Summer
Reuben Stuffed Burgers
- Makes 6 burgers
Author Notes
Ever since seeing the Juicy Lucy stuffed burger on Man vs. Food, I've tried every which way to stuff a burger (as has half the country as evidenced by the number of internet posted recipes). This particular recipe takes one of my favorite deli sandwiches and jams it into a barbeque ready package. For the burger, I use leaner ground beef than usual to limit the amount of shrinkage (no Seinfeld jokes here) while cooking (because of the stuffing). I usually use ground chuck for most burgers, but ground sirloin works better for stuffed burgers. These things are thick and take some attention to make sure you don't overcook the outside and undercook the inside. Also limit the amount flipping to help maintain integrity of the burger. I bring the uncooked burger to room temperature to help the insides cook as quickly and evenly as possible. —Pete
Ingredients
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2 pounds
Lean ground sirloin beef (85%)
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Garlic Powder
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Salt
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Ground Black Pepper
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1 pound
Thinly sliced pastrami or corned beef
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1/2 pound
sliced swiss cheese
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Thousand Island dressing
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1 packet
Sauerkraut (in bags from refrigerated section)
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Worcestershire sauce
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Marble rye bread or hamburger buns or rolls
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Butter
Directions
- Drain the sauerkraut. Wrap the sauerkraut in paper towels and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Toss with enough Thousand Island Dressing to just coat the sauerkraut. Bring corned beef and sauerkraut to room temperature.
- Divide meat into 6 equal sections. Take 2/3 of each portion and flatten to a disc about 6” in diameter. Fold up about ½” of the edge to form a shallow bowl. Sprinkle with garlic powder and season with salt and pepper. Take a slice of cheese and trim it to fit into the burger “bowl”.
- Place two slices of corned beef or pastrami on top of cheese. Top with a healthy portion of sauerkraut. Repeat with more pastrami and finish with a slice of cheese. Press on the stack to flatten and distribute. Take the smaller, remaining portion of the hamburger, flatten to a 5” disc and place on top of stuffed burger. Seal edges. Season burgers with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Repeat with remaining hamburger meat.
- Sprinkle Worcestershire sauce on both sides, cover with wax paper and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, pre-heat grill. If using charcoal, leave enough grill space for indirect heating method.
- Once grill is heated (or coals are ready), Sear burgers over hot portion of grill and cook each side about 2 minutes. Move the burgers to a cooler section of the grill, cover and continue to cook, about 3 minutes per side. These burgers are thick and need time to cook through. the burgers will be about medium. Continue to cook, depending on preference, until desired doneness. Remove to a platter and allow to rest.
- While resting, butter the cut side of roll or bun, sprinkle with garlic powder, and toast the cut side on the grill.
- Place burger on the bun, garnish as you wish, top with more Thousand Island dressing.
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