Whether you’re eating this lettuce wrapped, sandwiched between two portabellas or with a fork and knife — this is the absolute BEST bunless burger you’ll ever sink your pearly whites into…
Full of so much juicy flavor, you’ll forget buns even exist.
Serve it over a nice bed of crispy lettuce — or for bonus points, try our low carb hamburger buns! Delicious at a family BBQ, or for lunch when you have 5 extra minutes. Low carb hamburger recipes are a delicious way to stay on track while LOVIN’ every second of it!
So turn on that grill (or stove), and let’s get bunless burger making!
keto burger secret ingredient
Shocking, I know, but most hamburgers are stuffed with bread crumbs to help keep the meat in one solid patty — but for those of us sticking to low carb foods, we’ve gotta find another way!
For this keto burger recipe, we’ll use eggs — a great binder that’s super low in carbs. Eggs do a great job of binding the ingredients, but I find them very boring, so I decided to add a less expected ingredient to these bunless burgers for a little more pizazz: grated onions.
This idea came from my Grandma’s kibbee recipe — her baked kibee is the moistest, most flavorful meat dish I’ve ever tasted. So, I figured it would be the perfect ingredient for my bunless burger recipe!
The trick here is to get the liquid out of the onions before mixing them into the meat. I find this is best done with a clean kitchen towel — as paper towels breaks easily and create a mess. Simply wrap the onions in a towel and squeeze until most of the liquid is gone!
Pro Tip! Once completed, set the bowl of “onion juice” in the fridge, and use it later in the week the marinade steaks!
Anyway, who needs bread crumbs in their low carb recipes when you’ve got low carb vegetables that are so full of flavorful goodness?
Tips for the best low carb hamburger recipes
Everyone likes their low carb hamburger recipes cooked a certain way. I’m usually a medium rare kinda gal — but with these bunless burgers, I cook them all the way through and find them every bit as tasty. Again, the onion keeps these bunless burgers nice and juicy, so they can be cooked a little longer without toughening up.
According to the food science guru Alton Brown — if you’d like a medium rare burger, cook the patties for 4 minutes on each side. For medium burgers, cook the patties for 5 minutes on each side.
I’ve cooked these bunless burgers on the grill, and on the stove. In my opinion, you just can’t beat that charcoal flavor, but cooking them on the stove in a cast iron is a great way to save some time and labor!
keto hamburger recipes variations
Per usual, this keto hamburger recipes spices are pretty flexible and can be switched up depending on how you plan to serve this. Some delicious bunless burger keto add ins include:
Cumin
Italian Seasoning
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Blue Cheese
There are a billion delicious bunless burger toppings, all of which are foods from your low carb shopping list!
Low Carb Ketchup
Low Carb BBQ Sauce
Bacon
Avocado
Tomatoes
Grilled Onions
Bunless burgers are SO customizable, it’s hard to get tired of them. Although the bunless burger calories are pretty high, veggie toppings like onions or lettuce, won’t add on much more!
**On the blog, I’m constantly getting comments from low carb-ers who have to cook two separate meals: low carb meals for themselves, and a high carb meal for the rest of the family. I find this bunless burgers to be the perfect meal to feed the entire crew. Just buy some regular hamburger buns for everyone else, and eat this bunless burger with a fork and knife like a boss, while watching and laughing at everyone as they waste their carbs on those boring buns!
lettuce burger + more “bunless” alternatives
If you find eating your burger completely bunless to be a little sad, then I’ve got a billion ideas for you:
Of course, there’s the bunless burger lettuce wrapped: I find this is best done with a head of butter lettuce as it’s soft and can fully wrap around the bunless burger patty. You can also cut a tomato in half and serve the bunless burger sandwiched between these two slices! I’ve seen this done with avocado as well — yum!
I know this is a bunless burger recipe, but my favorite way to eat these patties in on top of my low carb hamburger buns. They’re SO fluffy, soft, delicious, and hard not to love!
bunless burger recipe
Alright friends, without further ado, I present to you the best ever bunless burger recipe! I hope you and all your carb eating friends love this burger as much as I do! Let me know in the comments below what you think.
Bunless Burger Restaurant Ordering
I typically order a bunless burger when I go out to eat, it’s so easy and delicious to do! Just wanted to share so you know it’s an option — bunless burger five guys, bunless burger mcdonalds — most restaurants will accommodate this request!
pinBunless Burger
Ingredients
- 1 Lb Ground Beef
- 1 Egg
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard
- 1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Small Onion , grated
- 1/2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
- 1/4 - 1/2 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
Instructions
-
Light, clean and oil the grill.
-
Grate the onion using a cheese grater.
-
Place grated onion in paper towels or dish towels, and ring out as much of the liquid as possible (I put this aside and use this liquid as a marinade!).
-
Place the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, and mix together using your hands.
-
Form 4 patties, pressing your thumb into the top center of each to form a shallow indent.
-
Cook the burgers for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until they’re cooked to your liking.
-
Pull of the grill onto a clean plate.
-
Serve with lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, whatever you’re craving — enjoy!
Nutritional Information
Nutrition information will vary based on the specific products. To be safe, check the nutrition facts labels of your products. Optional object listed above have been left out of nutritional data.
