Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Healthy Burger - Muscle Building Burger Recipe

People are conditioned to believe that burgers are bad for you mostly because we all believe fast food is unhealthy and most fast food chains serve burgers. So, people associate the two. Burgers can be healthy, as can almost any other food. I've been cooking up healthy hamburgers for a long time. The meat isn't the problem. You can find lean beef, even organic lean beef burgers at almost any grocery store. People say a good burger has to have fat, that's not true in my opinion. Good quality lean beef (93% lean or more) is delicious, even superior to the high fat variety most restaurants opt for in their burgers. The biggest issue I've always ran into was the bun. Sure you can get wheat buns at any grocery store, but flip the package over and read the ingredients list. 30 ingredients, half of which you cannot pronounce but more importantly it's the nutritional profile that sucks! Too many carbs, sugars,  calories, enriched, etc.

After searching high and low, I finally found a bun that meets my perfect macronutrient profile. I was looking for a bun with 100 to 120 calories, that was high in fiber, 20 grams of carbs or less and if possible, high in protein. That latter was more like a dream, or so I thought. Then I came across the dream bun and wah-lah! 120 calories, 16 carbs, 14 grams fiber, 14 grams protein. More than perfect!

I've tried other low carb/high fiber buns and most are either tough or too chewy or taste like sh!t. These taste great and have a pretty good texture (I'd give it an 8 out of 10) but were too big or thick to bite into with the burger and fixins, so the second time I made these (see pic below), I cut the middle portion out which solved my problem and left me with the perfect size bun.

 So, here's the recipe I used:

- 1 low carb bun
- 1 Burger patty (you can use Beef, Bison, Turkey, Chicken, Salmon, etc)
- Lettuce, Pickles, Onions
- Ketchp, Healthy Mayo

The macros for this burger (modified bun plus patty only, condiments and fixins will vary based on your preference) 264 Calories, 12 grams Fat, 12 Carbs, 10 grams Fiber, 27 grams Protein. If you are trying to build lean muscle, that's a perfect balance of macro nutrients to do so. If you are trying to drop some excess pounds, it's perfect for you too. Less than half the calories of a similar portion fast food burger plus the high fiber, high protein and quality fats will keep you full for longer.

Here's the pic...
Now That's a Beautiful Burger!

UPDATE: Here's a pic of another one. This one I used hamburger instead of turkey burger, ketchup and mustard instead of ketchup and mayo, and lastly, white onions instead of red.



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