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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Comments
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OMG! These are delicious! Everyone raved about these burgers. They were tastier than the lamb burgers that we’ve had out at restaurants. Thank you for yet another amazing recipe!
My family loved them! Absolutely delicious!
if i don’t have grill is it better to sauté or bake and if bake at what temp and how long please? thank you!
Hi Lesley, You can use the broiler in your oven. I’d place them on a broiler pan so the juices can drip down, broil them for about the same amount of time that the recipe specifies, and flip them over halfway through.
SO good! The stated times the grill were a little long for me though, so the patties were a bit overdone. They were still fantastic! I used all recommended toppings and cut the patties into strips to fit into the pitas. For the tzatziki, I use dill instead of mint.
Lamb burger accompanies?
Hi Susan, this would be nice with tzatziki and/or hummus and zucchini with feta, walnuts and dill.
Delicious!
LoVe your recipes! I would love to make this for a big party. Is there any possibility of grilling these ahead of time or making them into meatballs and making them in the oven? Thank you!!
Hi Myra, While I think you could assemble the patties ahead and refrigerate, I’m not sure I’d cook them in advance. You could make these as meatballs instead if you preferred. If you want a similar recipe that’s specifically for meatballs, you may want to try these. (It’s fine to substitute lamb for the beef.) You can cook them in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, then stick them under the broiler for a minute or two at the end.
Simply Awesome!!
We grilled these burgers outside with friends who thought they knew what a good “Greek” burger was and they were blown away! I would not change a thing about this recipe!
Karen
Made these two weeks ago and they were unbelievably good and so moist. Will definitely make again. As I had no shallots, used some chopped red onion which worked fine.