Take Fusion Burgers to the Next Level With This Chimichurri Burger
Homemade chimichurri mayo is the perfect creamy finish to flavorful burgers and a side of green bean fries. In under 45 minutes, you can bring a fun flare back into burger night and add this dish to your favorite recipes.
Ever since we created our chimichurri burger recipe last year, our cooking community has been singing its praises. After all, when a juicy burger meets a fresh and flavorful mayo topping, what’s not to love?
If you’ve never had homemade chimichurri sauce before, there is no time like the present to rectify that culinary deprival. Once you try it, we know that you are going to quickly fall in love with this deliciously fresh sauce from Argentina and Uruguay. Made with fresh herbs (namely parsley and / or cilantro), garlic, oil, and red wine vinegar, chimichurri is a fresh, uncooked sauce that comes together super quickly. Especially if you have a food processor on hand!
“I feel like I will never want to eat a hamburger again without chimichurri sauce. This was so good, and my kids gobbled it up and asked for more.”
– Kristen S.
As with all of our weekly meal plan recipes, we want to make sure you and your loved ones are getting those important helpings of veggies with every delectable dinner. Between the roasted bell peppers in the burger, cilantro and parsley in the chimichurri sauce, and green bean ‘fries’ on the side, this meal has got all those vital nutrients covered. You can always score more health points by adding lettuce, tomato, and avocado on your burger, too!
And, once you dip the green beans into the chimichurri mayo, even your kids won’t be putting up a fight.
If this is sounding too good to be true, trust us – this recipe truly is super easy AND super delicious. Whether you use a grill or stovetop (we have instructions for both!), you’ll have this crowd pleaser on the table in just 45 minutes or less. So, let’s jump into the details of our amazing chimichurri burger recipe and get some savvy tips for budget options, what to do with leftovers, and ways to save time with prep!
“Such a unique way to serve a burger! Will be making this again.”
– Suzanne L.
Meal Planning Smarts
Budget Cooking
- Buying green beans to use as fries isn’t only the healthier option, it’s also the more budget-friendly option – one pound of green beans is about half the price of frozen french fries.
- Another thing that makes this recipe easy on the bank account is that you can keep using the rest of the jar of roasted bell peppers, mayonnaise, and worcestershire sauce well after all the burgers have disappeared from your plates. Each of those long-lasting ingredients is extremely versatile and a great way to add more flavor to your cooking.
- Another way to save some money (and go leaner) is to use ground chicken or turkey for your burger patty. Several of our home cooks tried this and loved it, and if you want to learn more about swapping out meat and budget tips, check out our infographic here.
- Our meatless Chimichurri Black Bean Burgers are also more budget-friendly, and everyone who has tried them can’t stop raving about these being the best veggie burgers of their life! As always, each of our weekly meal plan recipes come in four different versions (Original, Gluten-Free, Paleo, and Vegetarian) so you can easily choose whichever one fits your particular needs for the week.
Time Savers
- If you want to make these burgers come together in even less than 45 minutes, you can prep your green beans, bell peppers, and jalapenos up to 5 days before you plan to use them.
- You can also make the chimichurri sauce and / or the chimichurri mayo up to 5 days ahead and can even double it so you have plenty to use for the delicious leftover ideas below.
Leftovers
- If you have leftover burgers, you can chop them up to add to a pasta dish, wrap, or salad for some extra flavor and protein.
- There are also lots of ways to use leftover chimichurri sauce – it can be drizzled over grilled veggies, spooned onto meat as it cooks, used as a marinade, served over eggs, and spread atop a pizza. Extra chimichurri mayo goes great in sandwiches and as a dip for raw veggies as well.
Prepping Smarts
- Watch the short videos below to learn cooking hacks for this recipe’s jalapenos and burgers. If you find these videos helpful, we have so many more that are conveniently embedded into every one of our meal plan recipes!
- You can also go more in depth with our Meat Temperature Guide (listed below).
How to Dice Jalapenos
Jalapeños have great flavor and can add heat to anything. See how to easily dice them here.
How to Grill Burgers
This video shows you how to get the most perfect, juiciest burger.
This Poultry and Meat Temperature Chart Will Ensure Safe Cooking
Download our free meat temperature guide which helps you cook beef, lamb, veal, turkey, chicken, and seafood to perfection. Read more.
Equipment Smarts
- Food processor – If you don’t already have a food processor, it is a super handy appliance that every kitchen could use! We use it in this recipe to make chimichurri, but there are endless ways this machine can save you time any time you need to mix, chop, shred, puree, or even knead dough.
- Sheet pan – In this recipe, we use a trusty sheet pan to roast up our green bean ‘fries.’ By spreading green beans loosely in a sheet pan, you give them enough room and air circulation to crisp up!
- Grill – We love using a grill to cook our burgers, but we include stovetop instructions below for those who aren’t quite ready to take the grill-buying plunge.
For more kitchen and equipment and tool smarts, visit our Essential Kitchen Cookware and Tools
Ingredients
- Green beans - 1 lb, trimmed
- Roasted bell peppers - 1 cup, sliced (from a jar of roasted red bell peppers)
- Jalapenos - 1, diced
- Cilantro - 1/4 bunch, chopped
- Parsley - 1/4 cup, chopped
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Shallots - 1 clove
- Capers - 1 Tbsp, drained and rinsed
- Vinegar, red wine - 1 Tbsp
- Lime juice - 2 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp
- Oil, cooking - 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp
- Mayonnaise - 1/4 cup
- Beef, ground - 1 1/2 lbs
- Worcestershire sauce - 2 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
- Cheese, Swiss - 4 slices (sub any sliced cheese)
- Hamburger buns - 4
- Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Instructions
Prep
- Green beans / Roasted bell peppers / Jalapenos – (If prepping right before cooking get oven heating and, if using grill, get grill heating before continuing with prep.) Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make chimichurri sauce – Combine cilantro, parsley, garlic, shallots, capers, vinegar, lime juice, first portion of salt, and first portion of oil in a blender or a food processor. Add more oil if it’s too thick. Season to taste with salt or more lime juice. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make chimichurri mayo – Whisk together chimichurri sauce with mayonnaise. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Form burger patties – Mix together beef, jalapenos, Worcestershire sauce, second portion of salt, and pepper. Form into 3/4″ to 1″ / 2 cm to 2.5 cm thick patties and make a depression in the center with your thumb. Cover and refrigerate if not making right away. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
Make
- Heat oven to 425F / 218C.
- Toss green beans with second portion of oil and some salt and pepper. Spread out onto a sheet pan and roast until tender and brown in spots, ~20 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through cooking.
- If cooking on a grill: Heat grill to 450F / 232C degrees. Clean grates and brush with third portion of oil.
- {Grill}: While green beans roast, place burger patties on grill and grill on one side until grill marks appear, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip burgers and continue cooking until cooked to your liking – 2 to 3 minutes more for medium-rare, 3 to 4 minutes more for medium, 5 to 6 minutes more for well-done. In the last minute of cooking, top each burger patty with a slice of cheese.
- If cooking on the stovetop: While green beans roast, heat up a grill pan or skillet with third portion of oil over high heat. Add burger patties to heated pan and cook on one side until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip burgers and continue cooking until cooked to your liking – 2 to 3 minutes more for medium-rare, 3 to 4 minutes more for medium, 5 to 6 minutes more for well-done. In the last minute of cooking, top each burger patty with a slice of cheese.
- Toast hamburger buns.
- When green beans are finished, squeeze lemon juice over top.
- Assemble burgers by spooning chimichurri mayo onto each side of the hamburger buns (you may not need all of it). Fill buns with hamburger patties and roasted bell peppers.
- Serve chimichurri burgers with green bean “fries” on the side with any extra chimichurri mayo for dipping. Enjoy!
A little note:
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