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It’s burger season!!

Roasted Zucchini Burgers with Garlic Whipped Feta | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Do these roasted zucchini burgers excite you guys as much as they excite me? For some reason burgers seem so summery to me. Roasted zucchini, garlic, quinoa and whipped feta. It’s a winning combo that definitely gives the beef burger a run for its money…well, I mean, if you’re open to veggie burgers of course! 🙂

Roasted Zucchini Burgers with Garlic Whipped Feta | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

With the 4th of July quickly creeping up on us, I figured it was time we start talking cookout eats. I still cannot believe the 4th is only a little over two weeks away, but it is, so we need to get chatting about it!

We’ll start off with these burgers and move our way through one epic menu. I’m pretty excited about it.

Alright, I can’t lie, these burgers are a little more work than your typical beef burger, but the flavors are unbeatable. Good news is that if you’re looking to prep your meal ahead of time these patties can be made and kept in the fridge for a day or two and then cooked up just before serving. That’s always an added bonus, right?!

Here’s how these go, you’ll need to start off by roasting your zucchini, summer squash and garlic. Sorry, but the roasting step is mandatory and is what adds all the flavor to these burgers. If you have yet to experience roasted zucchini (wait, who has not had roasted zucchini?!?), THIS is the summer to do so. I know you may hate turning on your oven, but promise, it’s worth it. Roasting the zucchini brings out the sweetness and the charred edges add a really nice texture.

Anyway, so you roast your zucchini and then mix it with some quinoa. DONE. See, not so bad, but you HAVE to roast the zucchini. And, you also HAVE to chill the patties before cooking them or they will be too soft and will not hold their shape. Other than that, they’re pretty easy to throw together, just kind of time-consuming do to the roasting and the chilling. Like I said, so worth it though, and you can do everything in advance. Cool!

OKok, so that’s the patties, they’re delicious and healthy and quite possibly my new go-to veggie burger for the summer. But now… can we please just talk about the cheese?!?!

WHIPPED FETA.

Yes. It’s so good. Think about feta, but then think about it in a more creamy, spreadable way and think about it seasoned with a little fresh dill and roasted garlic. I know, I know, TOO GOOD! And when paired with a zucchini burger?

Very Mediterranean, right? My favorite!

Roasted Zucchini Burgers with Garlic Whipped Feta | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

For once I kept my toppings really simple, but… these would be great with a fried egg. Just sayin.

Actually, you should totally do the fried egg. Everything is better with an egg. <–truth.

Oh and um, speaking of eggs? You guys all know how we have chickens, right? Well for those of you who don’t… we do. And tomorrow we are adding a rooster to the bunch. Did you guys also know that the chickens literally live right outside my kitchen window and right underneath my bedroom window?

They do.

Ahh huh, are you seeing where I am going with this? Looks like I will be getting the daily five am wake up call. YIKES. Dad and I just spent the last five minutes listening to roosters crow…double YIKES.

Guess I will not need that alarm anymore, huh?

Oh well, a rooster means more chickens, which means more eggs, which means more fried eggs for my burgers. Yep, I can deal with that. 🙂

Roasted Zucchini Burgers with Garlic Whipped Feta | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Roasted Zucchini Burgers with Garlic Whipped Feta.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Refrigerate 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes
Servings: 10 Burgers
Calories Per Serving: 455 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

  • 3 medium zucchini cut into 2 inch chunks
  • 3 medium yellow summer squash cut into 2 inch chunks
  • 4 cloves garlic left whole (1 clove for the burger and 3 for the whipped feta)
  • olive oil for drizzling
  • kosher salt + pepper
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper more or less to your taste
  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil
  • 4 hamburger buns toasted
  • lettuce tomatoes and or sliced avocado, for serving

Whipped Feta

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  • On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss together the zucchini, summer squash and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, salt + pepper and toss well to coat. Place in the oven and roast for 45-50 minutes or until the squash is softened and golden all over, making sure most of the moisture has been cooked out of the squash. Turn the squash around halfway throughout cooking.
  • Remove from the oven and allow the squash to cool. Remove all but 1 clove of garlic from the pan, reserving the 3 remaining cloves for the whipped feta. Add the roasted squash + one of the garlic cloves to a food processor along with the paprika, cayenne, quinoa, panko and basil. Pulse to combine. 
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment. Pat the zucchini mixture into 10-12 even size patties. The mixture will be sticky, but do your best to form the patties. Once all the patties have been formed, place them in the fridge to chill, at least one hour or up to 1 day.
  • Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Once hot, add 2-3 patties at a time and cook until lightly browned, about 5-8 minutes, flip and cook another 5-8 minutes or until firm. Repeat wit the remaining patties. Note: these burgers are delicate, be careful when flipping.
  • To serve, spread the bottom of each warmed bun with whipped feta (see recipe below). Top with a zucchini burger, sliced avocado, tomato and other toppings. Add your top bun. EAT!

Whipped Feta

  • In a food processor, combine the feta, greek yogurt, olive oil and the reserved 3 cloves of roasted garlic from above. Puree until completely smooth and creamy, scrapping down the sides if needed, about 5 minutes. Add the pepper, dill and lemon zest. Pulse to combine. If needed, thin with milk. Serve with the burgers.

Notes

*Adapted from Food and Wine June 2016 issue. *If you are having trouble frying these I recommend one, either forming them into small, slider size patties for easier flipping OR two, baking then in a 400 degrees oven for 35-45 minutes or until firm and crisp, flipping them halfway through cooking. Allow the patties to sit 5-10 minutes before assembling the burgers.
View Recipe Comments

Roasted Zucchini Burgers with Garlic Whipped Feta | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

I think… if not, I will drown my tiredness in a big bowl of whipped feta. All the cheese (and fried eggs) please.

Roasted Zucchini Burgers with Garlic Whipped Feta | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

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Comments

  1. Hi! Does this recipe call for 3 squash AND 3 zucchini? Or is it either/or? The photo and video show only zucchini so I figured I would ask because I really want to make these tonight and I don’t want to screw it up! 🙂

    1. Ok I just read through the instructions again and I’m going to use both! I hope it turns out alright! 🙂

    2. Hey Erin!! So sorry for the delay…it’s been crazy over here. You can use both yellow squash and zucchini or just one or the other. Just make sure to use a total of 6 squash. Does that make sense? Let me know if you have any questions and I hope you love the burgers!! 🙂

  2. Hi Tieghan, these look delicious, I’m always looking for yummy veggie meals for the family.
    One question, we don’t get yellow summer squash here in Germany. I’ve got some growing in the garden, but that will take a bit of time. Can I use just zucchini instead?
    Thank you, Anisa

  3. Can’t wait t make these Tieghan. You’re so creative. One question – how much garlic to use in whipped feta? Thanks!

    1. Hi Shannon! It’s 3 cloves of garlic. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love this burger!

  4. Yes, these were really good! The spiced burgers went so well with the cool sauce and cucumbers!

  5. Hi Tieghan!

    I want to make these for a work potluck this week (but as sliders!). Do you think they would be tasty served cold or should I opt for something else? I don’t have much outside of an office microwave for reheating.

    Thanks!!
    Allie

    1. Hi Allie!! Hmm, honestly I am not sure. I love everything hot so it is hard for me to say. I am sure they would still be great cold, but better hot. Totally up to you I think. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you so much! 🙂 have fun at the pot luck!

  6. How did you make out with the rooster? If you only get a 5am wake up consider yourselves lucky. Ours (I’ve had 3 now) all crow at 1 am for some reason. Then from 4 am on……

  7. Hi! I’m gearing up to make these this weekend and was wondering, what if after pulsing the veggies you packed it all into a mesh strainer over the sink and let it strain for an hour or so.. Would that help with the moisture level? I guess we’ll find out!! I’m so excited to make these. Thank you for the recipe 🙂

  8. These are amazing! I’ve had one every day for lunch or dinner for a week, I swear. I’m obsessed (which is good because I have 6 zillion more zucchini to use in my garden!). Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It’s become a favorite of mine.

  9. These are amazing! I’ve had one every day for lunch or dinner for a week, I swear. I’m obsessed (which is good because I have 6 zillion more zucchini to use in my garden!). Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It’s a favorite of mine.

  10. Sooo I didn’t have quinoa and made these with lemon herb couscous instead which was DELISH. That whipped feta is also amazing!! The burgers were a litttttle soft (which I expected from the roasted zucchini) but not too mushy as previously mentioned and they held together quite nicely. Really liked this one!

  11. This recipe sounds great! I will try it soon and will let you know. I think my daughter will like them!

  12. Hey Tieghan. I’ve made this recipe 3 times now and it always turns out great!
    I prefer having burgers in tortilla wraps rather than buns, but buns work great for these. The only change I make is I swap yellow squash with courgette , because I can’t find the yellow squash anywhere 😀
    Thanks again for a nice recipe

    1. Hey Konrad. I’m so happy you are loving this recipe and using courgette is awesome as well! Thanks so much! (:

  13. I was SO excited to make these for my friends for Canada Day! I packed up all the ingredients, got some gorgeous brioche hamburger buns, and we took the whole lot up to the cabin… Only to find, like several other reviewers (oops, should have looked into that earlier), that following the recipe results in something so wet that it can’t be shaped into anything. But! We are a group of voraciously hungry 20-something-year-olds and we would not be deterred. Crushed up Ritz crackers and some hastily made breadcrumbs from toasted end pieces helped bind it together into something we could work with. We still couldn’t shape proper burger-type patties, but managed some very thin ones. With the garlic whipped feta, some lettuce and fresh slices of tomato, they tasted PHENOMENAL! The texture certainly wasn’t burger-like – like another person said, they were quite mushy – but if you don’t think of them as burgers and as just some sort of unique sandwich, they’re good.

    Things I’d change: Well, as I like how healthy the original recipe was, crushing up half a box of Ritz crackers in order to make it work would have to go. There has to be some way to drain the water out of the zucchini, which was so incredibly wet. Maybe roasting the zucchini without any olive oil at all, longer and at a lower heat? I have absolutely no idea how I’d take what I made and make it look like the pictures in the recipe. Would love some advice on reducing the amount of liquid!

    I was also told by two of my friends that they found the whipped feta spread quite salty, and it thickened up a bit too much. We added a few tablespoons of milk to thin it out and that helped with both of those things (flavour-wise it was perfect for me, but then I’m a salt fiend).

    Oh! I also totally forgot the fresh basil, but it tasted fantastic anyways. I’ll try it again with basil sometime in the future if I’ve got the herb around, but I didn’t miss it.

    1. Hey Trista! Ugh, I am horribly sorry for the trouble with these, but so happy you where able to improvise. While I have no issues with the recipe as written, I actually made them again tonight because of all the comments, trying a few new things. New version is up and hopefully a bit more easy to form into patties for people now. Again, so sorry for the trouble. Happy 4th of July!

  14. Hi Tieghan, lovely recipe as always. I’m struggling to find the yellow summer squash, could you recommend any nice substitutes?

  15. These turned out delicious, if difficult to pan fry. I don’t think I was successful in getting the liquid out of the roasted zucchini and squash, as the patties weren’t even sticky, but were really watery and didn’t want to stay together. Made more of a hash than a patty. Ah well! I’ll try again and see if I can’t get it right next time. The whipped feta though – it’s what dreams are made of. I served my “hash” with the avocado, feta and some pickled red onions and it is certainly tasty. Thanks for the recipe and idea!

    1. Hey Emily! So happy you loved these!! I have heard from a few people that they are tricky to pan fry so here is my tip…I think you probably just want to make patties that are small in size. When you make them smaller, it makes flipping so much easier. Hope that help and again, so happy you loved these! thanks!