Keto Burgers: Best Easy and Delicious Recipe

Good news: If you thought you had to give up classic burgers with plenty of delicious cheese and mayo when you go keto.

With my low-carb recipe, you can eat as many juicy cheeseburgers as you want. In the end, it has no carbs and plenty of flavor.

Here’s how to make the best keto burgers in just a few minutes.

Are Burgers Keto?

Burgers without buns and ketchup are fine on a keto diet.

Those are the only two ingredients in a classic burger that are not only high in carbohydrates in general but also in sugar.

My recipe has only one gram of net carbs per serving from the onion (*).

Take out the onion slice, too, and you have the ultimate no-carb burger.

It should be clear that fries as a side dish are a no-go. After all, they are deep-fried potatoes, consisting of 84% starch and, therefore, mainly carbohydrates.

Let’s explore what low-carb ingredients and toppings are allowed in a keto-friendly burger.

What Are the Ingredients in a Keto Burger?

• Ground beef
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cheese
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Onion
• Pickles
• Keto mayo
• Dijon mustard

You can also use mixed ground beef. The burger only tastes like a genuine cheeseburger if you use beef. In addition, this is also usually the healthier option.

Salt and pepper are fine for keto. I use high-quality pink Himalayan salt.

Cheese in keto burgers is mandatory for flavor. I use spicy cheddar. Matured cheese is carb-free. It’s only fat and protein.

Feel free to add fried bacon to the keto burgers. This variation tastes just as delicious but takes longer. The same goes for a fried egg as another topping.

Lettuce leaves are equally non-negotiable for keto burgers. After we don’t use a bun, we need them to wrap the burger and also to be able to eat without cutlery.

Of course, we could also use a homemade low-carb bun. However, I want to give you a quick recipe here with as little effort as possible.

If interested, get my recipes for the best keto bread and quick keto buns from the microwave.

Dijon mustard is the only mustard traditionally made without sugar. Check the nutritional information to be sure. Mustard products sometimes have tons of added sugar.

In my lettuce wrap burger, I use only stunningly delicious keto mayonnaise as a sauce, which you can make yourself in a minute.

There’s a simple reason: while technically ketogenic, commercial mayo is still extremely unhealthy.

Are Keto Burgers Healthy?

Homemade keto burgers are healthy, even in large quantities.

We’ve already removed the two most unhealthy, highly processed ingredients with extra sugar: ketchup and bun.

What remains unhealthy about a burger, patty, and fries from McDonalds or Burger King now is the cheap, highly processed seed oil used for frying and deep frying.

Even breathing in fumes from cooked vegetable oils causes DNA damage (Ke et al. 2009¹).

Soybean, corn, sunflower, and canola oil are among the unhealthiest processed foods on the planet. Because they are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, they should never be used for frying.

Polyunsaturated means that the fatty acids have several free carbon atoms. As a result, these seed oils can oxidize even at low heat.

Not only frying but also their production process damages these fatty acids, leading to cell damage and heart disease (Staprans et al. 2005²).

For example, canola oil is heated, refined, bleached, and deodorized during production (Saleem et al. 2018³).

For this reason, my recipe also uses homemade extra virgin olive oil mayo, which you don’t have to skimp on either.

Store-bought mayonnaise, while low in carbohydrates and high in fat, usually uses cheap soybean, sunflower, or canola oil. That’s why it’s highly unhealthy.

How to Make the Best Keto Burgers

You can make keto burgers without carbs quickly and easily at home.

Here’s a step-by-step guide you’ll need to make it (scroll down to the recipe card for more details):

• Step 1: Place ground beef in a large mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper and mix the mixture with your hands until the ground meat is well blended.
• Step 2: Form the ground beef into palm-sized patties.
• Step 3: Grill the burger to your liking on the grill or in a skillet on the stove. I prefer the patty medium.
• Step 4: Top the burger with a slice of cheese, tomato, cucumber, and onion.
• Step 5: Serve the burger with mayo and mustard wrapped in lettuce or a homemade keto bun.

Optionally, mix the ground beef with the seasonings in a blender for 2 minutes instead of in a mixing bowl. The rest of the steps remain the same.

Tip: You can prepare the burger patty in a hot air fryer.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)