Homemade Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

I am not a big fan of frozen or prepackaged burgers or of those made by fast-food chains. However, I do like a decent homemade burger. They are far tastier when you make them yourself and they are really quick and easy to make. I recently served them with sweet potato skinny fries and a generous serving of my homemade funky red cabbage slaw. Here is how to make six homemade burgers with sweet potato fries.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6
Vegetarian/ Vegan: NO
Dairy-free: YES (but check the ingredients of the bread)
Gluten-free: NO (unless you serve the burgers without a bun)

Ingredients for Homemade Burgers

• 600g minced beef
• 6 brioche buns
• 2 oz cheese
• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 1 clove of crushed garlic
• 1 beaten egg
• t tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Skinny Fries

• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled
• 200 ml of vegetable oil
• Salt

How to Make Homemade Burgers

1. Add the minced meat, the beaten egg, the chopped onion, and the crushed garlic into a large mixing bowl and combine with your hands. 
2. Add the oil to a large frying pan and put over medium heat.
3. Separate the meat mixture into six balls and press into flat patties. 
4. Put three of the burgers into the pan and cook for five minutes on each side or until browned and cooked through.
5. Repeat with the remaining three burgers.
6. While the remaining burgers are in the pan, butter the brioche buns and melt the cheese in a microwave for one minute. 
7. When the burgers are all cooked, add them to the brioche buns or sesame seed bread rolls and top with a little of the melted cheese.
8. Serve with skinny fries and funky red cabbage slaw.

How to Make Skinny Fries

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/ 180C. 
2. Cut the sweet potatoes horizontally to give yourself a flat surface to stand the sweet potatoes.
3. While they are stood on their flat end, slice them vertically to approximately 0.5 centimetres thickness.
4. Lie each slice flat and slice again to create skinny fries that are approximately 0.5 cm thickness. 
5. Then, add the oil to a saucepan and put over high heat on the hob. 
6. In batches, fry the sweet potato fries for a few minutes until beginning to go crisp before putting on kitchen paper to drain the excess fat.
7. Transfer all the part-cooked skinny fries to a baking tray and sprinkle generously with salt.
8. Put the baking tray in the oven and cook for a further ten minutes until the fries are crisp. 
9. Serve with the burgers and funky red cabbage slaw. 

If you want to serve this with my funky red cabbage slaw, then you will find this recipe here.

Additional Tips

• Unless you are watching your weight, don’t use the low-fat minced beef options as the fat keeps the meat moist.
• Experiment with different types of cheese to top and try adding pickles or gherkins.
• If you are not a fan of sweet potatoes, then simply switch to using white potatoes.