Pork and Portobello Burgers

By Mark Bittman

Updated July 11, 2016

  • Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(207)
Comments
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This is a new-age version of a veggie burger (as in half and half, not a burger made from vegetables and grain), which you might also think of as a stuffed mushroom. It’s terrific, hearty, unusual and really cool: a portobello filled with sausage meat and grilled. In this instance, a broiler will work, as will a skillet.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 1 pound ground pork

  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic

  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary, fennel seed or parsley

  • Salt and ground black pepper

  • 4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems removed

  • Olive oil

  • 4 burger buns

  • Any burger fixings you like

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare a grill; the heat should be medium-high and the rack about 4 inches from the heat.

  2. Step 2

    Combine the ground pork, garlic, rosemary and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Use a spoon to lightly scrape away the gills of the mushrooms and hollow them slightly. Drizzle the mushrooms (inside and out) with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Press ¼ of the mixture into each of the hollow sides of the mushrooms; you want the meat to spread all the way across the width of the mushrooms. They should look like burgers.

  3. Step 3

    Grill the burgers, meat side down, until the pork is well browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Flip and cook until the top side of the mushrooms are browned and the mushrooms are tender, another 6 to 8 minutes. If you like, use an instant-read thermometer to check the interior temperature of the pork, which should be a minimum of 145 degrees.

  4. Step 4

    Serve the burgers on buns (toasted, if you like) with any fixings you like.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
207 user ratings
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Comments

KSWinCA

Delicious! I love the contrast of textures between the pork and the mushrooms. I served it on fancy brioche hamburger buns; their very light texture let the burger flavors and textures come through. I think I'll try it next time with ground lamb.

Michael G

I made these in a cast iron skillet. After I flipped them to cook the mushroom side it became evident that the underside of the pork patties (the side making contact with the portobello) was not going to cook fully. I had to remove the pork patties from the mushrooms and cook their other sides in the pan for a few minutes, then put them back on top of the mushroom. The result was essentially a pork burger with a portobello on top, which was good, but not quite the homogenous burger I hoped for.

Ruth

I added more spices, just because I'm used to making sausage that way. It drowned out the mushroom flavor, which was kind of a waste of some good mushrooms, so I would say stick to the recipe. I also couldn't bring myself to waste part of the mushrooms by scraping out all the gills, so I left most of them. It still cooked fine and held together okay. Just made for a very thick sandwich.

ShelleyB

I went looking for a recipe to use up a pound of frozen ground pork that I could cook on the BBQ as it's been so hot these week. Ding! Ding! Ding! These were delish, especially considering how few ingredients and quick prep. I went with the full tbsp of garlic and fennel and parsley, figuring that was porchetta-like enough. did brush some olive oil on both sides before throwing them on a F425 grill. They cooked up beautifully, with no problem getting the meat thermometre to 165 without drying them out. Just had tomato and Dijon but thinking I might try topping with a slice of haloumi too next time to melt a bit. Or Fontina?

Marianne

Can I cook this in an air fryer? If so, what settings to use?

galianoboy

You think you want big portobello mushrooms, but you don’t. These can get huge! Go for smaller mushrooms and make 6 smaller burgers. Also, get thick buns, and serve with portobello side up, because the mushrooms soak through otherwise. Delicious though!

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