Greek Burger Pita Pocket
with tzatziki / carrot sticks
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.)
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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!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
26 reviews
Full confession: I made this vegetarian by using some Trader Joe's Beefless Ground Beef that I needed to use to, which I'm sure impacted the recipe because it absolutely would not hold together. I wound up just using it as crumbles in the pita. It was seasoned nicely. The tzatiki was very bland, and I just didn't feel like the meal had a lot of flavor overall.
0 HelpfulSeasoning for the patty was excellent but the tzatziki was not great. I tweaked mine with some EVOO, salt, dill, and more garlic.
0 HelpfulThe vegetarian version of this recipe is awesome! I was looking for a grilled cheese recipe for a meatless recipe and found this. The halloumi was so easy to work with, and also delicious. It fit in the pita pocket perfectly. We added sun-dried tomato pesto from week of 5/20/19 and also arugula from that week.
0 HelpfulI strayed from the recipe a bit. I intended to make it with burger buns instead of pita, but then the buns were moldy so instead I cut up all the bits and ate it like a salad. Added some feta cheese on top. I used a different tzatziki recipe (with dill instead of mint).
0 Helpful