This gourmet burger recipe infuses juicy, all beef patties with the flavors of bright, citrusy Cuban mojo sauce, and a garlicky aioli. A true artisan burger for your summer entertaining menus!
The weather is getting warm and the grill is ready to be fired up! Can you tell that I’m excited? I’ve been looking forward to taking the grill out of storage ever since we put it away last fall.
To kick off the season, I have a showstopper gourmet burger recipe to zest up your next party: Mojo Beef Burgers with Tequila-Lime Aioli.
Infused with garlic, lime, and orange, these burgers are anything but ordinary. Grilled to juicy perfection and layered with sliced avocado, grilled onions, Manchego cheese, and a dollop of tangy aioli, this gourmet burger recipe is just begging to be served al fresco this summer!
Making Mojo Beef Burgers
What is Cuban Mojo Sauce?
Mojo is a Cuban condiment typically used as a marinade or sauce for meats. Traditionally made with sour oranges, garlic, smoky cumin, and herbs, Cuban mojo sauce is bright and aromatic. We enjoy it so much on grilled steak, I figured, why not try a burger with it?
Mojo Sauce Panade
In developing this gourmet burger recipe, my challenge came in infusing the meat with the Mojo sauce without causing the burgers to fall apart from too much added moisture. I ultimately decided to utilize a Mojo-soaked variation of the panade from the grilled meatballs I’ve shared with you in the past.
What is a panade?
A panade is made from soft bread soaked in a liquid of your choosing. Milk is often used, as are marinades and broths flavored with aromatics. When the bread is soaked, it forms a paste-like consistency that melts into the ground meat.
You only need a small amount of panade for burgers, and once the patties are cooked, the bread itself is pretty much totally undetectable. Burgers made with panade stay juicy and tender, even when cooked to well-done.
What Is The Best Ground Beef For Burgers?
I like to grind the meat for burgers myself whenever possible, but this recipe works (and was tested) with both home- and store-ground beef.
If you’ve never tried grinding beef yourself, I highly encourage you to give it a go! With an attachment for your stand mixer, it isn’t a difficult process and the meat is incomparably fresh and tender. Once you try it, you might never look back!
Want to get started? Check out my tutorial for grinding meat in your home kitchen.
Whether you’re grinding the meat yourself or buying it pre-ground, you want to use chuck beef for this recipe. It’s a well-marbled cut that will yield a juicy, well-flavored burger.
I like to use a burger press (pictured above) for uniform patties that cook evenly. After forming the patty, I always make a slight indentation with my knuckles in the center of each to keep the burger from swelling as it cooks.
How to Serve Mojo Beef Burgers
These burgers are hearty, so you’re going to want to serve them on a substantial bun. We love them on grilled brioche buns, as pictured here. (For a lower carb option, they’re also delicious served plated, sans bun.)
My favorite cheese to pair with these burgers is Manchego, a sheep’s milk cheese from Spain. It brings a great element of nuttiness to the burger that plays well with the flavors of the Mojo sauce and the spiked aioli.
What is Aioli?
Full disclosure: the spread I’ve paired with this gourmet burger recipe is not a true aioli. It’s more in line with the type of mayonnaise-based “aioli” you’re likely to see offered on restaurant menus in the US.
While mayonnaise and aioli are both emulsions, their ingredients and the processes used to make them differ in their truest forms.
Mayonnaise is an emulsion of egg yolks, whisked with a neutral oil, and most of the time, a bit of lemon juice or vinegar. It can be flavored, but the egg yolks are key to the emulsification here.
Provencal or Catalonian Aioli consists simply of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and salt, slowly crushed together and emulsified with a mortar and pestle. Aioli a bit labor intensive and assertive in flavor. It’s amazing, but a little goes a long way!
That established, the aioli in this gourmet burger recipe is really a flavored mayonnaise. It’s creamy, garlicky, lightly-spiked, and utterly delicious!
I love the splash of tequila in this spread and how it compliments the flavors in the Mojo Beef Burgers. Not to mention that you’re going to want to dip all the sides in it, from plantain chips to sweet potato fries. You’ve been forewarned!
Mojo Beef Burgers with Tequila-Lime Aioli
Ingredients
Burgers
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (depending on how prominent a cumin flavor you like; I use 1/8 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 slice farmhouse white bread , crusts removed, bread torn into small pieces (about 1/2 cup)
- 1-1/2 pounds ground chuck (80%/20%)
Tequila-Lime Aioli
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 teaspoons grated lime zest
- 1 small garlic clove , minced
- 1 tablespoon tequila
To serve
- 1 large yellow onion , sliced 1/2-inch thick
- 1 avocado , halved and sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 4 slices Manchego cheese , Swiss, or Cheddar
- 4 brioche-style hamburger buns
- olive oil , for brushing
Instructions
Make Burgers
- In a mixing bowl, stir together orange and lime juices, zests, garlic, cumin, oregano, kosher salt, pepper, and cilantro. Make a "panade" by adding torn bread pieces to the sauce. Stir to combine and let stand 5 minutes. Mash the soaked bread with the back of a spoon until the mixture is a paste-like consistency. Mix in ground beef until the panade is fully distributed (for tender burgers, don't over-mix).
- Divide meat into 6-ounce portions and shape into 1/2-inch thick patties. (I use a burger press). Use your knuckles to make a slight indentation in the center of each patty for even cooking.
Grill
- Heat grill over high heat. Oil grates or line with a non-toxic, nonstick grill mat.
- Sear burgers over direct heat, about 3 minutes per side. Move burgers to indirect heat and continue cooking until desired doneness is reached, closing lid and topping with cheese to melt during the last few minutes of cooking.
- Brush onion slices with oil. Grill onions over medium heat until soft and caramelized, about 5 minutes per side. Lightly brush insides of buns with oil and grill until toasted, about 1 minute.
Make Tequila-Lime Aioli
- Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, lime zest, garlic, and tequila. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Assemble Burgers and Serve
- Place grilled burgers on toasted buns and top with onions, sliced avocado, and aioli. Serve immediately with sweet potato fries or plantain chips.
Nutrition Estimate
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
About our recipes
Please note that our recipes have been developed using the US Customary measurement system and have not been tested for high altitude/elevation cooking and baking.
Originally Published May 3, 2017.
Oooh, these burgers look amazing! I always use a panade to keep my burgers juicy, but I haven’t thought about flavoring the panade (I usually just use some milk) and that is a great idea to get all those wonderful mojo flavors right into the burger. I can almost taste these right now with some plantain chips. Yum.
What an amazing looking burger ands great information for achieving that burger. You can tell that all of the ingredients are quality rendering a great sandwich. I don’t usually make hamburgers at home nor do I eat them out. I’m always trying to save on calories but this burger is one I’d gladly sacrifice not eating all day just to enjoy it. I think every once in a while you have to let go and go for the gusto or a great burger.
First of all – wow! Such beautiful photos! I have never been able to do a good burger picture. With that out of the way, panade! I’ve never heard that term before and I’m so glad that you educated me. In Russia, we have a very traditional food called “cotlety”, sort of a different pronunciation of the word cutlets, but it is actually a mix of burgers, meatballs, and meatloaf… Or something like that. They are typically shaped into oval patties and then pan-fried. Anyway, they are almost always made with bread soaked in milk! But I’ve never known that it’s called panade. I sometimes add milk-soaked bread to meatballs and meatloaf and I recently was telling my husband about it and he was so confused. He said he’s never heard of adding milk/bread to the ground meat. I thought it was a Russian only thing but it’s nice to know that it’s international.
Ever since I first got my microplaner, I almost always keep fresh ginger and citrus. I put citrus zest in a lot of my recipes. I love the idea of lime and orange together, I think they compliment each other perfectly. This gets me really excited for grilling season, can’t wait to try this!
I am totally blown away. This burger recipe looks amazing and I absolutely have to give it a try this summer!!
I’m practically crying from wanting this so badly, it’s a little sad. I’ve never had a Cuban mojo sauce before, it sounds so good! And thanks for breaking down aioli, I get confused about what aioli is and the word is thrown around so much it’s hard to know what it really is.
My jaw dropped when I saw this burger… your photographs have me weak-kneed. It’s genius to make a mojo panade to infuse the meat – those flavors are spot on. I happen to have a lime tree and two calamondin orange trees in my back yard — so I think this gorgeous burger will be making an appearance at our Memorial Day picnic. I even have a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. This is HAPPENING!
You literally had me at the title of this recipe!!! Just the name alone sounds so delicious, but when it is followed by those pics!? Undeniable!
I love the tip on using the bread soaked in flavoring and then added to the burger. Such a great idea to help keep the burger held together. I also love the tip about putting a little dent in the middle of the burger to keep it from swelling into a hockey puck.
I am definitely saving this recipe for the weekend
OMG these sound amazing. I am so glad grilling season is finally here. I know these would be a hit at any BBQ party. You can never have too many delicious burger recipes this time of year. And that aioli sounds fantastic.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a burger look this good before. And you know what? It tastes even better. These burger patties are like a bomb of flavor…. and crazy easy to make. I can’t wait to actually make these on the grill this summer.
Wow, just wow. I am literally salivating as I read through this post. Love the tips on grinding your own beef. And the panade tip and the aioli recipe is fantastic. Can hardly wait to fire up the grill for this amazing burger. Thanks for sharing!
Ok, so I didn’t know anything about Mojo… and now I want mojo with everything (and if “everything” comes with tequila-lime aioli then that would be great). I also didn’t know the burger press was a thing, I also want one of these – asap.
Now this is one gorgeous burger! I love everything about it. Sexy!
First of all – YUM!! I need to try this tequila lime aioli, it sounds so so amazing! Second of all, I am super excited for summer and summer grilling season as well – is there anything better? Definitely adding this to our grill menu rotation (my husband will be so excited I am adding some burgers on there)
Holy smokes these look good. I can’t believe I’d never heard of using a panade before now, but you can bet I’m going to remember that when I’m trying to develop my own burger recipes. You’ve really put together a treat here. I love how thoughtfully you’ve incorporated all of the flavours into the burger without going over the top. Oh, and I’m eager to check out the DIY grinding tutorial – that’s something else I’ve been wanting to tackle for a long time now. Cheers!
Im so excited that grilling season is finally here. I started grinding our own beef last year…. I love that its a quick and easy way to guarantee whats in our burgers and the freshness always shines through each glorious bite. You are literally killing me with this tequila lime aioli… the added flavor boost sounds just divine on a burger (or any sandwich for that matter). I’ll definitely be making that for our grilling season!!
That tequila-lime aioli sounds AMAZING! I love making boozy sauces! And yessss we’ve already been grilling away over here- I’m so happy that it’s spring!!!
Wow! not much of a red meat eater BUT this has changed my mind! I will to try this for sure
You can make this one with ground chicken or turkey, too! :) The panade will help keep it juicy.
Holy crap does this burger look goooood! I love eveything about it! Sharing it everywhere!
Thank you, Colleen! I appreciate that!
There is so much flavor and awesomeness going on here. THis will be on the grill this summer for sure.
Thanks, Erin! I’m so excited for grill season!