Italian Burger

 Italian sausage and lean Ground beef, grilled to perfection and topped with fresh mozzarella cheese, marinara and fresh basil served up on a garlic bread bun!

We are big fans of Italian food here in our house.  It’s never disappointing when someone asks “what’s for dinner?” and the response is “spaghetti.”  It’s an easy go to for us, and just like these Italian burgers, full of flavor, always delish!

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A couple of weekends ago, we had an impromptu grill out on our back patio with all of the kids, and a few of my nieces and nephews, too.  I had plans to work on this burger, and it was a good thing, they came hungry!!  Of course, that typically isn’t a problem around here, I cook like it’s for an army most of the time anyway!

May Is National Burger Month

Did you know that May is National Burger Month?  It’s also National Grilling Month, and rightly so.  After the long winter we had, people are begging to crawl out of their homes, into the sunshine, and grill something magnificent! I joined a group of blogger friends for a fun event called #BurgerMonth.  It’s hosted by Kita, the brains and beauty behind a blog called Girl Carnivore.  Once I signed up, I dusted off that part of my brain that I use for grilling recipes, as it had been stashed away since TailGating Season last fall! I started bouncing ideas off of my youngest son, since he is a bit of a burger aficionado.   Together we came up with the idea for the Italian Burger.  I had all of the ingredients on hand, and ready to go when the family started arriving for the impromptu patio night I mentioned earlier.

I swear I should own stock in Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage! I love that it comes to ground, I use it ALL the time.  Soups, meatloaf, stews, meatballs, meat sauce .. you name it.  It was time to get it in a burger. I mixed it with lean ground beef and Italian seasoned bread crumbs to make the patties.  I grabbed a jar of marinara sauce and some fresh basil, then a quick stop at the cheese counter for a ball of fresh mozzarella cheese.

What goes best with Italian food?  Well, garlic bread of course!  I mixed up a batch of my Roasted Garlic Butter that afternoon, just to make the buns extra special!

We tossed the burgers on the grill and when they flipped for the first time I started toasting my garlic buns.  I used my new Grilling Mat.  This thing is awesome.  From toasting bread, to grilling delicate meats and veggies.  Super easy clean up, too.  When the burgers are done, melt a slice of fresh mozzarella over the top.

Place the burger on the bottom bun, spoon some warm marinara over the cheese, top with a basil leaf and add the top bun.

We served them up with Alexia frozen Truffle fries with a sprinkling of Pecorino Romano cheese and fresh Italian parsley.  Oh. My. Word.

Burger Month Giveaway

We have some amazing sponsors for this event. With their generosity, we are able to have this fantastic giveaway!  Enter using the Rafflecopter giveaway below.  Plus, every person who enters is automatically entered into a contest for a Weber Spirit II E-310 gas grill! Sweet!!

I highly recommend these happen in your corner of the planet this weekend.

Much Love & Sunshine, 

4.75 from 12 votes

Print Recipe

Italian Burger

Italian Burger - An Affair from the Heart - Italian Sausage and Lean Ground Beef, grilled to perfection and topped with fresh mozzarella cheese, marinara and fresh basil served up on a garlic bread bun!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Italian Burger

Servings: 8 burgers

Calories: 255kcal

Author: Michaela Kenkel

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 1 # Ground Italian sausage
• 1 # lean Ground Beef
• 1/3 cup Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• Marinara Sauce warmed slightly
• 1/4 pound fresh mozzarella cheese sliced
• fresh basil leaves
• 8 hamburger buns
• Roasted Garlic Butter

Instructions

• Combine Italian Sausage, ground beef and bread crumbs and form into 8 patties.
• Slice cheese. Set aside.
• Separate your basil leaves. Set aside.
• Butter your buns with prepared roasted garlic butter.
• Fire up your grill to medium heat, and start grilling your burgers. When they are halfway done, start to prepare your buns by toasting them on your grilling mat. When they are done, remove them and plate them until the burgers are ready.
• When your burgers are done, melt the slice of cheese over the top of each burger.
• Place the burger in the bottom bun, spoon warm marinara over the cheese, top with basil leaves, add the top bun, and serve!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 26mg | Sodium: 533mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g

See ALL Of My Burgers

Check out ALL of the Burger Month Participants!

A Day in the Life on the Farm | A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures | A Southern Fairytale | Adventures of Frugal Mom | An Affair from the Heart | AVL Foodie | Bread Booze Bacon | Brocavore | Butcher Betties | Cluttercafe | Comfortably Domestic | Cookie Named Desire | Courtney’s Sweets | Culinary Adventures with Camilla | Eating Richly | Everyday Southwest | Family Around the Table | Family Food on the Table | Fearless Dining | Food Above Gold | Gimme Some Grilling | Girl Abroad | Grilling Montana | Grumpy’s Honeybunch | Hall Nesting | HORNS BBQ | Jolene’s Recipe Journal | Kecia’s Flavor Breakthrough | Kudos Kitchen by Renee | Life of a Ginger | Love and Confections | Mildly Meandering | Miss in the Kitchen | Moore or Less Cooking | My World Simplified | Palatable Pastime | Pastry Chef Online Pook’s Pantry | RDelicious Kitchen | Sailrockland | Sarah’s Cucina Bella | Seduction In The Kitchen | Sumptuous Spoonfuls | Sweet ReciPEAs | Tampa Cake Girl | The Beard and The Baker | The Complete Savorist | The Crumby Kitchen | The Farmstand Market | The Farmstand Market | The Redhead Baker | The Schmidty Wife | The Spiffy Cookie | The Suburban Soapbox | Thyme for Cocktails | Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen | Wok & Skillet