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    🏠Home » Recipes » Low Fat Recipes

    Healthy Low Fat Burgers

    Aug 15, 2010 · Modified: Apr 16, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · 4 Comments

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    3.88 from 24 votes

    This is the best lower fat burger you will ever have. Great tasting low-fat hamburgers made with real beef that is moist and favorable. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions for great results.

    Large Low Fat Burger in a bun

    Jump To:
    • 📋Ingredients
    • The Fat
    • ♨️The Grill
    • ✔️Tips
    • 📖Burger Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📝Recipe
    • Pro Tips

    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    Introduction

    Everybody "knows" you should have an 80/20 hamburger for taste and moisture. That is 20% fat, and in my ½ lb burger, it is over three tablespoons of fat.

    All good recipes call for at least that much fat, but IT IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU. We will decrease by 80% and have great taste and moisture.

    I usually get something like 90% lean, and with careful grilling is is only a little dry. Well, sometimes you can get both what you want and what you need. Just combine lower fat ground beef with oats to hold moisture.

    This recipe came from the Char-Broil blog Sizzle on the Grill, and I have no idea how I found it, but it was in my to try file and fits what I'm trying to do with our diets. A few changes in technique and simplification are all the changes.

    My Rating

    my rating system 4 out of 5. So very good.

    The moisture and taste were great. Four only because it is just a burger.

    📋Ingredients

    The Meat

    Use 90 to 95% ground beef. There are a variety of options, and your store will have a few. You could go to alternative meats, but many of them have just as much fat, so pay attention.

    The Oats

    A panada is made with bread crumbs, flour, or in this case, oats, to retain fluid. Generally, they are to make a ground meat dish moister. Our use of bread crumbs with milk in meatloaf is just one example.

    Here we are using finely ground oats as a panada. It is important for the oats to be ground well to help absorb the fluid from the burger. There is plenty of fluid released by the meat, so I don't add more.

    The Spices

    I did something I don't normally do. I bought a spice mix. Montreal Steak Seasoning. I  have always done individual spices before.

    You could, of course, try any spice combo you wanted. With the oats, you want to prop up the beef taste with the spicing.

    The Fat

    I admit to doing ½ lb burgers. My guess using is after cooking and allowing for drainage of fat with cooking is the caloric count for the meat went from about 420 calories to 300 and the fat down from 27 to about 11 grams.

    These are my approximations only. So, you can now have a large burger relatively guilt-free. But we all know we should eat a smaller serving.

    ♨️The Grill

    The grill needs to be very hot. Burgers are cooked over a high grill temperature. Just get your grill as hot as it goes and clean the grid well.

    ✔️Tips

    Indenting the center of the burger about ¼ inch the size of a quarter. This will prevent the burger from puffing up. Without this, you will almost burn the outside before the center is done.

    Food safety. Ground beef needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 for safety per the CDC and USDA. I don't care if Uncle Joe or the internet tells you to not fully cook your burger.

    Let the burger set for 5 minutes to reabsorb fluid.

    📖Burger Recipes

    How to Grill a Hamburger; A Beginner Tutorial

    Grilled Juicy Lucy Burger

    Smokehouse Burger on a Gas Grill

    Moist Grilled Chicken Burgers

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Beef Recipes, Grill Recipes, Healthy Recipes, Low Fat Recipes
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    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    clean and oil grill crates

    Preheat grill on high, clean, and oil.

    crushing oats with rolling pin

    Put oats in a small baggie, seal and crush with a rolling pin (very fine).

    adding crushed oats to ground meat

    Add ½ teaspoon Montreal Seasoning to oats and mix well, then add the mixture to the burger. Incorporate well into beef. I used my hands.

    making burger patties with indented center

    Make burgers a little bigger than the buns then depress the center by about a quarter of an inch to keep burgers from puffing up during grilling if they are thick.

    flipping a partly cooked burger on the grill

    Place over high heat on the grill with the lid closed. Grill for 5 minutes initially, then flip and grill until internal temp of 160°. About 3-5 minutes depending on burger thickness and grill.

    burger in bun with fries on white plate

    Remove for heat and toast buns. Apply fixings and serve.

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    📝Recipe

    burger in a bun on a white plate

    Healthy Low Fat Burgers

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    This is the best lower fat burger you will ever have. Great tasting low-fat hamburgers made with real beef that is moist and favorable. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions for great results.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    3.88 from 24 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Total Time: 25 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 2 burgers

    Ingredients

    • 1 pound burger - 95% lean
    • 2 tablespoons Quick oats
    • ½ teaspoon Montreal Steak Seasoning
    • 2 hamburger buns
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    Instructions

    • Preheat grill on high, clean, and oil.
    • Put oats in a small baggie, seal and crush with a rolling pin (very fine).
    • Add ½ teaspoon Montreal Seasoning to oats and mix well, then add the mixture to the burger. Incorporate well into beef. I used my hands.
    • Make burgers a little bigger than the buns then depress the center by about a quarter of an inch to keep burgers from puffing up during grilling if they are thick.
    • Place over high heat on the grill with the lid closed. Grill for 5 minutes initially, then flip and grill until internal temp of 160°. About 3-5 minutes depending on burger thickness and grill.
    • Remove for heat and toast buns. Apply fixings and serve.
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    Your Own Private Notes

    Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.
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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips

    1. Use 90% or 95% burger.
    2. I love bigger burgers and this is set for ½ pounders. You can make them ¼ or ⅓ pound if you want. The cooking time will decrease.
    3. Don’t forget to indent the center of the burger by ¼ inch about the size of a quarter. This will prevent puffing of the burger which will lead to burnt outside before the center is done.
    4. The minimum safe internal temperature is 160°.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Nutrition Facts
    Healthy Low Fat Burgers
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 299 Calories from Fat 99
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 11g17%
    Saturated Fat 5g25%
    Trans Fat 0.3g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
    Monounsaturated Fat 5g
    Cholesterol 124mg41%
    Sodium 383mg16%
    Potassium 570mg16%
    Carbohydrates 5g2%
    Fiber 1g4%
    Sugar 0.1g0%
    Protein 44g88%
    Vitamin A 50IU1%
    Calcium 40mg4%
    Iron 4.9mg27%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Main Course
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Editor's Note: Originally Published August 15, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

    Molly and Lilly sharing a good stick,

    More Low Fat Recipes

    • Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
    • Apple Cinnamon Muffins
    • Pork Tenderloin Carnitas
    • Super Moist Grilled Reversed Seared Chicken Breast with Marinade

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    1. Ellen

      July 29, 2020 at 9:06 pm

      5 stars
      Hi Dr Dan, Your website is super helpful. My family really enjoyed these burgers, the pan seared oven baked chicken breasts and the roasted red potatoes. Thank you!

      Reply
    2. Travis

      July 14, 2018 at 11:31 am

      Is there much grease? I just got out of the hospital with instructions to eat low fat, no fried or greasy foods.

      Reply
      • DrDan

        July 14, 2018 at 12:52 pm

        Hi Travis,
        Since this uses 95% burger, there is 11 gm fat in an 8oz burger. That is a large burger. Go down to a normal 1/4 to 1/3 pound burger will decrease the fat proportionately. The "quarter-pounder" is only 5.5 gms. That is low fat especially relatively to a full fat burger with about 24.

        There is very little fat to drain here. The oats act to retain moisture and probably most of the fat stays also. Not much of anything drains from these burgers.

        Your doctor probably gave you an number of fat grams per day so you can work it in.

        Also, my best no-fat recipe is Zero Fat Biscuits and check the Low-Fat category at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/category/low-fat/

        Good luck with the diet.

        Dan

    3. Farzana Bilkes

      February 05, 2018 at 8:42 am

      very useful, thanks

      Reply

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