So I had no idea I would be making burgers out of pork tenderloin this week, but I couldn’t help but try it. I ran across a recipe from Taste of Home that used pork tenderloin as the meat in a burger. I never thought to use it that way. The original recipe for Tempting Pork Tenderloin Burgers uses a few ingredients I have to remove due to the gluten issue, but other than that I can make this work. I’m excited about these because I feel like these will be good lean protein without all of the grease that comes with a standard hamburger. I love my veggie burgers, but it’s nice to grill some meat once in a while. I would say we are more flexitarian than anything else. We like meat and we like vegetarian food. It depends on the day. So a great veggie burger for the days we want that and a great meat-based burger for the days we want meat. Here are the original stats:
- 378 Calories
- 12g Fat
- 64mg Cholesterol
- 459mg Sodium
- 575mg Potassium
- 37g Carbohydrate
- 33g Protein
- 173% Vitamin A
- 45% Vitamin C
- 20% Calcium
- 37% Iron
These calories include a bun, which keeps this as a pretty low calorie burger. The vitamin A is stellar, but the vitamin C could use some help. The sodium is a bit high too, but we may have to live with it in this case because pork is typically brined. Here is what I changed.
- I replaced the panko bread crumbs with ground old fashioned oats.
- I deleted the full fat mayonnaise.
- I deleted the burger buns to reduce the calories
- I added in some Brussels sprouts to add vitamin C.
- I replaced the arugula and spinach with spinach and carrot for vitamin A.
Here are the final stats:
- 242 Calories
- 3g Fat
- 60mg Cholesterol
- 191mg Sodium
- 438mg Potassium
- 22g Carbohydrate
- 29g Protein
- 102% Vitamin A
- 93% Vitamin C
- 9% Calcium
- 16% Iron
Here’s the final recipe:
Pork Tenderloin Burgers
Makes 4 burger patties
- 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup rolled oats, ground
- 3 tablespoons dried cranberries, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 pork tenderloin (1 pound), cubed
- 1 container frozen spinach, thawed
- 12oz frozen Brussels sprouts, thawed
- 1 carrot, grated
- Take the spinach and the Brussels sprouts and squeeze them dry in a large kitchen towel.
- Heat a skillet on medium heat and add the carrots, spinach and Brussels sprouts along with cooking spray. Saute until brown. Cool.
- In a large bowl, mix first four ingredients.
- In a food processor, pulse the spinach and Brussels sprouts until finely chopped. Add to the large bowl.
- Add pork to the food processor. Pulse pork until finely chopped. Add to egg white and vegetable mixture; mix lightly but thoroughly.
- Shape into four 1/2-in.-thick patties. Place patties on an oiled grill rack; grill, covered, over medium heat until a thermometer reads 160°, 4-6 minutes per side. Serve in buns with whatever toppings you choose.
Note: You can also do these in the oven. I baked these at 425F for 15 minutes. Then I placed them under the broiler to brown them. This was a best if you are making a lot of them and want them done at the same time.
