Agile in the kitchen

Mediterranean hamburger in the oven

On a silver coloured table with a folded pink gingham cloth a glass bowl with tzatziki and a black plate with a Mediterranean hamburger dressed with leafy lettuce, three cucumber slices on the side and a few potato wedges.
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For a different take on a regular hamburger, try this Mediterranean hamburger with black olives, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese. Pushing the regular hamburger into a higher flavour class. Making the hamburgers in the oven, means you can make more at the same time and freeze the left overs, if there are any.

On a silver coloured table with a folded pink gingham cloth a glass bowl with tzatziki and a black plate with a Mediterranean hamburger dressed with leafy lettuce, three cucumber slices on the side and a few potato wedges.
Mediterranean hamburger plated

To make sure the hamburger keeps its shape, with all the additional ingredients, cut the black olives, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese in to small pieces. This way the hamburger will not fall apart when you cook them and they will stay as one patty.

On a silver coloured table, a white cloth napkin with a green leaf pattern, an orange, plastic bowl with mince meat, chopped feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and black olives, as well as heaps of dried oregano.
Ingredients to make Mediterranean hamburgers.

Cooking in the oven

These burgers cook just as well in a frying pan or on the grill as in the oven. Cooking them in the oven, gives the advantage of preparing many at the same time and you do not have to stand around and wait for them to be done. Once in the oven, they sort themselves out. You can even skip the step of flipping them if you are busy doing other things. The hamburgers will cook through any way.

On a silver coloured table, a black cookie sheet with a red silicone cookie sheet cover, six raw hamburgers in two columns with different flavours: Mediterranean with feta cheese and black olives, barbecue with barbecue sauce and spices, Asian with soya sauce, sesame oil and ginger
Raw hamburgers of different flavours

Toppings

I love to add tzatziki to this hamburger. The freshness of the cucumber and coolness of Greek yogurt, the tzatziki is the best sauce to complete this dish. Add in a few leaves of lettuce and perhaps a slice of tomato and you have a perfectly dressed hamburger.

On a wooden cutting board background with a pink plaid cloth napkin in the left corner, a glass bowl with tzatziki with a sliced cucumber twisted on top.
Tzatziki in a bowl

Buns

Using brioche buns to my hamburgers always makes them feel a bit more fancy and special. Brioche buns are fluffier and has a bit more flavour than regular white buns. But of course you can use regular hamburger buns or even make your own. Do what suits your best, it is the hamburger patty that is the star of this show.

Freezable

These hamburgers are so easy to freeze. You can either freeze them raw and take out as needed. Or if you prefer to have them ready to eat when you need them, bake them in the oven, freeze and then you can toss them in a pan, or on the grill for a quick carmelisation of the meat before adding them to a toasted bun and your toppings.

On a silver coloured table, a yellow, plastic cutting board, two raw hamburgers wrapped in baking paper on top of a plastic bag, ready to be frozen.
Prepping to freeze raw hamburgers

Substitutes

If you do not like or have black olives, you can replace them with green olives or kalamati olives.

It is difficult to replace sun dried tomatoes for fresh tomatoes as they are much more watery and will add too much moisture into the patties, making it difficult to keep them whole. If you don’t have sun dried tomatoes, it is better to skip them all together. The taste will differ a bit but it is still a tasty hamburger.

Variations

There are several variations of hamburgers in my repertoire, all to make barbecue days a bit different. It is not only the topping you can vary but also what you put in the mince meat to make the hamburgers. These smokey barbecue hamburgers are a current favourite.

If you don’t feel like making hamburgers, you can make these into Mediterranean meatballs instead. Add some panko or other bread crumbs to make them easier to roll into meatballs and then cook them in the oven as above or fry in a frying pan. Or make it into a Mediterranean meatloaf for a scrumptious dinner.

If you are looking for other Mediterranean flavours, I have a Mediterranean pasta salad that is delicious.

On a silver coloured table with a folded pink gingham cloth a glass bowl with tzatziki and a black plate with a Mediterranean hamburger dressed with leafy lettuce, three cucumber slices on the side and a few potato wedges.
Print Recipe

Mediterranean hamburger

For a different take on a regular hamburger, try this Mediterranean hamburger with black olives, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese to give your regular hamburger a flavourful twist.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Dressing hamburger10 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keyword: feta cheese, olives, sun dried tomatoes
Servings: 4 portions

Ingredients

  • 400 g mince beef or turkey
  • 100 ml black olives
  • 100 ml sun dried tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • A pinch of white pepper
  • 4 Brioche Buns

Optional extra toppings:

  • Tzatziki
  • Lettuce
  • Cucumber

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 200℃ (390℉).
  • Take out the mince meat and let it come to room temperature.
  • Chop olives, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese into smaller pieces.
  • Mix in with mince meat.
  • Add in oregano, salt and pepper.
  • Form four hamburger patties of 100g each and put on a cookie sheet.
  • Cook hamburgers in oven for 10 minutes, turn patties after five minutes (not absolutely necessary if you’re short on time or have a big batch of hamburgers to make).
  • If you prefer a grilled texture, put under broil for an additional two minutes.
  • Roast the brioche buns in a dry frying pan until golden.
  • On a brioche bun dress your hamburger with Tzatziki, lettuce and cucumber.
  • Serve with potato wedges to dip into extra tzatziki sauce.

Notes

For a quick tzatziki sauce to add to your Mediterranean style hamburger try this recipe.

One response to “Mediterranean hamburger in the oven”

  1. Tzatziki – Agile in the kitchen

    […] and Greek yogurt, this tzatziki will enhance your dishes. Use a large dollop of tzatziki with my Mediterranean hamburger instead of mayonnaise or ketchup to keep it really fresh and rich. I also use the tzatziki with my […]