Try Mix-Ins For Healthier Burgers

With summer on its way, hamburgers and hot dogs will be front and center on the grill both indoors and out. To cut back on the fat and calories in a classic burger, we combined smaller amounts of meat with healthy portions of vegetables, whole grains and even fruit. The result is moist, tasty and filling burgers.

The key to making a burger that holds its shape and still has the meat taste we know and love is getting the ratio of meat to mix-ins just right. Too little meat and too much or too many mix-ins will result in a patty that falls apart. Start with half meat and half mix-ins. Suggestions for mix-ins are chopped mushrooms, cauliflower, chick peas, lentils, rice, farro, quinoa, mashed beans, toasted nuts, grated apples, carrots, and celery. If using chopped mix-ins, use a chef knife to chop them finely enough so they are about the same texture as the ground meat.

We've given you two recipes to try. One uses ground turkey and the other uses ground sirloin. The Turkey Apple Burgers have a good balance of flavors with a kick of spiciness. The Mushroom Beef Burger has a more subtle earthy flavor that's paired with a slightly tangy mayo spread. The spread could also easily be used on the turkey burger.

The nice thing about these recipes is that they can be cooked on the stove or on a grill, indoors or out, in a grill pan, non-stick skillet or cast iron skillet.

Use your imagination and try some different combinations until you find a blend you like. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to find that cutting back on the meat doesn't mean cutting back on taste.

Turkey Apple Burgers

Mushroom-Beef Burgers