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Jump to recipeOktoberfest: A celebration synonymous with German sausages, pretzels, and BEER! For the October Burger of the Month, I wanted to create a burger that really brought all of the tastes of Oktoberfest together. I did provide a formula for veggie burgers in my first post of this series. But today, for this monstrous burger, I had to use two of my favorite meat swaps from Beyond Meat.
BEYOND the Regular Veggie Burger
So, two years ago I tried the Beyond Burger for the first time. I even cooked it and ate it on Facebook life for my old blog. You can check that out here…….>
Let me be honest with you… I gagged! **Side note, I definitely didn’t gag because the flavor was bad… It was quite the contrary. I gagged because it was freakin’ delicious!** Hear me out. I’m someone who for the last 8 years, has had a horrendous reaction to meat. The Beyond Burger tasted so much like a real burger that I freaked out at first bite. I thought someone was playing a nasty trick on me! Even more than that, the texture was spot on! The burger doesn’t smush out like a bean burger. It was love at first bite!
Fast forward to this year. Beyond Meat released their newest line of INCREDIBLE meat substitutes. BEYOND SAUSAGE! When it was first released, I could only get my hands on the Brat variety. Shortly thereafter, I started to notice they were rarely in stock. Guys, I need you to hear this for a minute: These sausages are so freaking good that they CRASHED the Beyond Meat facility! They had to open a whole new plant to keep up with consumer demand! How AWESOME is that? Meatless is taking over!
Come out come out wherever you are
I kept an eye out at my (former) local Whole Foods and grabbed 4 packages before I moved, just in case I couldn’t find them here in Cincinnati. It was the height of the shortage though so I hadn’t found them anywhere until about a month ago. (AT MY KROGER!) I finally got my hands on the Sweet Italian variety! I paired the sausages with pasta and red sauce for a quick weeknight dinner. The boyfriend (a meat eater) was impressed! He’s had the Beyond Burger and actually eats it often. He loves my “meatloaf” recipe coming soon. I promise the post is in my queue. I think his opinion proves they are on to something! So far I’ve been able to find the Beyond Burger and Sausages at Whole Foods, Kroger, Giant, and (here’s a free trial ->) Amazon Fresh/Amazon Prime Now if you’re a prime customer. If you’re not, here’s a link to sign up with a discount! I don’t know how I lived without Amazon Prime before! (WHEELS SCREECHING) Oh, Shoot! This post is starting to get long…
Burgers and Oktoberfest: Guilty Pleasures
One of the things I think people love about eating burgers is gorging on a big juicy burger that is topped in some ridiculous fashion. Eating a veggie burger just doesn’t have the same effect… It’s lame and healthy. Sorry, not sorry. There are no juices dripping down your arm. Never once have I ever looked at a black bean burger and thought to myself, “I’m about to get lost in this… black bean/veggie burger!”
As I mentioned in my first post in the Burger of the Month Series, I used to help create burgers (not of the veggie variety) at a restaurant. When October rolled around and Oktoberfest came to mind, I went back to my childhood and recommended a German classic, Sauerbraten. People said it was delicious… I couldn’t try it. That inspired me to come up with a massive, German-inspired burger this year. But this year, it’d be one that I could eat!
Introducing the Oktoberfest Burger featuring the Beyond Burger, Beyond Sausage: the Brat, dairy-free beer cheese, Sauerkraut, and a stone ground German-style mustard all served up on a pretzel bun! Sabbern jetzt?! (That’s a rough translation of “drooling yet” in German.) It’s two classic combinations served up together on a burger. Beer cheese and soft pretzels, while normally an appetizer, appear as the bun and cheese. The brats + german mustard + sauerkraut adds a fantastic acidic tang that cuts through the rich beer cheese and burger patty. This burger is a far cry from the “healthy” dry bean burgers that everyone assumes we all actually love. And for that, I have to say, “Thanks!” to the genius Beyond Meat staff! This burger is juicy, rich and a serious indulgence, just what a burger should be!
Notes
*Sauerkraut does not need to be warmed through. If you like a cold crisp bite to your burgers (ie lettuce or sliced onion) keep it cold. I tried it both ways in recipe testing. Both were equally tasty. However, I opted for warm kraut in the recipe instructions because it reminded me of how I'd eaten it when I was younger.
Ingredients
- 2 packages Beyond Burger (4 patties total)
- 1/2 package Beyond Sausage Brats (2 sausages)
- 4 Pretzel Buns
- 1 cup Sauerkraut
- Beer Cheese, see recipe below
- ¼ cup German Stone Ground Mustard
For Beer Cheese:
- 1 package Creamy Original Chao Slices, chopped or shredded
- 2 TBSP neutral oil, I used avocado oil
- 2 TBSP AP flour
- 1 TBSP cornstarch
- 1 ½ cups lager style beer, (I like Sam Adams Boston Lager, or Sam Adams Octoberfest)
- 1 ¼ cups non-dairy unsweetened, unflavored milk
- 1 TBSP German Stone Ground Mustard
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 green onion, chopped fine
Instructions
For the Beer Cheese:
- Add Chao Cheese, oil, flour, cornstarch, non-dairy milk, mustard, food processor. Process on high until very well blended, about 2 minutes. Some small lumps are okay.
- Transfer mixture into a large saucepan over medium heat, add in the beer and stir carefully to combine.
- Cook, stirring frequently until the cheese starts to thicken. Add in green onions. Turn the heat to lowest setting to keep warm until ready to use, stirring occasionally.
For the Oktoberfest Burger:
- Prepare Beyond Burger and Sausages according to package instructions. (I personally like to add a splash of beer to the pan at the end the sausage's cooking time.) After cooking, split the sausages in half both lengthwise and widthwise.
- While the burgers and sausages are cooking, toast the pretzel buns. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the sauerkraut*, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.
- To assemble, spread about 1 tablespoon of mustard on the bottom bun. Top with burger then two sausage quarters. Drizzle the burger with beer cheese and top off with sauerkraut. And serve!
