Green Chile Portobello Cheeseburgers

I thought it was only fitting that I pay homage to one of my favorite foods from the state of New Mexico. And these Green Chile Portobello Cheeseburgers are every bit as good as I remember!

fully dressed green Chile portobello cheeseburger with Hatch Green Chile and vegan cheese sauce

New Mexico is the home of Hatch Green Chiles, and you can find them literally everywhere you look, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. But when you combine them with a burger, well let's just say it's something you never forget!

Guy Fieri even did a doubletake when he tried a local Santa Fe icon, Burt's Burger Bowl, on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives.

Now I could have easily replicated this burger with an Impossible Burger or Beyond Burger, but I wanted to go with something with a little less fat and a bit more healthy, so I went with my friend - the Portobello Mushroom.

For all you mushroom haters, and you know who you are, I guess you're stuck with the fake burgers.

But if you want to learn how to turn a portobello into this tasty, juicy, mouth-watering burger - then read on my friend, read on.

Portobello Cheeseburger Ingredients

To make these delicious burgers you'll need the following:

Base recipe:

4 portobello mushroom caps
buns of your choice

Marinade:

your favorite BBQ sauce
vegan worcestershire sauce
your favorite dry steak seasoning
balsamic glaze
liquid smoke

Condiments:

vegan cheese sauce
diced green chiles
onion
tomato
lettuce
mustard
pickle

Prep:

Wipe your mushrooms to remove any dirt or grime and remove the stems. Place them stem-side down in a shallow casserole dish.

Prepare the marinade and brush both sides of the mushrooms liberally. Place in fridge to marinate for at least 1 hour (the longer the better).

Prepare my Vegan Cheese Sauce (if using) and then set it aside for now.

Chiles:

There are several brands that sell jarred Hatch Green Chile. 505 is one brand I like but my favorite is Young Guns from Hatch, New Mexico. My local Kroger has it in stock every year during chile season (Aug-Sep). And of course, freshly roasted green chile will do nicely as well.

Note: If you want to use those little 4 oz cans of green chile, even the ones that say Hatch, just be warned the flavor (in my opinion) is just not the same.

I'll have Amazon links below and as an Amazon Affiliate, I do earn from qualified purchases but at no extra cost to you.

Finally, prep your lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles and have them ready to go.

The Cooking Process

There are several ways to cook these burgers, your outdoor grill, an indoor grill like a George Foreman, or in a nonstick skillet. I chose the skillet method for this recipe, with a little twist that you'll see in a second.

You want to start with a HOT skillet so you can quickly sear your mushrooms. Also, if cooking more than one at a time, do not overcrowd your pan.

Place your shrooms stem side down and let them cook over high heat for about 3 minutes. Then turn DOWN your heat to medium, and then place something on TOP of your mushrooms to flatten them.

My spaghetti/stock pot was just the right size to fit INSIDE my skillet, and flatten my shrooms. The nice thing about it, I could add water to the stock pot to provide more weight.

Cook for another 2 minutes before removing your stockpot (or whatever) and flipping your burgers. Place your stockpot back in to flatten the other sides and cook for another 2 minutes.

Remove the flattening pan/stockpot.

At this point, I add a little bit of water just to deglaze the skillet and loosen any burned bits, then turned up my heat a little and let that simmer until most of the liquid had evaporated.

Burgers, Assemble!

To assemble your burgers in the style of Bert's Burger Bowl, lightly toast your buns and then assemble accordingly...

Bottom bun
Mustard
Lettuce
Tomato
Onion
Mushroom Burger
Green Chile
Cheese Sauce
Pickle
More mustard (it helps glue the pickle to the top bun)
Top bun

And there you have it.

One of MY favorite memories of living in New Mexico. Of course, you can make the burgers and dress them any way you like. But this particular combination, while incredibly messy so have a fork and napkins ready, is truly delicious.

Have fun making your burgers and I'll see you next week.