Caramelized Onion Burgers | RV Cooking & Healthy RV Recipes #31

What's up guys? It's Kris from Irene Iron Fitness and today we're jonesing for some burgers. If you want to watch a healthy alternative to going out for a burger, keep watching. Alright so we all crave a good burger every now and then. Some crave them more often than others. We actually do crave them from time to time and when you do crave a burger, I know it's really easy to go out and get a burger and a beer at a local pub, but let's just make it on our own and make it a lot healthier and instead of doing like an all or nothing approach, have a sliding continuation of well how do I make a burger a little bit healthier. We're going to do that today. So I'm going to make caramelized onion burgers. The caramelized onions are so delicious. They take a little bit of time, but we're going to make it a little bit healthier because a lot of restaurants use sugar in their caramelized onions. We are not going to use sugar and you really don't miss it once you start making your own. We are going to use a 93% lean beef. Most restaurants will not use a lean beef because the fattier beef tastes better and it's cheaper. And then instead of a big old like brioche bun, we're going to do 100% whole wheat English muffins toasted on the skillet and these muffins are a really nice alternative to a bun because they're whole wheat. They're a little bit smaller, so it scales back the white carb that you're eating. For a topping, I'm going to use spinach. Ideally I would use an arugula, but I don't have an arugula, so I'm going to use spinach. And I'm not going to use any cheese or any aioli because with the caramelized onions, it really adds a nice moisture and a nice texture. I don't think that it's needed. However, if you just can't have a burger without cheese, add on a slice of nice cheese and enjoy it because you're staying home, you're making a meal, you're cleaning it up, and if you really want that cheese, put some cheese on it. So what I'm going to do first is I'm going to get the onions started. They take a while, probably like 20 minutes at least allow for the onions. And then once those finish up, we'll do the rest of the stuff because it's going to come together really quick. The onions have been going for about 15 minutes. They still have a long way to go. I'm probably going to be taking the full half an hour, give or take. But while that's happening, I'm going to do the best that I can to multitask without getting too far ahead of myself. For those of you that are in a full-size kitchen, you'll be able to multitask a lot easier because with me having this small stovetop, I have to work with one single stovetop. So what that means for me is once these onions are done, I'm going to transfer them to this little holding pan so that I can use the same skillet to toast my buns and cook my burgers. Now, if you have a full kitchen or like an oven or a toaster, you can toast your buns on the toaster. You can cook your burgers at the same time as the onions, and you can really shave time off this recipe. But for me, I'm embracing the pace and taking a night in. When you're doing this, just give yourself some time to relax with your friends, your loved ones, and make a night in of it. So what I can do to get started, though, is I'm going to get my spinach set out, and what I like to do is just set these into little stacks. So we're making four burgers. Aaron does want some goat cheese on his burger tonight. If you really want that cheese, put some cheese on it. So we're going to do goat cheese on our burgers. If I had blue cheese, I would a million thousand percent put blue cheese on these burgers. Caramelized onions, some cracked black pepper, and blue cheese is my favorite burger of all time. A good black and blue will put me in a good mood. And then lastly, we're going to mix up our beef. The beef I'm using 93% lean. This is organic grass fed. I try to buy that when it's available and when it's not an asinine price. So I can usually find this for like $6 a pound, and I find that's pretty reasonable. So I'll do that and I'll buy that when it's at that price. And that's another great reason to do this at home and not at a restaurant, because unless you're spending $20 on a burger, it's not going to be an organic grass fed 93% lean burger. So control the ingredients that you're using is the biggest perk here, and you're dialing the health up while you're still enjoying what you want to eat. So I'm going to throw some gloves on. And in this mix, it's going to be super simple. All I'm going to do on this burger is salt, fresh cracked black pepper, and a little bit of worcestershire. Worcestershire. I do my burger patties in four ounces, quarter pounders. You could do a third of a pound. I think it depends really on what do you have for beef and how many people are you trying to feed. That's a big determining factor. It really just depends on how many people you're trying to feed and what else you've ate in that day, how much you need to eat for this meal. Worcestershire. Put in a few dashes of that. And then mix. And this is the most simple burger seasoning ever. Super simple. And if I didn't have the toppings, like the caramelized onions, I would jazz up a little bit more on the burger. But I'm picking and choosing what I want to shine through, so I just want those onions to really play a big part. Okay, the onions are complete. They took a full 30 minutes. But they look crispy, they look caramelized, they look delicious. So I'm just transferring those to this small saucepan. And I'm going to keep them warm in there. And they'll continue to break down a little bit in that pan. Just keep it on really, really low simmer. Put your muffins in. And again, if you have a toaster or an oven, you can save the muffin step for closer to the end so that they're nice and hot. But I'm going to do the muffins early, and I'm going to have hot beef. I want to have the burgers be like the hottest part on our meal. So these muffins will take like two or three minutes. They're already starting to get a little crispy. And then we'll be ready to throw the burgers on. The beef looks amazing. Like the color on this is so red and vibrant, and you can just tell good quality beef. And that's just, I say it over and over, I love to cook inside of our home because I know that we're eating good quality ingredients. And even if this isn't textbook healthy, it really is, relatively speaking, to going out and dining and noshing on burger and fries at a burger joint. So this is good. This is a good step. Start doing it, and you'll really find that your health can improve that way. You might need to press down a little bit in the center of the muffins just to make sure they get some good contact with the pan and get a good sear. And then once I pull them off, I'm going to give them a good crack of salt and pepper so that each muffin is seasoned. So as you pull the muffins off, give them a good crank. Season every layer. If you wonder why restaurants' food tastes so good, it's because they use seasoning. And a lot of at-home chefs don't realize how much seasoning really needs to go in to making meals. It tastes that good. So you've just got to get comfortable using salt, pepper, spices, and it goes a really long way. I just pulled the buns off, and we're going to throw the patties on. The patties don't take long. I like my burgers rare. Really rare. And just a few minutes each side, and then we're going to pull them off. In the meantime, just keep stirring your onions. They're looking really good. Make sure that they're not burning over here. Keep it low. Keep moving it so that the bottom doesn't scorch. We have everything ready. Our buns are ready. Our beef is on. Our onions are ready. I have my cheese out. I'm going to top a little bit of cheese. And that's it. So next up, we're going to plate it up, and we're going to chow down on some good burgers. Burgers, I'm flipping, and I'm getting my plate ready. And I'm doing my spinach on the bottom, then it's going to be the burger, then the onions, and the cheese is going to be on top. I do like to portion out my cheese only because it's really easy to, like, over-eat cheese because it tastes so good. So it's just a habit of awareness. It's not that I'm trying to, like, stay under a certain number, but I just like to keep it at a serving. So these two burgers are for Aaron. I'm using half an ounce on each burger, so it's one serving of cheese. So now I'm putting the final toppings on these burgers, and they look divine. And a fun little night in. Voila. If you wanted some sides with this, I would recommend potatoes in an air fryer, something crispy on the side. Otherwise, just having these two burgers are definitely substantial enough to make it a big full meal. Plenty of food, and it's a great, healthy alternative to going out. So remember, it's progress, not perfection, and you can still enjoy the things you love while making each day better than the last. So go to my blog, IreneAaronFitness.com, to get the full recipe, and meet me every Wednesday for health and fitness tips, and then Sunday, Aaron and I do the RV lifestyle and the travel. Thanks so much for watching. Hit that like, hit that subscribe, and we'll see you next time.