Greek Burger Pita Pocketwith tzatziki / carrot sticks
Beef burger patties are endlessly versatile! We're adding panko breadcrumbs, garlic powder, paprika, and oregano for a Greek-inspired pita pocket.
Smarts: Make the tzatziki ahead of time to allow the flavors to develop and save some dinnertime prep!
Ingredients
- Cucumbers - 8 oz, finely diced
- Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped
- Mint, fresh - 2 Tbsp, chopped
- Yogurt, plain or Greek - 1 cup
- Carrots - 8 oz, sticks for dipping
- Beef, ground - 1 1/4 lb
- Panko breadcrumbs - 1/4 cup
- Garlic powder - 3/4 tsp
- Paprika - 3/4 tsp
- Oregano, dried - 3/4 tsp
- Salt - 3/4 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
- Tomatoes, Roma - 2, thinly sliced
- Lettuce, romaine - 4 leaves, torn
- Pita bread - 4 rounds
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Make tzatziki - Dice cucumbers. Chop garlic and mint. Combine cucumbers, garlic, mint, and yogurt. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Carrots (and celery if you have any leftover) - Slice into sticks for dipping. If prepping ahead, soak in water to help them stay crisp. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make patties - Mix ground beef with panko, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper. Form into 1/2" / 1.3 cm thick patties. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Tomatoes / Lettuce - Prep as directed.
- Pita - Slice pita in half and gently pull apart to form pockets. (Note: Don’t worry if your pita rounds won’t easily form pockets. You can use the two halves like hamburger buns and assemble them with the burger and toppings in the middle.)
Make
- Heat a skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush pan with cooking oil and then place patties on heated oil.
- Cook patties until they reach an internal temperature of 165F / 74C degrees, ~5 minutes on each side.
- Heat pita pockets in the microwave or toaster just until warm.
- Slice burger patties in half and assemble pita pockets by filling each pita half with lettuce, tomatoes, burgers, and some tzatziki. (As noted above, you can also just stack the toppings between two pita pocket halves like a more traditional burger.)
- Serve pita pockets with carrots (and celery, if using) and remaining tzatziki on the side for dipping. Enjoy!
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Reviews
This meal has 22 reviews
Served with hummus on the side, it was decent but not amazing.
Very good--need to find pita pockets that work! Too bready otherwise.
I had to doctor the tzatziki sauce, then this was fantastic
Lovely! Added hummus. made more like meatballs than patties
Agreed, this was messy, so I'd probably do it differently if I made it again. Bought tzatziki at the store, made meatballs rather than burgers, toasted the pita too early - so it was stiff by the time I went to assemble the meal. The bowl idea would have been a good one to try. Made sweet potato fries on the side as well.
The flavour of the burgers was AMAZING. I would 100% make them again. The only reason I'm not rating this four stars is because the tzatziki seemed bland and eating all this in a pita pocket wasn't optimal. If I were to make this meal again, I'd use a better tzatziki recipe and would either use regular hamburger bun or make small meatballs or something that could be more evenly distributed within the pitas.