Mediterranean Venison-Falafel Burgers with Feta and Tzatziki
By: Adam Berkelmans
This recipe was years in the making. I visited Jordan in 2019, and one of the many highlights from my trip there was a falafel shop in Amman that sold the best falafel sandwiches I’d ever tried. It really put the falafel shops back home to shame. As I watched the talented man whipping up and frying dozens of falafel at a time, I thought to myself, falafel are good on their own, but wouldn’t they taste fantastic with meat?
I’ve been meaning to carry that thought through into action for years now, and I finally did it. The result? Deliciousness – and even better since it’s venison!
I used a package of falafel mix for this recipe to make things easier, but if you’d like to use your own homemade falafel recipe, even better.
Since falafel can be found across much of the Eastern Mediterranean, I decided to stick to a Mediterranean theme with these burgers, using feta cheese and tzatziki as flavorings.
You could also use this same recipe, but form the falafel-meat mixture into balls and throw them into a pita for a more authentic approach; it’s up to you!
Makes: 2 double burgers, or 4 single burgers
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
For the Burgers:
- 1lb ground venison
- 1/2 cup boxed falafel mix
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
- 2 tablespoons oil or lard
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 mini-Greek pitas, mini-naans, or regular buns
- 1 block feta cheese, thinly sliced into planks
- 1 cup tzatziki sauce (store-bought, or use recipe below)
- Lettuce, shredded
- Tomato, sliced
For the Tzatziki:
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 English cucumber, shredded on a cheese grater and squeezed dry
- kosher salt
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Preparation:
Mix together the tzatziki ingredients in a bowl and set aside for the flavors to meld while you cook the rest of the meal.
Add the falafel mix to a large bowl and add the milk or cream, stirring it in. Once the liquid has been absorbed into the mix, add the ground venison and mix thoroughly but gently.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and cook until translucent; set aside.
Add the rest of the oil and increase the heat to medium-high. Form the burger mixture into 4 patties and add to the skillet, cooking in batches if necessary. Sear on both sides until just cooked through.
Warm the pita or buns, then build the sandwiches by spreading tzatziki on both bottoms and tops, then adding the patties, feta cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, and tomatoes. Enjoy!
Get Cooking:
As always, Good luck this spring and remember to send any success pictures or stories from the field to [email protected] and you could be featured on our website or in our magazine. If this article or any of our articles have helped you become a better hunter or conservation steward, consider becoming a member of the Mule Deer Foundation or the Blacktail Deer Foundation or both. Click here to join: https://muledeer.org/product-category/membership/ or https://www.blacktaildeer.org/
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real and wild food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
