Jerk Pork Burgers with Pineapple Salsaand seared plantains
In these cold winter months it's fun to have a taste of summer, so we're bringing this tropical burger inside. Just like when we featured it in 2017, we're serving the burger with pineapple salsa on top and seared plantains on the side.
Ingredients
- Jalapenos (opt) - 1/2, diced and seeded if you want less heat
- Pork, ground - 1 lb (sub any ground meat)
- Jerk seasoning - 2 tsp (sub Cajun seasoning)
- Salt - 1/4 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
- Avocados - 1, mashed
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Hamburger buns - 4
- Shallots - 2 cloves, diced
- Jalapenos (opt) - 1/2, diced and seeded if you want less heat
- Pineapple - 1 cup, diced (use fresh or canned)
- Cilantro leaves - 2 Tbsp, chopped
- Lime juice - 2 tsp
- Plantains, large - 3, peeled and sliced (ripe plantains resemble bananas but should be very dark brown on the outside)
- Oil, cooking - 2 Tbsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Shallots / Jalapenos (for burgers and salsa) - Prep as directed. Combine shallots and jalapenos (just the portion for salsa) in one container. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make burgers - Use hands to combine pork with jalapenos (for the burgers), Jerk seasoning, salt, and black pepper. Form into 1" / 2.5 cm thick patties and make a depression in the center with your thumb (this will prevent them from rounding in the middle as they cook). Cover and refrigerate if not cooking right away. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Plantains / Pineapple / Cilantro - Prep as directed.
- Make salsa - Combine shallots, jalapenos (portion for salsa), pineapple, cilantro, and lime juice.
- Avocados - Mash avocados and season with some salt and pepper.
Make
- Heat a skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil (portion for burgers) and then place patties on heated oil.
- Cook burgers until they reach an internal temperature of 160F / 71C degrees, ~4 minutes on each side.
- While burgers cook, heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil (portion for plantains) and then plantain slices to heated oil. (Cook in batches if your pan isn't large enough to hold all of the slices without overlapping.) Sear plantains until golden brown and tender, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Season with some salt.
- Toast buns.
- Assemble burgers by spreading both halves of buns with mashed avocado. Add burger patties and top with pineapple salsa.
- Serve burgers with plantains on the side and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
This meal has 33 reviews
This was an unexpectedly good combination of ingredients. I added too much jerk seasoning to the plantains, and I’m not sure it’s even necessary if your plantains are ripe enough, but even so it was enjoyable.
Plantains took forever to ripen and never really got there, probably picked too early, so tasted starchy. Didn’t have pineapple, so used frozen mango for sauce without jalapeños, sauce made the meal special.
Filling, even without the bun! I added hot sauce on top for extra spice.
Burgers were great and flavorful. Couldn't get plantains so baked some sweet potatoes.
Wow, this was an unexpected win! I often feel like the veggie meals don't quite measure up to the meat versions, but I actually think the veggie one might have won this time. Everything just fit together so well. The plantains at the store were all green, so I had to let them ripen for 10 days, and they still probably could have used a little more time. We made pineapple salsa instead of sauce--took out the yogurt and didn't blend it, added some extra cilantro and green onions. The leftovers were still quite good, though the plantains were better fresh off the stove.
I think I would have liked this better with ground chicken. The plantains were fun and easy— but I bought the ripest ones the store had and it took over a week to get them ripe enough.