Sous Vide Lamb Burger With Tzatziki Sauce (+ VIDEO)

Sous vide lamb burgers with tzatziki sauce hits the spot for a summer burger that’s a little different, but still super delicious. Topped with feta and red onion, these Greek style lamb burgers sous vide cook for about an hour.

As soon as the weather begins to warm up, I immediately begin planning as many outdoor events as I can think of. After all, who doesn’t love a chill backyard BBQ with close friends and family?

Well it’s time to change things up a bit this summer with a different kind of burger!

These Greek style sous vide lamb burgers may not be your traditional go-to for cookouts, but I guarantee the change will be welcomed. They’re so good.

Love burgers? Check out these ground beef sous vide burgers and check out the “mayo sear” method used to make these juicy sous vide hamburgers mayo seared.

Ingredients

First you will need to ensure you have your burger basics on hand, including ¼-lb ground lamb, buns and toppings.

The toppings

To keep the Greek theme going, I chose to use crumbled feta, sautéed red onions, and a homemade tzatziki sauce. Speaking of which, you will need plain Greek yogurt, a cucumber, a lemon, and dill to make that delicious (and super easy) tzatziki sauce — no store-bought brand required.

How to Make This Sous Vide Lamb Burger Recipe

Step 1. First preheat the sous vide machine to 137 degrees F.

Then season the sous vide lamb burger meat by adding ground lamb, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. Gently mix the ingredients together with your fingers until the ingredients are loosely incorporated.

Step 2. Now it’s time to make the sous vide lamb burger patty. Use your hands to form a ground lamb burger patty by shaping ¼-lb lamb into discs.

Step 3. Then add the sous vide lamb burger patties to ziplock bags or vacuum seal lamb burgers in a flat layer.

PRO TIP: See the step by step on how to vacuum seal burgers or learn a bit more in this guide on how to vacuum seal meat.

Setting the time for sous vide lamb burgers

Step 4. After that, sous vide cook lamb burgers for 1 hour.

If cooking from frozen lamb, add 60 minutes to your overall sous vide cook time. While the lamb burgers cook, make the burger toppings including the tzatziki sauce and sautéed onions.

While lamb burgers cook, make the toppings

Step 5. Now it’s time to make the tzatziki sauce for sous vide lamb burgers.

1. First heat a small pan on the stove to medium heat. Then add olive oil and garlic and sauté for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until the garlic becomes translucent. Then pull from heat before the garlic browns, and set aside to cool for a couple additional minutes.
2. After that, in a large bowl, add Greek yogurt and diced cucumber. Stir to combine. Then add lemon juice, garlic olive oil, fresh dill, salt and pepper and mix together.
3. Next, taste and season with additional salt or pepper if desired. Then chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Step 6. Now prepare the sautéed red onions.

First add ½ tsp olive oil to a small pan on the stove on medium heat. Then add the sliced onions and sauté, stirring occasionally for 5-10 minutes until lightly sautéed.

You can add a little butter if the onions begin to stick to the pan during the cook time. When finished, add salt and pepper as desired, then set aside.

Step 7. When the lamb burgers are done cooking, remove the sous vide burgers from the vacuum seal bag and pat dry with a paper towel.

Step 8. Then finish the sous vide lamb burgers with some heat, using one of the methods below.

• Option 1: Sear sous vide lamb burgers. Heat a cast iron pan to medium-high on the stove and add ½ tsp olive oil. Sear lamb burger patty a few minutes, until brown on both sides and edges.
• Option 2: Grill sous vide lamb burgers. Brushing them with a little olive oil and searing them 1-2 minutes on each side on a grill at about 500 degrees.

Step 9. Finally, once grilled or seared, you can assemble the burgers on the buns with all the toppings. Or take it a step further like my husband did in the recipe video at the bottom of this page.

FAQ

How do you prevent the burger from losing shape after vacuum sealed?

To help the burger retain the shape and not get squished by the vacuum sealer, add lamb burger patty to the freezer for 15 minutes. (Or freeze them for longer, then vacuum seal and sous vide at a later date).

Final Tips for Making the Perfect Sous Vide Lamb Burger

• The ultimate sous vide lamb burger. To finish these Greek style sous vide lamb burgers my husband Patrick’s fancy way, top the burgers with caramelized red onion and feta crumbles then broil on high for about 2 minutes until feta is cooked. Then toast brioche buns with some butter in a skillet on medium heat, or grill them with some butter brushed on them for a minute or two until golden brown. Finally, smear tzatziki sauce on the top and bottom of the burger bun. Next add lettuce, the sous vide lamb burger, and any additional toppings you can fit. Warning: you may need to serve with a toothpick!
• Cooking for a crowd? This recipe demonstrates how to make one lamb burger sous vide style, which you can easily scale up to feed a crowd. The tzatziki sauce will make enough to feed about 4 people. Use leftover tzatziki sauce to top rice bowls, wraps, salads, sous vide chicken tenders, and more for days to come.
• Perfect for meal prep. When I’m doing some sous vide meal prep, I’ll make the burgers in batches and freeze them, then add on an hour to the cook time in the sous vide bath when cooking them at a later date.
• Choose your finish. There are so many different ways to finish any dish, but for these burgers I usually decide between searing and grilling. Sometimes I pick based on the weather (grilling in the rain, not so fun), and other times it’s just a whim. Regardless of the method, you burgers will taste great!

Find new ways to enjoy your favorite food with sous vide cooking. Get inspired with my new book – The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook.

Are you a foodie, too?

If you’re into lamb, check out this tasty sous vide rack of lamb recipe. It’s great for holidays and special occasions.

I’m passionate about sous vide cooking, and maybe that’s why Sip Bite Go has become one of the most popular sous vide blogs on the web. Find me on Instagram to see my latest sous vide cooks @sipbitego.

For in-depth tutorials on sous viding lamb, pork carnitas, whole chicken, and more, subscribe to the Sip Bite Go channel on YouTube.

The Perfect Sous Vide Setup

Everyday I’m asked, “what do you need to sous vide food?”. Here’s my answer.

1. A sous vide machine.
   Option 1: “stick” models like the Joule, Anova, or Instant Pot Slim.
   Option 2: “multipot” models like the SousPreme multipot or InstantPot Duo Evo Plus.
2. Sous vide container.
   If using a sous vide “stick” model, you need something to hold the water the food cooks in, like a bucket or stockpot.
3. Bags to cook sous vide food.
   Keep it simple and sous vide in ziplock gallon bags, or get fancy like me with a vacuum sealer setup.
4. Nice-to-have accessories for sous vide cooking.
   – Sous vide weights to hold down food that floats.
   – Mini mason jars for desserts and sous vide egg bites.
   – Cast iron skillet to sear sous vide steaks to finish them.
   – My sous vide cookbook with 100+ recipes.
5. Butcher quality meat.
   Stock up on top-quality meats like wagyu at Crowd Cow and Snake River Farms. They always have specials, and will ship delicious cuts of craft meat right to your door.