Prosciutto and Blue Cheese Burger

With sweet, salty and savoury components, this prosciutto and blue cheese burger is a sensation for your taste buds! It’s easy to prepare and a delicious way to enjoy a juicy homemade burger.

If you’re a big fan of sweet and savoury combinations like I am, then this prosciutto and blue cheese burger is a must try!

It combines a juicy homemade hamburger patty, creamy blue cheese, sweet fig jam, crispy prosciutto and peppery baby arugula on a brioche bun. I mean, so good, right?

I especially love a good homemade burger on Friday or Saturday night. They come together so quickly (well under 30 minutes), so it’s not a lot of fuss to make them and oftentimes quicker (and definitely tastier) than delivery.

Fan of homemade burger recipes? Check out this mushroom Swiss burger!

Ingredients

• Prosciutto: Thin slices of prosciutto bake up quickly in the oven. You can typically find prosciutto in the grocery store where you would find other deli meats. If you’d rather use crispy bacon or crispy pancetta, that would work great too.
• Olive oil: A little bit of olive oil is used for pan frying the burger patties.
• Ground beef: Medium ground beef is the preferred choice for these homemade beef burgers, which has a maximum fat content of 23%. Choosing a medium ground beef over, say, lean ground beef means that your burger patties will be more flavourful and juicy (and who doesn’t love that?).
• Seasoning: Seasoning is kept simple but delicious. It includes salt, black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
• Hamburger buns: I like to use toasted brioche buns, but your favourite variety of hamburger bun would work.
• Mayonnaise: Use enough mayonnaise to cover the inside of the bottom hamburger buns.
• Fig jam: Adds sweetness to the burger and compliments the savoury, salty components beautifully. If you don’t have fig jam on hand, feel free to use another variety, like strawberry or raspberry.
• Arugula: Baby arugula adds a pop of freshness and colour to the burgers.
• Blue cheese: Creamy blue cheese really goes well with beef. Blue cheese can range in its taste from something mild to quite pungent. I happen to love blue cheese so I adore it on a burger. If you aren’t quite a fan of blue cheese (or would just like something milder tasting on your burger), feel free to use another creamy cheese, like goat cheese. Goat cheese will add a similar creaminess to the burger without being as strong of a taste as blue cheese.

How To Make It

Here is an overview of how to make these prosciutto and blue cheese burgers (full details are in the recipe card below):

1. Bake the slices of prosciutto until crispy.
2. Form the ground beef into patties. Make a little indentation in the centre of each patty with your thumb or spoon (this helps to prevent them from swelling up as they cook). Now season them with salt, black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
3. Pan fry the burger patties until cooked through.
4. Assemble the burgers on buns with toppings.

What To Serve With It

A juicy homemade burger pairs so well with a simple side. Some of my favourites to serve with this prosciutto and blue cheese burger are sweet potato fries, baked fries, crispy potato wedges, stuffed double baked sweet potato, a bowl of soup or a simple green salad.

Tips

• Use the right type of ground beef: As mentioned, I like to use medium ground beef for burgers because it has more fat content than lean ground beef, meaning a juicier, tastier burger.
• Keep the ground beef cold until you’re ready to use it: It’s the sensible and safe option, but it helps to keep the fat in the meat. That way, you’ll end up with juicy burgers.
• Burger size: The burger patties were approximately 4 ounces each and about 4 inches in diameter. When forming the burger patties, make them a little bit bigger than the hamburger buns you are going to use (the burgers shrink a tad as they cook).
• Even patties: Making a little indentation in the centre of each burger patty with your thumb or a spoon before cooking helps to keep the patties from swelling up in the centre as they cook. That way, you’ll end up with a nice, even patty.
• Don’t overwork the meat: When forming the burger patties, don’t overwork the meat. Overworking the meat could make the burgers turn out dense.
• Season the burgers right before cooking.
• Don’t overcrowd your pan: Leave a little space between each burger patty when pan frying so they sear nicely. If you don’t have a skillet big enough to fit four patties, cook them in batches.
• Get the perfect cook: In order to get the perfect cook, use an instant-read meat thermometer. For ground beef burgers, you want a minimum internal cooking temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Toast the hamburger buns: Toasting gives extra flavour and everything more structure. This is not necessary, but it’s something I like to do. To toast, I like to place the buns (cut side up) in an air fryer using the toast setting (for my unit, it’s 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes, but you could toast for less if you like). Instead of toasting in an air fryer, you could also toast the buns in your oven until you’ve reached your desired doneness.
• Add more prosciutto: I used one slice of crispy prosciutto per burger. If you really want to go all out, you could add another slice.
• Add another complimentary topping: Want to add another element of flavour to your burger? Caramelized onions would be a yummy addition.

More Easy Burger Recipes

• Buttermilk Fried Crispy Chicken Burger
• Buffalo Chicken Burger
• Ground Turkey Burger

If you make this prosciutto and blue cheese burger recipe, be sure to leave a comment below!