Behind the Scenes Blog

Hamburgers are easy to make and easy to serve because even picky eaters like them. They aren't always the healthiest choice for a meal, though. A typical burger is high in saturated fat (even higher if you add a lot of cheese), and low in fiber, but with a little creativity you can beef up the nutrition factor of any burger.

Watch your portion size. Rather than serving up a half-pound burger (or multiple burgers), reduce the portion size of your burger and serve with a healthy side salad or vegetable. Beef isn't all bad - low fat burgers are a good source of protein, iron and zinc - you just don't need a lot of it. Want seconds? Load up more of the healthy side dish rather than the burger.

Focus on fiber. A typical hamburger bun is made from refined white flour and isn't a good source of fiber. Switch to 100% whole grain rolls to get more fiber (as a bonus, you can get a little more fiber by adding tomatoes, onions and greens to your burger). If your picky eaters just can't make the switch, choose rolls made with whole grain white flour to ease the transition to whole grains.

Who says it has to be beef? Serve turkey burgers instead of traditional burgers. Or blend some black beans with your ground beef for a Southwest style burger. Ready to go vegetarian? Try easy vegetarian burgers mad with black beans, cornmeal and salsa.

More Healthy Burgers

• Low Fat Spicy Burgers with Yogurt Dressing
• Serve Salmon Cakes as Burgers
• Portobella Mushroom Burgers with Avocados