Fried Pickle Burger

Is it too dramatic to say I made the best burger in my life yesterday? Maybe. While this burger looks over the top with deliciousness, it was actually super easy and would most definitely impress your partner, your friends and your meat loving dad who still asks if you want a hotdog.

I used an air fryer for the fried pickles because it's my latest obsession but I found a recipe where you can pan fry them as well! Check out my recommendations down below!

Burger

Use whatever burger gets you going. I used a Boca patty because my boyfriend refused to share his two Beyond burgers but any burger could work!

Whole wheat burger buns

Ranch

1/2 cup of vegan mayo

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (add vinegar if you want to loosen the ranch for a salad dressing, use less if you want a dipping sauce)

Pinch of chopped dill

Pinch of salt

McCormick Roasted Garlic and herb seasoning (If you don't have this, you should go get it now because I use it in pretty much everything. It will change your life. You're welcome.)

Fried Pickles

Around 20 sliced dill pickles (if you have more batter left, go crazy)

1/4 cup of whole wheat flour (or whatever flour ya got)

1/8 teaspoon of baking powder

2 tablespoons of beer (any beer will do but we used miller highlife cuz we're fancy like that)

Pinch of salt

4 tablespoons of water (keep adding until it's batter consistency)

2 tablespoons of cornstarch (don't freak out if you don't have cornstarch and you're air frying, I made them without and they were still great)

1.5 cups of panko breadcrumbs (regular breadcrumbs could do but panko with give you optimal crunchiness)

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

Toppings

Sauerkraut

Spinach (kale would be yum too)

Preparation

First prepare your ranch sauce by combining all ingredients in a small bowl and whisking. Depending on how thick you want the consistency, monitor the amount of apple cider vinegar (also because of the tang from the pickles and kraut, I would lean more towards less apple cider vinegar)

To prepare the fried pickles, first lay the sliced pickles out on a plate and pat dry to assure the batter will stick. Then combine the flour, baking powder and beer to create your batter which should be cake batter consistency. In a shallow bowl or plate, combine panko bread crumbs, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and salt. Put your corn starch in its own shallow bowl or plate.

The pickle slices will first be dipped and covered in corn starch, then dipped in the batter, then flipped in the breadcrumb mixture (things will get messy, it's okay). I cooked my pickles in two separate sessions so that no pickles weren't on top of each other. Preheat your air fryer at 360 degrees for 3 minutes.

If you're using an air fryer, the battered pickles will go on the roasting pan so that your can preheat your air fryer and just drop the roasting pan in when ready. You can spay the roasting pan with oil for safe measures but I used no oil at all!.

Set the air fryer to 360 degrees for 11 minutes and place the pan with the battered pickles in the air fryer.

While the pickles are frying, prepare your burgers however recommended which should not take very long as well as your burger buns.

Check on your pickles at about 6 minutes and shift them around by shaking the drawer. They should start to look crispy.

Assemble your burger with your fresh, crunchy fried pickles, ranch, kraut, and spinach and VUALA, you have yourself a bombass vegan burger with zero oil and all the amazingness.

Recommendations

If you don't have an air fryer it's not the end of the world (kind of). I found a recipe where you can pan fry! The only reason I really love the air fryer is obviously because there's no oil involved and it's a lot easier of a clean up. You'll get to that air fryer eventually, don't you worry.

McCormick Roasted Garlic and Herb Seasoning-Staple in my kitchen, it's so cheap and makes everything delicious.

I have experience only with this Ninja Air Fryer but I 10/10 recommend it. Quite honestly, I have used it EVERY DAY since I've gotten it so going the cheaper route may not be the best idea for heavy use. It's very simple to use. The only downside is it's pretty big and a bit of an eye sore on the counter so you may want to take cabinet space into consideration.

Here are some of my favorite burgers that I recommend in price order from cheapest to most expensive. I definitely try not to eat processed fake "meat" often but every now and then we like to indulge.