Sometimes you just need a good gluten free burger and fries, you know what I mean? It has got to be one of America’s family favorites and with so many fast food restaurants around, they are easy to come by. But this is not your average burger. This is a healthy, gluten and dairy free version of our favorite. I used grass fed and grass finished beef for a nutrient dense base. Filled with sauteed onions, garlic and olives, the patty gets a whole new levels of flavor. Then I topped each patty with a homemade cucumber tzatziki sauce that is out of this world! Paired with my crispy cinnamon sweet potato fries, you’ll never miss the original. All the burger, without the guilt!

I have made these several times and here are a few tips from experience:

Make sure you use high quality coconut yogurt. Not all of them are the same. My favorite is from a company called Culina but I am sure there are other good ones out there. This really makes a difference in the freshness of the sauce because the yogurt flavor really shines. here.
Use grass fed beef from a high quality source. Some grass fed beef tastes like metal. Know where your beef comes from. I recommend heading over to eatwild.com to see what you can find near you. If you can’t get yours locally, Butcher Box has some delicious beef as does US Wellness Meats.
Use coconut oil for your sweet potato fries and make sure you are using white sweet potato not orange yams. This makes a huge difference in this dish. The white sweet potatoes have a sweet starchy flavor unlike yams which tend to get mushy and stringy. Also, the coconut oil really highlights the flavor of the sweet potato and helps bring out its sweetness. The cinnamon does the same (I did this on a whim one day and now I can’t have them without it!) It’s my secret ingredient and when I make them for friends they always ask me how I do it.
If you are paleo or autoimmune paleo, skip the bun and serve these burgers on a bed of fresh organic arugula. It makes a tasty salad!

That’s it! Enjoy!

Greek Burger with Coconut Tzatziki Sauce and Cinnamon Sweet Potato Fries

Liz Rendon

All the burger, none of the guilt! Loose the bun to make this dish paleo and aip friendly.

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Total Time 45

Course Main Course

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

For the Greek Burger

1 lb grass fed and finished ground beef
1 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup black olives, diced
1 tsp dill
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp thyme
3 tbs avocado oil
4 gluten free hamburger buns omit if paleo or AIP
2 tbs butter omit if not using GF buns
1 cup arugula more if not using gluten free buns

For the Coconut Tzatziki Sauce

8 oz plain coconut yogurt Culina is delicious
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp dill
1 cucumber, diced

For the Cinnamon Sweet Potato Fries

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into strips
3 tbs coconut oil, melted
2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Heat 1tbs oil in large saute pan. Saute onion until translucent. Add garlic and olives and saute a few minutes more. Set aside to cool to room temp.
Mix saute mixture with the ground beef. Add salt and seasonings and mix well. Form into 4 patties by making a ball with each handful of mixture and flattening it until its about an 1 1/2 inches thick (more or less depending on how you like your burgers, they do shrink when cooked)
Make your coconut tzatziki sauce by mixing all ingredients together and putting them in the fridge until ready to serve.
On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, toss sweet potatoes and coconut oil. Sprinkle with cinnamon and salt. Roast at 425 for 15 minutes, then flip and roast 10-15 minutes more or until both sides are brown and crispy on the outside.
Meanwhile, heat the other 2tbs oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Cook burgers until deep brown on one side (maybe 5-8 minutes), then flip over and turn heat to medium and continue to cook until done (maybe another 5 minutes depending on the thickness of your burger).
If using burger buns, take another pan and heat up 2tbs butter. Put your gluten free buns sliced side down in the butter and toast for a few minutes. Remove.
Top burger buns with a patty, coconut tzatziki sauce, more sliced cucumer (if desired) and arugula. Serve with fries. If you are not using the hamburger buns, serve over a bed of arugula.