Chunky, beefy and satisfying, you’re going to love tucking into my new Caramelised Onion Burgers AND they’re Slimming World Friendly too! I’m constantly looking for inspiration for my weekly meal planner, trying to find meals that tick both the healthy AND family friendly boxes so I don’t have to cook multiple meals for one sitting.
How to make Caramelised Onions
The burgers are made using lean 5% fat minced beef mixed with seasoning, dried herbs and beautiful caramelised onions. Personally I think caramelised onions make everything that bit yummier. Whether it’s on top of a pizza with mozzarella or stirred into roasted vegetables with feta cheese, it’s worth the little bit of effort it takes to make them.
I learnt this art during one of my cooking courses at Leith’s School of Food and Wine, and it’s something that’s always stayed with me as a go-to flavour enhancer. When I originally learnt how to make them, it was to put on top of a home-made focaccia which is also a divine use of them!
So how do you make them? Easy. You just finely chop the onions, sweat them gently in a frying pan sprayed with fry light with a good scattering of sea salt flakes to draw out the moisture, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a couple of teaspoons of the softest dark brown sugar to get that sticky toffee vibe going.
Give it all a good stir, turn the heat to the lowest setting and then scrunch up a piece of greaseproof paper, run it under the tap and then use it as a lid directly on top of the onions to help them sweat and keep that moisture in. Keep checking them and stir sporadically so they don’t catch and about 15 minutes later you’re rewarded with glorious caramelised onions, ready to give a flavour bomb to whatever dish you’re making. And in this case it’s juicy burgers.
Slimming World Friendly
But you’ve added proper sugar not artificial sweetener, I hear you cry! Well I’m not a huge fan of artificial sweetener it has to be said and proper sugar really is what it is needed here to get the full flavour effect. It’s only 2 syns for the entire recipe, which if you’re having two burgers only works out at 0.5 Syn… it’s negligible as far as I’m concerned.
The burgers are super tasty served in your healthy extra ‘b’ choice of either a wholemeal roll, or as I’ve done here stacked them between a couple of wholemeal sandwich thins. I’ve piled the salad high and added pickles and my favourite Baxters tangy red slaw. If I’d had time I’d have served them up with a stack of butternut squash chips, but I was in a rush so ate it as it came. You could also use your healthy extra ‘a’ choice of cheese and whack some mozzarella on top of these burgers and give them a quick melt under the grill. Sublime.
Family Friendly
These burgers also make for a brilliant family supper, and you can serve them up for everyone else in sesame seeded brioche buns or maybe in pitta breads with a heap of potato wedges and salad. Get everyone to build their own burgers their way with a load of toppings like cheese, pickles, relishes, mayo etc and make it into a fun help-yourself style meal.
I find it much easier to stay on my Slimming World eating plan when I can adapt the same weeknight meal into something for all of us. I’m afraid my vegetarian husband had shop-bought veggie burgers that night, but he has a massive penchant for the Linda McCartney Mozzarella burgers so he never complains about it!
Super easy to make
I particularly love putting the burgers together, as it’s a chance to dust off my mum’s retro 1970s burger press in that classic day-glo orange colour! There’s something incredibly pleasing about the uniform burgers you are rewarded with. Plus it’s easier to freeze/chill them in neat little stacks. So you can get ahead by making a big batch of these and then freezing them in bags for when you need them.
Jobs a good ‘un.
Tasty and lean beef burgers packed with sweet and sticky caramelised onions and rosemary - a Slimming World Friendly feast!
- 1 red onion finely diced
- fry light
- 2 tsp soft dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
- 1 splash balsamic vinegar
- 500 g lean beef mince (5% fat)
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- salt and pepper to season
- wholemeal sandwich thins
- salad leaves
- pickles
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Make the caramelised onions first. Finely chop the onions, spray a frying pan with fry light and gently fry the onions with the brown sugar, sea salt and balsamic vinegar on a low heat for a few minutes to get it all coated. Give it a good stir.
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Tear off a 30cm squared piece of greaseproof paper, scrunch it up in your hand and run it under the cold tap. Shake off any excess water and then place it over the top of your onion mixture to completely cover it. Turn the heat down as low as it'll go and let the onions caramelise for about 10-15 mins. Keep an eye on them in case they start to catch! But they should be sticky and soft.
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Put your block of mince in a large mixing bowl and season with dried rosemary, salt and pepper. Using a fork give it all a good mix, breaking down the strands of minced beef. Finally add in the caramelised onion.
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Either using your hands or a simple burger press, form six equal sized burgers, pop on a plate and allow to chill in the fridge for a few hours.
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Heat a griddle pan on a medium heat, spray with fry light and gently cook the burgers for around 5 minutes, turn over for another 5 or until cooked through.
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Serve in wholemeal sandwich thins with lashings of salad and pickles. A side order of roasted Butternut Squash wedges always goes well too!
Slimming World update…
For those of you who have been following my Slimming World journey, I thought I’d give a little update of my progress so far. I’ve now lost a total of two stone and nine pounds since I started following the eating plan at the beginning of April. I’ve got one stone and 12 pounds left to lose to get to my target of losing four and a half stone, so I’m delighted to now be over half way there. Here’s a pic of me I took this week alongside the picture I took of myself when I first started Slimming World. I can’t believe the difference! I feel SO much better, have a load more energy and am fitting into clothes I’ve not worn in years. Hurrah! Next stop, my three stone certificate…
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You’ve totally proved that even without the fat you can still have tonnes of flavour. These look lush! Great recipe 🙂
Looking good! Did you say caramelised onions? I would even top desserts with this stuff!
Caramelised onions are such a good idea to enhance the flavour of dishes without adding too many calories.