseburgers on flatbread
Ingredients
- 2 eggs large
- 3 small beets (baked)
- 1 courgette/ zucchini
- 350 g Halloumi cheese (12.35 oz)
- 1/2 cauliflower head (leaves including)
- 1 broccoli stalk
- 1 med leek
- 1 tbsp mixed sesame seeds
- 1 pinch of Freshly ground Pepper
- 1 small pinch of Cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch nutmeg (optional)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (for cooking)
- 2 handful salad leaves (chopped)
- 2 tbsp yoghurt (mixed with tahini paste is very nice too)
Instructions
- In a food processor use the grating blade and grate the pre-cooked beets, the courgette/zucchini and the halloumi cheese. A hand grater is perfectly fine too.
- When finished, place all in a big bowl.
- Remove the grater blade and place the cutting/chopping blade.
- Place the roughly chopped leek and the roughly chopped into chunks the brocoli and cauliflower stalks.
- Activate the food processor and chop these until they get into rice size bits.
- Add to the grated veg and cheese and mix all well.
- Take another bowl out and place it aside.
- Take only a handful of the mix at once and squeeze (over a deep plate) until you take out all the extra juice. Place all the squeezed mix into the spare bowl. You can do this using a kitchen towel if you wish. I prefer doing it by hand as it is best to be with little to no juice at all for the best results.
- Sprinkle the cayenne pepper with a generous pinch of freshly ground pepper, sesame seeds, nutmeg (if you decided to put it in) and the eggs. Mix until well incorporated. Make the burgers by taking a spoonful of the mix and flatten this in your palm.
- Place a non-stick pan with a little bit of oil on medium heat and allow it to get a little hot before you add the burgers. Cook on each side for approximately 2 minutes.
- You may prepare all the burgers ahead and place them on a chopping board ready to be cooked.
Notes
Hazel says
Thanks for the recipe. Do you know if these will be suitable for freezing?
Ramona says
Hi Hazel and thank you very much for stopping by!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe for this delicious beetroot and halloumi cheese burgers.
Yes, absolutely. They can be frozen either before cooking them in a freezer-proof container and perhaps separated by parchment paper or after freeze them after cooking them but allow them to cool. They can be safely frozen for up to a month. Reheating should be done in the oven until piping hot.
Thanks again
Beth says
Haha! I like that "five planets of Kepler-186", indeed! This looks like such a delicious burger! My family could eat burgers every night! I love the variety of veges in your patties! Giving these a try soon!
Ramona says
Ha ha Beth,right?! It really is delicious. You have to give them a try for sure ??
Michelle says
What an amazing assortment of flavors and textures in this recipe. I love the idea of using the flatbread for these. I'll be right over to share them with you. ha ha! 🙂
Ramona says
Thank you Michelle, it really is a lovely assortment of flavours in this and the Halloumi does such an amazing job. I’ll wait with the kettle on?
Julie @ Running in a Skirt says
This looks incredible! I love halloumi cheese-- it's so unique and tasty. The beetroot is delish too.
Ramona says
Thank you so much Julie for you kind comment, - we love Halloumi cheese - it really is a great especially in this combo ??