Pepperoni Pizza Burgers

As much as I love summer, I always miss Pizza Fridays once the hot weather arrives. I just can't justify cranking my oven to 500 degrees when it's in the 90s. I needed a plan for Friday night and found myself craving both pizza and burgers. A quick spin around the interwebs brought me to Pioneer Woman's Pepperoni Pizza Burgers.

Because of the sausage in these burgers you have to cook them all the way through. Thankfully the fat from the sausage helps keep these burgers from drying out. SP was a bit skeptical of topping a burger with pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese but he admitted these were good. I was a big fan. I loved the combo of the meats in the patty, the sauce, gooey cheese and tangy pepperoni. I even dipped my burger in some of the leftover sauce as I ate. Yes!

Pepperoni Pizza Burgers
As seen on Pioneer Woman Cooks

1-1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
8 slices (or 1/2 cup shredded) mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni slices
Pizza sauce
Grated Parmesan cheese
4 whole rolls/buns, toasted

Combine ground beef, Italian sausage, and Italian seasoning in a bowl. Knead it together and then form into four patties.

Heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium heat. Add the burgers and cook on one side for several minutes, then turn the burgers. Lay 2 slices of cheese (or a mound of shredded cheese) on each patty, followed by several slices of pepperoni. Allow the burgers to cook all the way through while the cheese melts and the pepperoni warms.

Spread both halves of each roll with some pizza sauce and sprinkle the sauce with Parmesan cheese. Lay the patties on the bottom buns, then top with the top buns.

Burger Friday - Pesto Burger

I had some pesto leftover from the Chicken with Pesto Mushroom Cream Sauce so I used it to top this week's burger:


... along with sliced tomato and shredded Mexican cheese. Delish!

Burger Friday - Creamy Red Pepper Burger

I told you the creamy red pepper sauce from my recent grilled chicken sandwich would be making a reappearance soon. I made a new batch for my burger, which I also topped with lettuce and thick slices of tomato.


Gorgeous. And delicious.

Burger Friday - Guacamole Burger

I'm loving Burger Fridays. Burgers are just so versatile. The inspiration for this guacamole burger came from leftover guacamole and taco fixings from Cinco de Mayo.


It was a serious mouthful, but delicious.

Burger Friday - BBQ Bacon Burger

With the warm weather coming I decided I wasn't thrilled with the idea of cranking my oven to 550 degrees for an hour or more to make pizza for Pizza Fridays. We weren't huge fans of grilled pizza, but I wanted something that was as versatile as pizza. Enter the burger. Not only are there thousands of toppings for burgers, you can switch up the meat as well. Perfect.


My first Burger Friday burger was a BBQ Bacon Burger. I always keep the burger meat simple - just a little salt and pepper - and let the toppings dictate the flavors. I mixed BBQ sauce and mayo together to slather on the bun, cooked some bacon and had SP melt slices of sharp cheddar cheese on my burger during the last few minutes of cooking. Everything was layered on a toasted bun and dinner was served.