Add This Crisp Fruit To Your Burgers For A Bright Bite

Burgers are a fun meal to spruce up. Since we've probably all eaten numerous burgers in our lives, the same old often isn't enough. In fact, we even have a nice little list of every burger topping ranked, so we really aren't kidding around. The one thing we typically don't add to burgers is fruit (with the exception of some attempts to add pineapple). One fruit you should add to your burger soon is the humble apple. Its sweetness, sourness, acidity, and crunch add a whole extra layer to your burger.

When you think about burgers, you might often neglect how complex and rich they can be. They're not just for fast food or overpriced burger bars. When thinking of crafting your own homemade burger, it's helpful to know of some basic guidelines. Contrasting flavors and textures often are what take restaurant meals to the next level, and crunchy apple slices or rounds on top of a rich burger will create both. Taste-wise, it's the fruity, sour bite of a good apple against a savory patty. Texture-wise, a crunchy apple is almost the opposite of a buttery, smooth burger. Moreover, texture definitely affects taste and can really step up how you perceive your meal.

A Honeycrisp or a Granny Smith (the same types of apples that also make the best pie) would probably be best, because they're the crunchiest and easiest apples to find. You'll really want a firm, crisp apple with bold flavors to stand up to the burger itself. If you're using 80/20 ground beef or even grass-fed, you'll want an apple that can cut through the rich, fatty burger and any other toppings you might add.

And that's the real trick: layering on complimentary accoutrement. One of the easiest pairings to go with is lightly melted or baked brie for your cheese. This recommendation comes straight out of a classic French pairing. You'd also probably want to add caramelized or grilled onions. That smoky sweetness will pair excellently with your apple-topped burger.

If brie isn't your thing, give blue cheese a try. This is a classic old school pairing in a fine dining salad where blue cheese and apples work perfectly together. The tangy, funky blue cheese also really wakes up the burger, and even Ina Garten uses it to make great burgers. You can try to add balsamic glaze as well, which will enhance the acidic bite of the apple and help bolster its natural sweetness. There's so many different things you can do with apples on a burger, I'm actually surprised myself, and I wrote the article! You can even go for gold and caramelize your apples before topping your burger. Seriously, give it a try.