When it comes to classic comfort foods, meatloaf and burgers are arguably at the top of the list. 

But why settle for just one when master griller Jamie Purviance is offering up his recipe for a moist and flavor packed smoked meatloaf burger, one of countless great burgers in his book Weber's Big Book of Burgers (Oxmoor House, 2014).  Let's fire it up! 

SMOKED MEATLOAF BURGERS WITH GRILLED ONIONS

SERVES: 4

PREP time: 15 minutes

GRILLING time: 8-10 minutes

Special equipment: 2 large handfuls mesquite wood chips

 

Ingredients

8 ounces ground chuck (80% lean)

8 ounces ground veal

8 ounces lean ground pork

2 large eggs, beaten

¾ cup dried Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano® cheese

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup ketchup

1 canned chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce, minced

1 teaspoon adobo sauce (from the can)

1 red onion, cut crosswise into 4 slices, each about ½ inch thick

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 slices sourdough bread, each about ½ inch thick

 

Instructions

1. Soak the wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes.

2. Mix the patty ingredients, and then gently form four patties of equal size, each about ¾ inch thick. With your thumb or the back of a spoon, make a shallow indentation about 1 inch wide in the center of the patties to prevent them from forming a dome as they cook. Refrigerate the patties until ready to grill. 

3. Whisk the ketchup, chipotle chile pepper, and adobo sauce. 

4. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium-high heat (400° to 500°F).

5. Brush the onion slices with the oil. Drain and add the wood chips to the charcoal or to the smoker box of a gas grill, following manufacturer’s instructions, and close the lid.  When the wood begins to smoke, grill the patties and onion over direct medium-high heat, with the lid closed, until the patties are cooked to medium doneness (160°F), 8 to 10 minutes, and the onion is tender, 6 to 8 minutes, turning once. During the last minute of grilling time, toast the bread over direct heat, turning once.  

6. Build each burger on a bread slice with a patty, chipotle ketchup, a grilled onion slice, and the remaining bread slice. Serve warm.

 

©2014 Weber-Stephen Products LLC. Recipe from Weber’s Big Book of Burgers™ by Jamie Purviance. Used with permission.