The 2022 Winning Blended Burgers

The annual Blended Burger Contest launched in May on FoodNetwork.com encouraging individuals to create and enter a blended burger recipe, featuring at least 25% finely chopped fresh mushrooms mixed with ground meat or meat alternative.

The contest earned 1,361 entries, the most in any of the Council’s past eight annual blended burger contests. Mushroom Council and Food Network judges selected two winning recipes in the home cook and professional categories, with each winning $10,000.

After reviewing, tasting and deliberating, we narrowed it down to two blended burgers. We’re thrilled to introduce this year’s winning blended burgers …

Home Cook Winner: Souvlaki-Inspired Blended Burgers

Sarah Meuser

New Milford, CT

Meuser is a food allergy mom and self-taught home cook/baker who currently is creating recipes for a food allergy-friendly cookbook. Her approach was to transform a popular and beloved Greek fast food, pork souvlaki, into a burger made more delicious by blending white button mushrooms with pork. 

“I wanted to create a burger anyone could replicate at home,” she said. “I also felt it was important to make a more budget-friendly recipe since grocery costs are so high.” 

 Try the winning recipe at home!

Professional Winner: Crispy Katsu Blended Burger

Tsz Chan, Bolo

Temple City, CA

Tsz Chan, the co-owner of Bolo in Southern California, found herself on a quest to make something that could transport people to Japan. 

Her creation is inspired by menchi katsu, a Japanese meatloaf. Her burger features a blend of equal parts ground ribeye, ground pork, and chopped sauteed shiitake mushrooms.  

“If you put mushrooms in a recipe, it’s going to make it that much better. That’s why blending mushrooms makes sense to me: You get all the benefits of the meat, but you add mushrooms and bulk it up not only in size, but also flavor.”

 Try the winning recipe at home!