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What I love about this burger is that the toppings are what makes it. It is extremely versatile and can be easily made into a turkey, black bean or veggie burger.
This is another recipe from my friend Barb – who so graciously gave me a boatload of her restaurant recipes.
The star ingredient – jalapenos. I slice them and leave the seeds in, because I couldn’t think of anything better than a burger so spicy you can barely eat it. Right?
Just make sure you have 400 oz of beer water on hand to dull the spiciness.
My favorite ingredient? The tequila. I may have done a few thousand shots before adding it to the jalepenos.
After the jalapenos are sauteed, the tequila goes in to deglaze the pan.
Word to the wise: stand back from the stove. I stood overtop, and got a rush of spicy jalapeno fumes + pure alcohol release straight into my sinus cavity.
The next 2 hours were spent sneezing, coughing, snotting, fleming, and all sorts of those words. This all happened while my eyes were pouring with tears.
I couldn’t see, couldn’t smell, and couldn’t breathe, but I still managed to find the tequila bottle sitting on the counter.
It’s all about priorities.
I toasted some whole wheat buns. Make sure you toast or grill your buns!
I tell myself the same thing every day because I am super pasty. I am mostly Irish, so I guess I’m supposed to have nice, milky, peaches and cream skin?
I don’t. I have pasty, red patched, freckled skin. And my husband is a ginger. We are already prepared for our children to get beat down on the playground.
Now it’s time to start layering.
The burger goes on first – I grilled 92% lean beef.
Top with some monteray jack cheese. Luckily we had some left, since I consume cheese like it’s the last available food on earth.
I’m like a camel. But think I can store cheese instead of water.
Next comes the blasted sinus-cavity-wrecking jalapenos. The taste fantastic.
Add a little salsa. I went with medium.
Next comes cilantro. Can’t do without it!
Finally, some chopped stolen avocado.
Finish it off with the top of the buttery, grilled bun.
It’s a stacked, spicy, chunky burger. And I can even eat some veggies on it.
I’m sure it would also be fantastic with some chipotle mayo on it, but I am not really a fan of mayo.
What are your favorite burger toppings?
South of the Border Burger
1 whole wheat bun, grilled or toasted
1/4 lean ground beef, formed into a patty and grilled
1 teaspoon butter
1 jalapeno
1/4 cup tequila
1 slice monteray jack cheese
2 tablespoons salsa
2 slices of avocado, chopped
some chopped cilantro
Prepare bun and burger ahead of time.
Slice jalapeno. On high heat, saute jalapeno in butter until soft. Standing back, add tequila to deglaze the pan. Saute for 20 seconds before removing.
Add a slice of monteray jack cheese to the burger. Top with jalapenos. Add salsa, cilantro, and avocado.
Serve with with a chipotle mayonaise if you’d like.
I enjoyed this burger in all of my searing, disinegrating-sinus-cavity glory. It was totally worth it.
I hope you like it, too!
{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
My husband would be all over this burger!
Looks awesome!
Wow… my hubby would LOVE this. I think I would have to evacuate my home, but it might be worth it.
I love the way you cook…hot and spicy!
the hotter the better! Looks super yummy…and I will take any excuse to break out the tequila bottle!
Mmmm. Love the addition of cilantro. It makes everything taste better!
Oh man, this sounds dreamy as a turkey burger. I love turkey burgers and could eat them every day. but am always looking for ways to dress them up (besides rolling them in crushed glazed pecans, then slathering them in barbecue sauce and grilled pineapple. Yeah. I’m a real friggin’ health nut…)
I don’t eat meat but when I make burgers for my husband he loves to have sauteed mushrooms and swiss cheese. I usually put a bunch of avocado in a bun with loads of pickles, mustard, spinach, onions and tomatoes.
Sandwiches rock!
mmm I mean what is better than tequila and meat?!?!? I dont know!! that sounds delicious and love the melty cheese on top!
oh god, i’ve done the same thing with peppers (although mine were in a blender…)
i’ve never complained about congestion since.
My father would die if he saw these pics.. RIGHt up his alley.. so colorful, too!!
You truly have some intense recipes.. cookbook perhaps????
this is my kind of burger. holy crap. come over and make it for me. I think i want to hire you as my personal cook…what do you say??? yum yum yum!
Again, amazing!! This seriously is calling my name. I especially like the addition of the avocado on top
I can only imagine the burn you felt from those jalapenos when they were cooking. I’ve done that before too, and it’s NO FUN.
Thanks for the great recipe Jessica! And of course I love the 92% lean beef choice
hahaha I love jalapenos and often think I can handle a lot more than I can. I love spice (in moderation
. Looks great!
This looks DIVINE…I must try…now.
Yum!! this looks fabulous. My favorite type of food is southwest/tex-mex/mexican. So awesome! Your burgers look fantastic!
Wow, that is one mean burger! I love it!!!
This post cracked me up!
The burger looks phenomenal as well, yummmmmmmmmmm — and I hope you’ve recovered from the aftermath of the jalapeno/tequila adventure!
Simple & tasty! Yum yum!
What a great looking burger! I love to see healthy eaters that take a wholesome fresh approach rather than just going for the frozen veggie burger from Whole Foods/Paycheck.
that looks amazing! i want to try it for my boyfriend.. he’d LOVE that
haha
Oh man, that looks delicious!!!
That burger looks delicious, but how the heck did you eat it? With a fork and knife lol?
Girl your blog has supplied me with enough food porn to last a lifetime.
Like many of the others, my husband could fall in love and leave me for this burger! haha
I do love some burgers, especially with the avocado and jalapeno. YUM. Although I must say – I made a chickpea burger last night and it was mighty tasty too!
WOW…that looks incredible! My husband is all over this…he is already asking for this for dinner tonight!! haha! Awesome!
Wow, looks so delicious and full of flavor!!
ohhh this looks like JUST the burger i need for my sinuses right now
p.s. no i have never thought of competing~i actually don’t dare! haha..
Wow that looks like one spicy burger! I have to try this one night, my husband would love it!
looks great! Thanks for the heads up about when cooking the jalapeno
Yum. sounds delicious!
I gave you an award on my blog.
Anything with jalapenos and avocado sound good to me!
That burger looks awesome! I’m diggin the avocado.
It’s nice to see someone enjoy burgers lol. A lot of foodie blogs we’ve come across are vegan/vegetarian. We’ll definitely be reading more!
I love spicy stuff, so I’m sure I’d love this burger!! Especially with the avocado, mmmmmm!
yum looks good… I like avocado, tomato, sprouts and persian pickels … yes they are very different from the regular pickels
GIRL you makin my mouth drooool!!
this looks like my kind of burger! prob better than ANY burger joint around!
Leaving the seeds in the jalapenos? Whew! You are one brave mama!
oh yum! this burger looks so full of flavor!
I can’t believe you use tequila for the burger!!!! that’s must taste “wild and wonderful” hehe. it’s been a while since I see some “real food” in the blog!! yeah I love burgers too!
I am pretty sure you just found the way to my boyfriends heart. This is definitely being made. Thanks for the great recipe!
Wow, this looks amazing! I’ve never tried jalapenos right on my burger but I bet it would be great (and incredibly spicy in all the right ways).
That looks SO freaking amazing. And with a shot of tequila? I’m in!
Amazing!
I love burger toppings…I often stuff my burger with so much that it is quite the task to get it in my mouth…it’s worth the challenge though.
That burger looks fantastic!! I love that you added cilantro – why haven’t I ever thought of that!!?
Wow… what a perfect burger recipe! My hubby would absolutely love these. I will have to give this a try!
My mouth was tingling and watering watching you put those jalapeno peppahs on the burger! YIKES!!!!
Ahhh! I love that burger! We are doing burgers tonight. I saw this just in time. I am so doing that with the jalapenos. I forwarded your cookie dough truffle recipe to my cousin. She makes so many wonderful cookies for Christmas. She was mentioning that she need a few more unique recipes. She loves it! btw
That looks FAN-Frekin-TASTIC! Love the idea of sauteing jalapenos in tequila. I would make mine a veggie but the bf would love the beef.