Greek-Style Lamb Burgers
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If you like Greek food, you’ll love these flavorful lamb burgers topped with tzatziki, feta, tomatoes and red onions.
These Greek-style lamb burgers topped with tzatziki, feta, and all the fixins’ are a fun way to change up the standard cookout fare. The secret to making the burgers extra flavorful and juicy is mixing a panade, or bread and milk paste, into the ground meat along with lots of seasoning. You can’t taste the panade, but it guarantees tender and juicy burgers every time, especially if you like your burgers a little more well done or you accidentally overcook them (a little insurance never hurts!). If you can’t find ground lamb, feel free to substitute 80/20 ground beef.
What You’ll Need To Make Greek-Style Lamb Burgers
Step-by-Step Instructions
Combine the bread pieces and milk in a medium bowl. Mash with a fork until a paste forms. 
Add the shallots, garlic, mint, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Mix well.
Add the lamb.
Use your hands to mix until well combined.
Form the meat mixture into 6 oval-shaped patties about ½-inch thick.
Oil the grilling grates. Grill the patties, covered, until nicely browned on the first side, 2 to 4 minutes. Flip the burgers and cook for a few minutes more until desired doneness is reached.
Place the burgers on a tray and cover with foil while you warm the pita rounds on the grill. Assemble the burgers and pass the toppings and tzatziki sauce alongside.
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Greek-Style Lamb Burgers
If you like Greek food, you’ll love these flavorful lamb burgers topped with tzatziki, feta, tomatoes and red onions.
Ingredients
For the Lamb Burgers
- 1 slice white bread, crust removed and cut into ¼-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ¼ cup finely chopped shallots, from 1 to 2 shallots
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ pounds ground lamb (not lean; 80/20 beef may be substituted)
- 6 pita bread rounds* (hamburger buns may be substituted)
For The Toppings
- 1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 6 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- Tzatziki sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to high heat.
- Combine the bread pieces and milk in a medium bowl. Mash with a fork until a paste forms. Add the shallots, garlic, mint, oregano, salt, and pepper; mix well. Add the lamb, then use your hands to mix until well combined. Form the meat mixture into 6 oval-shaped patties about ½-inch thick.
- Oil the grilling grates. Grill the patties, covered, until nicely browned on the first side, 2 to 4 minutes. Flip the burgers and cook for a few minutes more until desired doneness is reached. Place burgers on a tray and cover with foil while you warm pita rounds on the grill. Assemble the burgers and pass toppings and tzatziki sauce alongside.
- Note: There are two types of pita bread: pita pockets and pocketless pitas. You can use either for this recipe. For pita pockets, be sure they are at least 6 inches wide. Trim off the top ¼ of each round and stuff the burgers and toppings inside. For pocketless pitas, serve burgers open-faced or, if pitas are large enough, wrap them around burgers.
- Make-Ahead/Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The uncooked burgers can be made and refrigerated up to one day ahead of time or frozen for up to three months. (Freeze the burgers on a baking sheet or plate so their shape sets, then transfer them to a sealable plastic bag for easy storage.) Defrost the burgers overnight in the refrigerator prior to serving and then cook as directed.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Serving size: 1 burger
- Calories: 514
- Fat: 29 g
- Saturated fat: 12 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Sugar: 2 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 26 g
- Sodium: 456 mg
- Cholesterol: 83 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Wow – just wow! I have purchased gyros meat for pitas in the past, but never again! This is a really great recipe. I followed the recipe with one exception: I didn’t have fresh mint, but I did have freeze dried mint so that was what I used. These were delicious! I use your recipes all of the time and always am happy with the results. This recipe, paired with your Greek salad, is wonderful!
These are amazingly delicious and the Tzatziki sauce must be made and enjoyed beyond this night’s burgers. I come back to your recipes time and time again and I am never disappointed, nor are the folks who enjoy the finished product!
Wow! Wonderful, we used hamburger buns! Best recipe for lamb burgers. Thankyou. Jack N Carol.
Your recipe but adapted to my dietary restrictions, loved it,
Used 1/3 cup gluten free stuffing
1/4 cup milk substitute
1 egg
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp black garlic powder
3/4 tsp black pepper
2 lbs mutton
Added crumbs and milk substitute together, stirred to paste
Used mortar and pestle to grind spices to powder
Mixed egg, spices, crumb mixture together, formed oval shaped patties approximately
170 grams each ( my scale is in grams)made six healthy sized patties
I served on Arugula, with tomatoes, diced feta, and Tziki sauce.
Hi. I recently had a lamb burger in a nice restaurant in our town and the presentation was nice. I love lamb burgers and was really anticipating how good it was going to be. The first bite told me that the chef had not seasoned the meat from the beginning. It went from a possible 10 to less than a 5. Do you know why restaurants are not seasoning their proteins? It’s so disappointing. My husband said, “this is so bland.” Just wondering if you have any thoughts about this.
Thanks.
Hi Pam, sorry to hear you had a disappointing burger on your last outing. I suspect that the chef was not using enough salt as that really does enhance the flavor. Hard to say for sure, though, without having tasted it. Hope you find this one better if you try it!
Excellent as always. I am not fond of burgers normally…haven’t eaten more than a handful since my son was born 50 years ago…but I do love lamb so I tried these. They were so good. I recall my mom using breadcrumbs and an egg to bind the ground beef when she made hamburgers but the panade was so much better! Once again, thank you.
Added 1 fresh chopped apricot and 1 tsp ground sumac to the tzatziki. Not traditional but tasted great