Fold up Your Super Bowl Sliders and Make These Mini Cheeseburger Skewers
The Super Bowl is the biggest snack day of the year, and the line-up is fierce. While there’s nothing wrong with choosing reliable favorites —shishito pepper poppers , twice-fried cauliflower wings , or a chili cheese bar —I’d like to suggest last-minute substitutions. Set aside the Hawaiian bun sliders for something even more petite: mini cheeseburger skewers.
These are truly bite-sized cheeseburgers, with all the goodness of a classic cheeseburger – taste, richness and accessories – minus the heft. This is a slider to the extreme: very small and without a bun.
I left the bread out of the equation because it’s the part that might make you stop and take two or three bites. It’s also the ingredient that’s most filling, suppressing your appetite before you even try the football-shaped Rice Krispies treat. In a regular-sized burger, the bun adds flavor, acts as a vehicle for the toppings, and provides a place to rest your hands. This appetizer uses toothpicks or skewers to make it easy and quick to get from plate to mouth. A pound of ground beef, turkey, chicken or Impossible meat will yield 32 mini cheeseburger slices; along with the rest of the appetizers, this will probably feed eight to ten guests.
How to make mini cheeseburger skewers
1. Stir the meat
Mix and season your meat of choice as you would a regular size cheeseburger. I keep the mixture simple and add a little Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. If you’re going to add anything large, like onions or apples, mince or mince them first—the burgers will be tiny, so any large chunks will disrupt the protein structure and may cause them to fall apart. Plus, they only take a minute to cook, so large pieces of vegetables may not be cooked through.
2. Form cutlets.
Divide the mixture in half and use a tablespoon or small plate to scoop 16 balls from each half. Roll the meat in your hands to form balls and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then smooth them out by pressing your thumb into the center, creating an indentation.
It’s hard to photograph raw meat attractively, but I hope the image helps. Divot allows the meat to maintain a flatter patty shape rather than becoming a sphere when cooked. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator and prepare the ingredients.
3. Pre-load toothpicks.
The goal is to fit the burger, accessories, and everything else into one large piece so that everything is deceptively smaller than you’d expect. It’s funny how few ingredients you need. I made 16 mini burgers (half a pound of ground beef) and used half a small shallot, four grape tomatoes, two slices of American cheese, one pickle and the equivalent of half a lettuce leaf.
Slice the shallots into paper-thin slices—no need to separate the rings. Cut each grape tomato crosswise into four slices. Divide each slice of American cheese into six or nine equal portions. If you have pickle chips, just leave them as is. (I used spears and cut one into eight-inch slices.) Tear or cut a piece of lettuce into small pieces.
Thread pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes onto each toothpick and push them about an inch up the toothpick. It’s easier to chop the onion if you put it on the burger, so wait.
4. Grill the burgers and serve.
Cook the burgers in a large hot skillet. (You’ll probably need to fry them in batches.) Beef burgers take just one minute per side, but poultry will take a minute longer. Cook one side of the burgers and when you flip, cook the other side. immediately apply the cheese (during the second side, you can cover the pan with a lid so that the cheese melts). Place burgers directly onto a serving platter. Cover each with a shallot ring and pierce with a pre-attached toothpick. Serve immediately to your hungry team.
The recipe below makes 16 mini burgers, but can be scaled up for a larger group. Keep in mind that these burgers cool quickly, so if you double or triple the recipe, you’ll need to keep the cooked patties in a warm oven until you’re ready to skewer them and serve.
Mini cheeseburger skewers recipe
Ingredients:
-
½ pound ground beef
-
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
-
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
-
¼ teaspoon salt
-
A few pinches of black pepper
-
16 slices grape tomatoes, chopped
-
16 small pieces of lettuce (about the size of spinach)
-
16 pickled cucumber chips
-
2 slices American cheese
-
16 thin slices shallots
1. In a small bowl, whisk together beef, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper until smooth. Divide the mixture and form into 16 balls. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Shape them into patties by pressing your thumb into the center of each ball to leave an impression. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator.
2. Thread a slice of tomato, lettuce and pickled cucumber onto a toothpick. Do this to get 16 pre-loaded toothpicks. Cut each American cheese slice into nine equal rectangles. (There will be two extra pieces for the appetizer.)
3. Once the toothpicks are ready, fry the cutlets. In a large skillet over medium heat, sear the burgers in two batches, one minute per side. Once you flip the burgers to the other side, place a slice of cheese on top of each. Cover the pan with a lid for the second side to allow the cheese to melt.
4. Remove burgers from pan to serving platter. Fry the next batch of burgers in the same manner. Place a slice of shallot on each burger and pierce each cheeseburger with a toothpick. Serve immediately.