Sunbutter Burgers are a fun, low oxalate way for kids (and adults!) to enjoy the “PB&J” experience. When I was a kid, my family used to visit the beach almost every year for Spring Break. We often stopped at this burger shack whose specialty was the PB&J burger. It was weird and wonderful, and as a young kid, I always ordered it with lettuce, hold the pickle and mayo.
Low Oxalate Sunbutter Burger served plain with double the sauteed strawberries -- just the way Cameron likes it!
Fast forward to last month when I came across a recipe for Sunbutter Burgers on the fine Paleo blog, The Clothes Make the Girl. I immediately had to see if I could recreate the taste I remembered from childhood. To make Melissa’s recipe low oxalate and more kid-friendly, I used fresh minced ginger instead of powdered ginger and left out the black pepper and scallions. I also let my boys have half of a gluten-free bun each. It was still weird! And yes, wonderful — at least my boys thought so. They’ve gobbled them down each time I’ve served them.
Since then I’ve seen various nutbutter burger recipes all over the internet, and most are similar to this recipe. I’m not sure who posted first, so I’ll keep the credit with Melissa. I also couldn’t seem to recreate the taste I loved as a child, but maybe if I add sunburned skin, coconut-scented sunscreen and sand to my recipe, I’ll get a little closer.
Low Oxalate Sunbutter Burgers
1/2 cup strawberries
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp fresh, minced ginger
1/2 pound ground beef (I prefer grassfed or omega 3 beef)
pinch of salt
2 T Sunbutter (or other low oxalate sunflower spread)
Place the strawberries, lemon juice and ginger in a small sauce pan or skillet and cook until the stawberries are soft. Mash the cooked strawberries with a fork if you want a jam-like appearance. Meanwhile, shape the ground beef into patties after salting to taste. Grill or fry the patties in a skillet over medium heat. Melt the Sunbutter in the microwave (or a small saucepan) until smooth and creamy. When the patties are brown on both sides, remove from heat and put 1 T of melted Sunbutter on each patty. Add half the strawberry mixture to each patty and serve on a bed of lettuce for a grain-free burger. Alternately, you may wish to serve the burger on a Kinnikinuck Tapioca Rice Hamburger Bun (8.3 mg. oxalate per bun) or Odi’s gluten-free sandwich bread (7.1 mg. oxalate per slice).
Makes two quarter pound burgers.
Low Oxalate Info: Sunbutter (6.1 mg. per 2 T) and strawberries (7.8 mg. oxalate per half cup) are medium oxalate. All other ingredients are low oxalate or very low oxalate. Each Sunbutter burger has about 7.5 mg. oxalate when served plain without the bun or lettuce.
Substitutions: You may substitute your favorite jam, preserves or fruit spread (made with low oxalate fruit) in place of the sauteed strawberries. My family’s favorites are Polaner All Natural Blueberry Fruit Spread, St. Dalfour Pineapple and Mango all natural Fruit Spread, and Crofter’s Organic Strawberry Fruit Spread.
Picky Eater Pleaser: Try making this without the ginger or add a drop or two of liquid Stevia to the sauteed stawberries. One of my sons loves “mommy’s cooked strawberries.” The other wants to eat it with only the Sunbutter, although last time he asked for a bun. Then he pulled his burger out and ate it plain, followed by his Sunbutter and Jelly Bun!.
Other Diets: Low Oxalate Sunbutter burgers may also be appropriate for low carbohydrate, Paleo, gluten-free and dairy-free diets.
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