Greek-Style Lamb Burgers
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
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.
You May Also Like
- Grilled Moroccan Meatballs with Yogurt Sauce
- Souvlaki
- Juicy Steakhouse Burgers
- Middle Eastern Lamb Kofta
- Gyros
- Avgolemono Soup
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
Powered by 
- 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.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I didn’t fire up the grill, but these were very delicious cooked on stovetop too! The flavors were so vibrant and well balanced, and the panade made for a very tender and delicious burger! Thank you.
Hi, Your recipe are so good! I love your book. When you say 1 slice of white bread is that toast or French bread? Thank you
Kathy, any bread will really work here, (but don’t toast it first). Hope that helps!
Made these tonight. So, so yummy!!! I followed the recipe ingredients exactly, but since I’m lazy and want to minimize prep time, I put the cubed bread, coarsly chopped garlic and onions, and home grown mint (and also home grown Italian parsley), into a Bullet chopper and gave it a swirl a few times. The water from the onions made a moist paste and then I added the two tablespoons of milk to the mixture. Followed the rest of the directions adding the oregano, etc. I cooked it in a cast iron frying pan (soaking up the excess fat with paper towels).
Absolute heaven in the mouth!!! Even my picky eater husband loved it! Thank you Jenn Segal…I am a fan!!!
Any reason I couldn’t make meatballs from this same recipe?
Nope – that will work, Shirley. 🙂
Oh my, these were delicious! Juicy from the panade and tasty from the mint. I used dried mint from last summer’s garden instead of fresh, and scallions instead of shallots. The panade must have been the secret. Burgers were well done, but soft and juicy, yet they held together well. yum yum yum.
I love these Greek lamb burgers! They are delicious and always a hit at my house.
I have made them over and over and honestly have not changed anything when following the recipe (except for substituting for lack of ingredients). Once in awhile I will combine ground beef (95% lean) with the lamb if I don’t have enough ground lamb on hand, and they are almost as good as the original ones. I also substitute green onions for the shallots because shallots are hard to find in my area. So delicious! Thanks for a great recipe!
Another fabulous recipe! Thank you for sharing your gift with the rest of the world.
Hi Jenn, My husband does care for mint, can I substitute Italian parsley? Also, would a white dinner roll sub for the slice of bread? Love your recipes. Eagerly awaiting for the arrival of your cookbook.
Yes and yes – hope you enjoy! (And thanks so much for your support with the cookbook!)
I used panko instead of the bread & milk. I also mixed the feta cheese into the meat mixture. Delicious!
I made this the other night for some friends, I didn’t have lamb but ground turkey!