5 new spins on burger recipes

Burger boredom can set in with an item that’s a must-have on most menus. These five craveable recipes can energize your burger lineup and excite customers.

Southern ingredients and preparations are trending on menus, and pimento cheese is one of the favorites. At Illegal Food in Atlanta, chef Lingenfelter menus a housemade smoky version that tops one of his burgers. It's a blend of cream cheese, hot sauce, smoked paprika, fire-roasted red peppers and seasonings. Pickled ramps add color and flavor contrast. The burger itself is ground beef brisket.

Click here for the recipe.

Blended burgers are coming on to more menus, as chefs experiment with a mix of chopped mushrooms and ground meat to make a juicier, lower-fat and more sustainable patty. At The Bistro at Topsail, chef Taylor combines three parts grass-fed beef to one part mushroom confit to create the Goomba Burger. He completes the build with lemongrass aioli, smoked shiitake mushrooms and brioche buns.

Click here for the recipe.

Although Lure Fishbar specializes in seafood, chef Capon created this burger for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival's annual Burger Bash event. Lure's kitchen prepares a special sauce and housemade bacon jam as condiments and presents the burger with two thick onion rings speared on bamboo toothpicks—touches that set this burger apart. 

Click here for the recipe.

Vegan burgers are a necessity to counteract the veto vote at a steakhouse. But they're also a menu mainstay at most noncommercial operations. Start with any plant-based burger to build this California-inspired recipe. At BOA Steakhouse, chef Peterson tops hers with fresh housemade guacamole and vegan bacon bits.

Click here for the recipe.

At Rioja in Denver, chef Jasinski sources local lamb for several signature entrees. The Rioja burger repurposes lamb scraps from other cuts, making for a cost-effective and waste-reducing menu item. For the buns, the kitchen proofs 4-ounce balls of pizza dough, flattens the balls slightly, sprinkles them with olive oil and Parmesan cheese and bakes them at 550 F until toasted. If pizza dough is unavailable, substitute potato buns.

Click here for the recipe.