I’m a meat eater. I love, love, love me a good beef burger. However, for a variety of reasons, my family and I do try our best to NOT eat meat one day a week at least. As much as we enjoy meat, we enjoy vegetables just as much. I really thrive on creating meatless menu options for our weekly dinners. This Portobello Caprese Burger is a great substitute if you’re wanting to cut back on the meat a bit but still want something hearty and flavorful. It is also a fantastic for a vegetarian burger option at your next cookout! (Just remember to cook BEFORE cooking your meat on the grill so that you’re not giving your vegetarian friend meat drippings on their vegetarian burger!)

Portobello Caprese Burgers

Portobello mushrooms are rich and earthy. They are also fairly affordable. I substitute portobello mushrooms for beef often because it creates that bold flavor and bit of chew that beef typically gives a dish. We chose to serve the burgers with a side of grilled zucchini spears. This made for a really tasty and fairly healthy meal!

Serves 6

Ingredients for Balsamic Marinade:

Olive Oil (approximately 3 tablespoons)
Balsamic Vinegar (approximately 3 tablespoons)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper

Ingredients for Portobello Caprese Burgers:

Hamburger Buns
6 Portobello Mushroom Caps whole with stem removed
6 slices of mozzarella cheese
6-12 slices of tomato (I did roma tomatoes so the burgers had two slices each, but if you use a bigger tomato then 1 slice would work.)
Fresh Basil leaves (you’ll want enough to top each burger)
Balsamic Marinade

For Grilled Zucchini Side:

5 medium sized zucchini cut into spears
Balsamic Marinade

How to Make Portobello Caprese Burgers with Grilled Zucchini Spears:

Directions for Balsamic Marinade:

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl

Directions for Portobello Caprese Burgers:

Brush the Balsamic Marinade onto each side of the clean, de-stemmed portobello mushrooms
Put on a grill, smooth side down over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until tender
While the portobello mushrooms are cooking add mozzarella to your top bun and place your buns on a toasting tray on your grill or above a cooler side of the grill to toast the buns and melt the cheese. Be careful to not burn the buns.
OPTIONAL: I chose not to use any condiments on my burger because the mushroom with the balsamic marinade was plenty moist and flavorful and I’m currently watching extra calories. However, if you’d like I’d suggest using a nice garlic aioli or a really good quality mayo on the bottom bun. Topping the burger with a balsamic glaze would also be delish!
Top your bottom bun with a few basil leaves, the portobello mushroom, slices of tomato, and a few more basil leaves. Top with the mozzarella covered bun. ENJOY!

Directions for Grilled Zucchini Spears:

Toss your raw zucchini spears in the leftover balsamic marinade. If you use all of your marinade up brushing them on the mushrooms then go ahead and make some more marinade. Also, you’re going to have some seriously tasty mushrooms! 😉
Put in a grilling basket or on top of a foil lined grill. Grill until tender, approximately 6-8 minutes. (We grilled our mushrooms and zucchini at the same time and everything was ready to go around the same time.)
Serve alongside the burger. Add an optional dipping sauce of garlic aioli for a nice flavor punch.

We served these tasty little burgers with some of the Julian Hard Cider that I shared yesterday. The portobello was especially nice with the Cherry Bomb cider!

4th of July Free Printable Food Tray

I of course had to serve up my Portobello Caprese Burgers in something fun for the holiday. I created these fun stars and striped food trays to make serving these burgers a little more festive.

Directions for Use:

Click on file and save to computer
Print on white cardstock in full color
Cut around the outside of the food tray and on the dotted lines
Fold where there are white solid lines.
Glue the tabs into the panel directly to the right of the tab you are gluing.
Once complete, line your food tray with wax paper and top with food. The heavier the weight of your card stock the more sturdy these food trays will be.