You think you do brunch? The Ultimate Brunch Burger is a foodie’s dream – a beef & sausage patty, crispy pork belly, cheddar cheese, hash browns, sliced avocado, a poached egg, tomato, and arugula, all topped with homemade spicy Hollandaise.
What do you mean you’ve never eaten a burger for brunch?
I know for a fact you’ve devoured cold pizza (sometimes even after it was left on the counter all night,) and don’t even get me started on Chinese food.
Just let me show you how to broaden your brunch horizons, folks. It is, after all, National Burger Month – why wouldn’t we celebrate it for every meal?
Say hello to The Ultimate Brunch Burger.
It all started with crispy pork belly. (Yeah, that stuff up there that my sneaky hubby tried to steal while I set up every. single. shot.)
Once you try pork belly, you’ll wonder why you ever loved bacon so much. Seriously, it’s THAT good. Imagine if bacon and butter created a beautiful child – that’s pork belly.
The first time I ever had it was one of my first holidays with The Hubs. Being Dominican, he grew up eating lots and lots of pork picnic roasts, and nothing ever went to waste. Especially not the pork belly, which some people don’t bother with. (I know, what’s wrong with them, right?)
It’s a treasure, ya’ll. You cook up that roast wrapped in the skin, and then after the roast is pulled out? The skin goes back in the oven until it’s super crispy and greasy and has the most ridiculously amazing texture and flavor…
This is kind of like that.
Look at me, it’s like I forgot this wasn’t a slam poetry reading about pork belly. My bad.
This is about burgers. And how they shouldn’t be relegated to lunch and dinner only. I feel like I should be carrying a sign – END BURGER SEGREGATION NOW.
Too much?
Our patty is both beef and breakfast sausage, which is cuisine fusion if I ever saw it. Standard cheese slices – it’s not a burger without cheese, no matter what kind is on there. I used cheddar, but go crazy if you want to. There’s a load of hash browns on this thing too, because potatoes.
I threw on some pretty tomato slices and greens since they jazz up the photos, but as it turned out, they tasted really yummy on there, too. Then you’ve got avocado, which should be on and in everything as far as I’m concerned.
The English muffin bun, poached eggs, and Hollandaise are really what set this burger apart from the lunch crowd. The Hubs puts fried eggs on all of his burgers (Red Robin ruined him,) but we thought this one needed something a little different.
He wanted me to call this a Pork Belly Benedict. I stuck to my guns with my title, but now he’s got me wondering how we can make that happen too.
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It’s an awkward bite, I’ll give you that. I won’t judge if you fork-and-knife it.
Love Brunch? Try these tasty brunch recipes next!
The Ultimate Brunch Burger
Ingredients
- Kosher Salt
- Ground black pepper
- 8 ounces fresh pork belly
- ⅔ pound pork breakfast sausage
- ⅓ pound ground beef
- ½ Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 6 slices cheddar cheese
- 3 Tablespoons cooking oil
- 16 ounces hash browns shredded
- 6 English muffins sliced
- 1 small tomato thinly sliced
- 1 avocado thinly sliced
- 1 ½ cups fresh arugula
- 6 eggs poached
Hollandaise Sauce
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
- Kosher salt
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Black pepper
Instructions
- The day before you cook the burgers, prep your pork belly. Prick the skin (not the meat) all over with a fork; then rub equal parts salt and baking soda on the skin. Allow the pork belly to sit out overnight, uncovered, to dry. The next day, rinse it off and douse it in vinegar to neutralize the baking soda.
- Dry the pork belly, then slice it into strips of desired width and length. Season with salt and black pepper, then pat dry with paper towels.
- Fill a small saute pan halfway with cooking oil and heat to 350 degrees. Carefully fry pork belly slices a few at a time until they float and become golden brown, or reach 165 degrees. Drain cooked slices on paper towels and set aside.
- Combine pork sausage and ground beef in a large bowl, seasoning it with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Create 6- ½ inch patties and pan fry them over medium heat in a large, clean saute pan, flipping once (about 2 minutes on each side.) Top with cheese just before removing them to a plate.
- Heat cooking oil in the same saute pan. Place 3 handfuls of hash browns in rounds in the pan and press down with the back of a metal spatula, being careful of the hot oil, to flatten them. Fry 3-4 minutes, using a spatula to flip them. Fry an additional 3 minutes until golden brown, then remove to paper towels to drain. Repeat, making 3 more patties.
- Toast English muffins, then spread with butter. Now set out your burger elements buffet style or build your burgers! English muffin bottom, hash brown, tomato, arugula, sausage patty with cheese, avocado, pork belly, poached egg, Hollandaise, muffin top.
Hollandaise Sauce
- Combine egg yolk, water, lemon juice, and a pinch or two of salt in the bottom of a small cup that just fits the head of an immersion blender. Place butter in a microwaveable bowl and melt, then transfer butter to a measuring cup.Place
- Place an immersion blender into the bottom of the cup and turn it on. While the blender runs, slowly drizzle in hot butter, emulsifying the egg yolk and lemon juice until it's thick and creamy. Season to taste with salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.
- Serve immediately over burgers. This sauce cannot be cooled and reheated but can be held in a warmed, lidded pot for up to 1 hour.
Notes
Nutrition
Shea says
Drooling!! LOVE this burger.
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
I’m actually not a fan of cold pizza but I do love a brunch burger!! This one is absolutely perfect for Burger Month!
Jenni says
Wow! You don’t play, do you Erica! That guy sounds amazing!!