Mike and I took a little road trip earlier this summer and I have to say, the highlight was New Mexico. It was our first time and now that I’ve been there, the state slogan really rings true. It is the land of enchantment. Enchantment and green chile cheeseburgers. Green chile cheeseburgers, if you haven’t had the pleasure of trying them are amazing. Really, they’re regular cheeseburgers, but once you add the chopped fire roasted green chile on top, they’re something else.
If you’re eating burgers in New Mexico and you order a burger, you’ll get the question: do you want chile on that? By chile (chile with an “e” by the way, never chili, which is used to refer to chili con carne or chile with meat), they mean fire roasted and chopped green chiles. They have them year round but come late summer and fall, the hatch chiles start getting harvested and everything smells smoky and delicious from all of the fire roasting going on at all the grocery stores.
By the way, if they ask you if you want chile on it, the answer should always be yes. We were at a burger place and someone answered no and I swear I saw the server physically recoil as if it was absolutely the wrong answer. Anyway, if you can’t make it to New Mexico, it’s relatively simple to make a green chile cheeseburger at home. Pick up some long green peppers – hatch is preferable but of course anaheim works too. Lightly oil and roast them in the oven, then skin, seed, and chop them up. Go about your usual cheeseburger making and just before you put the cheese on to melt, add a generous amount of chopped chilies.
There’s a bit of a debate on wether the green chiles should be on top of the cheese or under a blanket of melted cheese. Both Mike and I agree that underneath melted cheese is better for eating because the cheese blanket holds everything together. That being said, for this post we went with the green chiles on top because we wanted everyone to be able to see the green chiles. It’s up to you what you prefer green chile wise. We’ve seen plenty of both in New Mexico, so go with your gut.
This is what we settled on for our ultimate double double hatch green chile cheeseburger, but of course there are no hard and fast rules in the green chile cheeseburger world. If you like a thick patty or maybe cheddar or pepper jack, go for it. Just make sure there’s a generous amount of green chile – its the heart of the burger.
The Ultimate Double Double Hatch Green Chile Cheeseburger
Ingredients
- 1 - 2 Hatch green chiles
- neutral oil
- 1 tbsp butter room temp
- 1 brioche burger bun
- 1/3 lbs ground beef chuck
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 slices American cheese
- 1 slice tomato
- 1 leaf green leaf lettuce
- 1-2 thin slices onion
- mustard to taste
- mayo to taste
Instructions
Lightly coat the chiles with the tiniest bit of oil and roast under the broiler until deeply golden, almost black, about 10-12 minutes, flipping once.
When roasted, place in a paper or plastic bag, close, and let peppers steam for 10 minutes. Skin, seed, and stem the peppers, then chop.
Divide the meat into 2 equal portions and gently form very thin patties larger than your bun. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Butter and lightly toast the bun in a dry pan over medium heat. Remove from the pan and set aside, keeping warm in a low oven if desired.
Heat up a large pan over medium high-heat and add a bit of oil to the pan. When hot, add the patties and cook, without moving for 2 to 3 minutes, or until caramelized, pressing down. Flip and cook for another minute or so.
When the patties are just about done cooking, immediately with a slice of American cheese and a generous amount of the roasted Hatch green chiles.
Build the burger: the bottom bun gets mayo and mustard to taste, then lettuce, tomato, and onion. Top with the two melty, green chile patties and the top bun. Enjoy immediately.
Notes
Notes: If you can’t get your hands on Hatch green chiles, you can roast any other long green chile in the same way. You can also use jarred or canned roasted green chiles, you’ll want about 1/4 cup.
a great excuse for a little calorie splurge, I love green chili flavors now, I didn’t use to, but now really do, and paired with this burger, just perfect, thank you
Almost makes me wish I still ate meat! A small correction as native New Mexican… no oil needed on the chile before roasting and it’s both chile for the singular and the plural… never “chiles”. (And thanks for pointing out it’s not chili!)
Making these tonight!!
“Con carne” means “with meat”, not “with soup”
I think you get a bit better flavour when you roast the chiles over an open flame than under a broiler, presume because the vapourised juices smoke the chile. It’s more overhead, which is why you should do a bushel at a time. Remember, brothers and sisters: freezer.