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Feta-Stuffed Mpiftekia (Greek Burgers) with Baked Potatoes

Feta-Stuffed Mpiftekia (Greek Burgers) with Baked Potatoes

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These Feta-Stuffed Mpiftekia are delicious Greek Burgers, which are flavourful and juicy. While hot, the feta melts inside, making them very creamy.

Mpiftekia pr. beef-TEH-khia, in Greek means burgers and are made with any kind of meat, be it beef, veal, lamb, pork, turkey etc.

Although the word mpif (tekia) is derived from the word beef (steak), the French then called it bifteque and we translated it into mpifteki, now the Greek word generally means burgers.

Even burgers made with legumes or veggies, they are still called mpiftekia.

Mpiftekia sto fourno image

Eating healthy or being on a diet does not necessarily mean that you should eat bland and boring food.  I have been watching my diet and loosing weight just by eating a little bit healthier.   

Maybe I have not lost many kilos but I am satisfied loosing 1 – 2 kilos a month, without being hungry.

I have a lot of posts with healthy diet food but as I will be taking a break during August, I will try in each post to give more than one recipes.

You can also find many healthy recipes with a comprehensive analysis of The Mediterranean Diet, in my cookbook “More Than a Greek Salad“.

In Greece we do not eat them in a bun but we either cook them in the oven with potatoes, grill them in the oven or barbecue them and serve them with a salad and other side dishes.

Kavouri beach image
Kavouri Beach

Now that  it’s summer, we go to the beach most of the mornings and going to a decent beach near Athens, is about 40 – 45 km far, so it’s an hour to go and and an hour to come back, so I don’t want to spend much time cooking.

When I make feta-stuffed mpiftekia, I usually make a large quantity.  I form them into patties and then freeze them.

They are so easy to cook and make a very light meal if they are accompanied by a salad.  I just thaw them in the morning before going to the beach and when we come back, while I am preparing a salad or an other side dish, I grill them in a robot grill and they are ready in just fifteen minutes, without having to turn them over, as they are cooked with air which circulates under the meat as well.

If you grill them in the oven it will take more time, depending on your oven and if you barbecue them they only need a few minutes on each side.

Grilled Mpiftekia image

I have made them many times this past month and I served them with horta (wild or cultivated, leafy greens) or patates fournou  (lemony baked potatoes) , accompanied them with a cucumber salad.

Each burger I have made weighs 200 grams (uncooked), but it’s up to you to make them bigger or smaller, but this size is quite satisfying even for the men in the family.

I also made a batch with feta inside and for the stuffed ones I used the Tupperware Hamburger press.

I put half the amount of the meat, pressed it, then added a thin slice of feta, added the remaining meat and pressed it again.

Collage feta-stuffed Mpiftekia image

It’s easier to enclose the feta inside but you can also do this by making the ground meat flat in your hand palm, putting the feta on top and then covering it on top, then shaping it into a patty.

When served hot, the feta oozes out of the meat making it delicious!

Mpiftekia with feta image

I usually make a lot, wrap them in cling film and freeze them.  You have to thaw them before cooking.

You can either bake them in the oven with potatoes or grill them on a cast iron griddle, under the grill of your oven or barbecue them.

Mpiftekia sto fourno image

How to bake the feta-stuffed burgers

In order to bake the burgers in the oven with potatoes and keep them juicy, we start by cooking the potatoes first.

After peeling and washing the potatoes, cut them into wedges and season them with salt, pepper and oregano.

Put them in a baking tin and add 1 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup lemon juice and water to almost cover them.

When they are baked on the one side, turn them over and when they are almost done, make some room for the mpiftekia and put them among the potatoes.

Continue cooking them for about twenty minutes or until they brown on top.

Antidia curly endives image
Curly endives, in Greek antidia

How to serve these feta-stuffed mpiftekia

I love serving these feta-stuffed mpiftekia with horta, which are wild or cultivated greens, boiled and served as a salad.  You can use curly endive, chicory, dandelion (radikia), wild spinach, purslane, beetroot leaves, or amaranth ( Vlita).

horta image

Horta (Boiled Leafy Greens)

Yield: 6
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Additional Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Horta are wild or cultivated greens, boiled and served as a salad. You can use endive, chicory, dandelion (radikia), wild spinach, purslane, beetroot leaves, or amaranth (vlita).

Ingredients

  • 1 kilo leafy greens (horta)
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • Water to cover them
  • 1 tbsp sea salt

To serve:

  • Extra virgin Greek olive oil
  • Lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Fill your kitchen basin with water and add the vinegar. Remove the big stalks and place them in the water for about 30 minutes, to soak and release any soil or bugs. Repeat the process until the water is no longer dirty (usually 2 or 3 times).
  2. Trim any coarse stems and discard any brown leaves Remove the greens to a colander before draining the water.
  3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then add about a tablespoon of salt to the water. Carefully submerge the greens in the pot and boil for about 20 - 25 minutes or until the thickest parts of the stems are tender. Be careful not to over boil.
  4. Put them in a bowl with cold water and ice.
  5. Drain them in a colander and put as many as you need in a bowl.
  6. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with sea salt.
  7. Leftover greens can be stored in the fridge upto three days.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 52Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 0mgSodium 1182mgCarbohydrates 6gFiber 4gSugar 2gProtein 2g

"These values are automatically calculated and offered for guidance only. Their accuracy is not guaranteed."

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

Another lovely accompaniment is of course, tzatziki.

One day, when I made mpiftekia, I served them with a  Garlicky Cucumber Yoghurt salad.  I saw this recipe at Choosy Beggars and I knew I would love it as Cypriot cuisine has an influence from Lebanese cuisine as well or vice versa.

Tzatziki cucumber salad image

A delicious salad which is similar to the Greek Tzatziki or Cypriot talatouri, but with all the juices in the cucumber, makes it very refreshing.

Garlicky Cucumber Salad with Yoghurt and Mint 

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 2 small cucumbers
  • 250 ml Greek yoghurt
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • A little lemon zest (optional)
  • 1 tbsp dried mint

Directions:

  1. Wash the cucumber, drain and chop into small cubes with the skin on.
  2. Put in a strainer with a little salt and leave it for half an hour to remove some of the water.
  3. Pound the garlic with salt and mix with yogurt, cucumbers, lemon juice, mint and olive oil.
  4. Refrigerate for a while before serving.
Greek burger with baked potatotes and beet salad image

For a side dish, without a lot of calories, I make some lemony potatoes (sometimes I add some carrots as well),  baked in parchment paper.

mpiftekia burgers image

Feta-Stuffed Mpiftekia (Greek Burgers) with Baked Potatoes

Yield: 8
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Additional Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Mpiftekia are Greek burgers or patties, which are usually baked in the oven with potatoes. These ones are filled with feta cheese.

Ingredients

  • 1 kilo minced meat (pork mince or mixed with veal mince)
  • 1 onion, grated
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 50 ml olive oil
  • 75 grams bread crumbs, grated in a food processor (or panko)
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp red vinegar
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
  • 100 grams feta

For the potatoes

  • 4 large potatoes
  • 1 tbsp sea salt
  • Freshly grated black pepper
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 cup water

Instructions

  1. Remove the crust from the bread and process it in a food processor. Put it in a large bowl.
  2. In the same food processor, add the onion, garlic and some olive oil and purée. Put it into the bowl.
  3. Add the minced meat, the remaining olive oil and all remaining ingredients and mix well.
  4. Divide the mixture into six equal parts.
  5. Form them into a ball and then flatten them in the palm of your hand.
  6. Put a piece of feta in the middle and cover them with the minced meat.
  7. Form them into round or oval patties.
  8. Preheat the oven to 180° C.
  9. Peel and wash the potatoes,
  10. Cut them into wedges and season them with salt, pepper and oregano.
  11. Put them in a baking tin and add the olive oil, lemon juice and water to almost cover them.
  12. When they are baked on the one side, turn them over and when they are almost done, make some room for the mpiftekia and put them among the potatoes.
  13. Continue cooking them for about twenty minutes or until they brown on top.
  14. Turn them over and cook for 5 more minutes.

Notes

If you do not wish to add potatoes, you can either grill them in the oven or on a cast iron griddle or barbecue them.

 


Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 789Total Fat 51gSaturated Fat 14gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 33gCholesterol 122mgSodium 1244mgCarbohydrates 41gFiber 4gSugar 4gProtein 41g

"These values are automatically calculated and offered for guidance only. Their accuracy is not guaranteed."

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

Other related Recipes:

Juicy Turkey Burgers

Mpiftekia (Greek Beefburgers)

Sheftalia in Cyprus Pita

Tzatziki or  Talatouri

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

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Peter

Thursday 30th of July 2009

Ivy, the biftekia look delicious...it's still morning here and I want this whole plate. That Tupperware device looks interesting too!

Hopie

Monday 27th of July 2009

I didn't have internet for a couple weeks, but I'm finally catching up on my blog reading and I'm glad I didn't miss this entry! Feta stuffed burgers, yum! I'm bookmarking the cucumber salad too. Sounds delicious.

Niki

Monday 27th of July 2009

meat stuffed w/ feta?? That's a yummy slice of food heaven for me!!!

Parita

Sunday 26th of July 2009

Wow thats a wonderful meal!

Jen of a2eatwrite

Sunday 26th of July 2009

This looks delicious, Ivy, and I so prefer your version without the bun, so you can really taste the meat! I also make that cucumber salad all the time in the summer - it's a standard in Russian cuisine, as well.

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