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Grilled Halloumi & Red Pepper Burgers


Halloumi is a great addition to a vegetarian diet. It's so tasty and adds a lot of texture to a dish.

I'm sure you're familiar with it. I first tried it about 25 years ago when the chef in a small pub in Fife offered to make Graham and I an off-menu meal when we said we were vegetarian. We were instantly hooked.

Halloumi is a semi-hard unripened cheese from Cyprus. The Greek Cypriots in the south of Cyprus call it halloumi, but the Turkish Cypriots in the north call it Hellim. Both are equally good, although I'm sure each side of the border would dispute that fact. Halloumi or Hellim is best when grilled or fried as it takes on a chewy texture.

I don't eat it often as we usually eat dairy free with Graham and who can be bothered to cook two meals? I do sometimes order a halloumi burger in a pub we occasionally go to called Drouthy's. They serve their halloumi burger with a grilled portabello mushroom and sweet chilli sauce. It's tasty!





For my halloumi burger. I grilled halloumi, red pepper and courgette. I stacked my burger up high, starting with the bun, I added salad leaves, red pepper, halloumi, then courgette and spicy salsa. It was rather good. A very hearty meal, with lots of flavour from the grilled vegetables and cheese. 

I bought all my ingredients from Waitrose who are loving halloumi this summer and challenged me to come up with a recipe using it as part of their 'Do You Love Halloumi' promotion. Apparently you do love halloumi as online searches have gone up 83% in the last two years.




Cooper didn't love Halloumi until today. In fact he refused to even try it. 

I was super sneaky tonight. I knew he was waiting for dinner and hungry, so I just handed him a finger of grilled halloumi to eat. He asked what it was, but I evaded his question and wandered off. He ate it and said it was good, so I explained what it was. I always think it's a minor victory when I add something new to his diet. Last night we made the discovery he loves asparagus. A good week!


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Grilled Halloumi & Red Pepper Burgers
A stacked halloumi and red pepper burger layered in a bun with courgette, salad leaves and salsa. The vegetables and cheese are grilled for extra flavour and texture.
Ingredients
  • 250g halloumi, thickly sliced
  • 1 large red pepper, cut into 4 long pieces
  • 1 courgette, sliced lengthwise
  • 2 handfuls salad leaves
  • 2 rolls or burger buns
Instructions
1. Cut the rolls in half and lightly toast the inside for crunch.
2. Heat your griddle or grill, then grill the red pepper and courgette until they have softened and have good markings from the pan.3. Next grill the halloumi. There is no need to add any oil. Just give it a bit of time to turn golden and crisp.4. Stack each roll with salad leaves, red pepper, halloumi and courgette, then top with salsa and the roll lid, then get stuck in.5. Enjoy!
Details
Total time:
Yield: Serves 2





If you liked this recipe, try my

You can also find more halloumi recipes in the Waitrose article 5 Ways with Halloumi.




Disclosure: This recipe was commissioned by Waitrose. 

26 comments

  1. I love these burgers because of the simplicity - no making time-intensive veggie and bean burgers.

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    1. That's true, although if you want a quick homemade burger, try my 10 minute bean burgers. They are really good.

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  2. Mmmm I love halloumi, will have to pop into Waitrose to stock up. Burger looks just amazing! x

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  3. Yuuum. I'm obsessed with halloumi, it makes such a great burger. Love the idea of adding salsa, bet that tastes amazing!

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    1. It was the perfect finishing touch. Gave it a bit of a kick.

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  4. looks pretty damn fine! We eat a huge amount of halloumi in this house and a halloumi burger is probably The Vikings favourite thing ever... happy weekend!

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    1. Well who's going to blame him! You have a good weekend too :)

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  5. The halloumi burgers sound super delicious nad I love the addition of all the other veggies you have added to the burger.

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  6. That looks delicious. I certainly love halloumi :-)

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  7. Wow, that looks so delicious. I love halloumi and your burger looks great with all the layers.

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  8. We love halloumi too. Especially on the BBQ. I could eat this right now. First time I tried it was at a Turkish restaurant about 10 years ago and I found it a little strange at first ..because of the texture BUT I was hooked pretty quickly!

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    1. Oh yes, it's great on the BBQ. I love the texture. It's not what you'd expect from cheese though.

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  9. I don't have halloumi often but I love it when I have it - the best haloumi I have had was in the fish and chips I had in edinburgh when it made surprisingly good "fish". I particularly love the squeak on the teeth. Have never heard it called Hellim. Would love it in a burger

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    1. Oh it would be good battered and served with chips and peas, mmmmmm! I hope it was served in newspaper.

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  10. I love the look of this and started fancying a halloumi burger even when it's late. I really like that you were so generous in the use of halloumi in this burger and it's always wonderful with grilled vegetables.

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    1. Oh I do hope you try it and you have to be generous!

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  11. Beautiful burger Jacqueline! Love the red pepper!

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  12. We love Halloumi here and eat it often. It's great for non met days and so quick to cook. GG

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  13. Anything with cheese is a hit with me. This burger looks so enticing and as I know you have lots of experience of Cypress, I'm sure it's about as authentic as you can make it!

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  14. Halloumi is probably my favourite cheese. Like you said it's a great ingredient to include in a vegetarian diet instead of meat. I love the texture and the fact that you can grill it! This burger is the kind of meal I would order in a restaurant. Looks so yummy! :D

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I love reading comments, so thank you for taking the time to leave one. Unfortunately, I'm bombarded with spam, so I've turned on comment moderation. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can and respond to them. Don't panic, they will disappear when you hit publish. Jac x