I am so completely obsessed with all things burgers! And guess what, I haven’t been eating a bun (or any bread) with my burgers since 2005. It’s been so long now that I don’t even miss it. But if you take the bun off of a burger, you need to really “doctor up” your burger fixings to make your burger mouth-watering without the bread. Plus, you must have good quality meat. The best is always 100% grass-fed meat. It tastes the best when you make it into a burger and it is also the best beef for your health for a multitude of different reasons.
This recipe for a simple probiotic rich burger. It’s topped with Sauerkraut and raw aged cheddar cheese and a pickle on the side. All of those toppings contain good, beneficial bacteria in them. Cultured or fermented foods grow good bacteria. I know that might sound gross (I’m eating bacteria!!) but I want to explain how amazing those little guys are for you. Let’s jump back a step and talk about our human microbiomes. Our microbiome is the make-up of all of the bacteria in our bodies, our GI system (gut), nasal cavities and even on our skin. Our bacteria even outnumbers the cells in our bodies 10 to 1. They are powerful microbes and really can determine how healthy or how sick you are. This burger was created to feed the good guys in your gut. It builds them (and you) up strong. When you nourish your gut with life-giving foods, your immune system is stronger, your brain works better, you absorb more nutrients, you decrease inflammation, you build more muscle, you burn more fat and you help to regulate your hormones. Our gut is one of the most powerful organ systems in our bodies!
This is my first post on fermented and cultured foods. I am just embarking now on a journey to make my own ferments. I will start to share them with you as I learn more. So, I don’t have a recipe for you yet. If you are just starting adding in fermented foods, you can buy them. Make sure you get them in the refrigerator section! If you buy sauerkraut in a can it is completely devoid of all it’s good probiotic benefits. And if you want a probiotic filled pickle, buy them refrigerated too! Some other examples of healthy ferments are kombucha, kefir, kimchi, and other veggie krauts.
Using fermented foods can get a plethora of many different beneficial strains of probiotics in your gut. Their are so many I don’t think we can even count or recognize them all. They also work symbiotically together for your benefit. It’s like taking a probiotic supplement, but you get to eat it in your foods. I’m not opposed to probiotics used as supplements, there are some really amazing brands of them out there. But let’s get as much as we can throughout our foods. I recommend eating 1-2 fermented foods or drinks daily. It’s one tool we can use to build up our gut’s health and maintain it. As a society we have so many dead food. I call them dead foods because they are the foods that completely lack nutrients (ex. processed foods). They can stay on a shelf forever and not rot. That’s not the foods we were created to eat! We need to be eating foods that are living. Choose living foods!
*When you first start eating fermented foods, start slowly. Some people’s digestive systems have to get used to the increase of bacteria. I recommend starting with 2 Tablespoons. Then you can increase the amount you eat daily. I get at least one type of fermented food or beverage in my body every day. My tummy thanks me for it and yours will too! If you feel really bad on fermented foods, then there might be a bigger gut issue going on that needs to be addressed. Contact me and I can help you!
Ingredients
1 pound organic grass-fed ground beef, thawed or fresh
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder
Thick slices of aged raw cheddar cheese (or goat cheese)
Sauerkraut (Must be from the fridge))
Pickle, for the side (Also must be from the fridge)
Mustard, optional
Lettuce leaves, optional
Directions
- Heat up your grill pan or grill. Right now we don’t have a grill, so all of our grilling is done indoors. We have a cast iron grill pan that works great! I always turn it to medium and wait until it gets screaming hot before putting my burgers on it
- You are going to take your beef and make patties with it. I usually make 3-4 patties per pound. You are going to shape them with your hands and once a perfectly round patty is formed, put a little dent in the middle of each of them with your thumb. It will help them cook flatter and not raise up in the middle. Season one side with salt, pepper and garlic powder
- Once your pan or grill is hot, put the burgers on seasoned side down. Don’t move them once you have put them down, you want to get a good sear. Season the other side with salt and pepper and garlic salt
- Cook your burgers for about 3-4 minutes and then flip them. Cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side too. Cook them longer for a more well-done burger
- With 1-2 minutes left, top with the cheese and allow to melt
- Serve your burger on a large lettuce leaf topped with mustard, sauerkraut, a pickle
- Enjoy the taste and knowing it is helping nourish and heal your body!
Join Dr. Meghan's Insiders
Don't miss out on anything! Join my healthy living newsletter for encouragement right to your inbox to kickstart your health in a simplified way!
Linsey says
I’m excited to hear more about making your own ferments! Sounds daunting but if you think it’s easy I want to try… Also, I didn’t know that about refrigerated vs non-refrigerated! Interesting!
Dr. Meghan says
Fermenting is super easy with a good recipe and a few key pieces of equipment!!