Happy National Cheeseburger Day! Yet another food holiday that I’m celebrating. However, today I am not just bringing you an ordinary slap a piece of cheese on a burger, cheeseburger; I am bringing you an elevated hamburger that combines cheese, burger and one of my favorite combos–spinach artichoke. Enter the spinach & artichoke stuffed burger! {audible gasp}. I know, right?!

One of my favorite recipes I’ve made thus far is a Spinach Artichoke Chicken recipe. The first time I made it, I ate it several nights in a row. When that batch was finished, I made it again immediately and ate that batch until it was finished. Well, now I might have a new favorite spinach artichoke recipe–this spinach & artichoke stuffed burger. Wow oh wow is all I can say.

The original recipe called for ground beef, but I have been on a bison kick, so I made these burgers with ground bison. You could make with ground turkey or ground chicken if you want, but I definitely think it will be more flavorful with bison. Follow the recipe below for a scrumptious and elevated cheeseburger recipe!

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach, defrosted
• 1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 4 Hamburger buns, if desired
• Canola oil, for brushing
• Sides of choice

Instructions:

• Combine cream cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper in a medium bowl and stir well until combined. 

• Place beef on a plate score the meat with the back of your hand to create 8 equal pieces. This provides you with a guide to create 8 equal patties, rather than guessing. When I guess, I always get to the last few patties and don’t have enough meat so I have to tear it off and reform the patties. 
• Make 8 thin patties (about 1/4 inch thick) and place on plate.

• Place a large dollop of the cream cheese mixture into the middle of a patty.

• Place another patty on top and pinch the seams together. Make sure they are sealed so the mixture doesn’t ooze out!

• Repeat until all patties have been made. I did have filling leftover, so don’t feel as though you have to use all!
• Refrigerate patties until ready to grill or for at least 30 minutes.
• Spray a piece of tin foil with cooking spray, add the remaining filling and close & seal foil,
• Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
• Grease the grates with canola oil, brush each pattie on both sides with a bit of oil, then place each pattie on the grill.
• Place tin foil packet filled with filling on the grill. 
• Grill until cooked to your liking, about 4 minutes per side for medium.

• Place on burger buns (or over a bed of lettuce of your liking–I used arugula) and top with extra filling.
• Serve with sides of your choice!

Two other spinach artichoke recipes of mine are: Artichoke Dip (excuse the horrendous pictures! Next time I remake the dish, I’ll take upgraded pictures for you all!)  and Chicken Artichoke Soup!

Stay hungry…