Have you ever noticed that miniature food always seems to taste better? I’ve got a delicious recipe for you today using ground lamb to make sliders. The recipe is slightly adapted from Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarain. He made them on The Kitchen a few weeks ago and I had to try them.

These little sliders pack a big flavour punch. The ground lamb is seasoned with shallots, garlic, mint, parsley, cumin and paprika.

Here are a few tips for success:

• Use a light hand when mixing everything into the ground lamb. Form your hand into a claw and use your fingers like a rake to incorporate the seasoning ingredients into the lamb. Over-mixing leads to tough burgers. According to tasting table.com, “Mixing ground beef releases myosin, which is a protein that causes muscle contraction. It’s important for burger making, as myosin binds fat and water to the meat, leading to a more tender burger. So you want to retain as much of the protein as possible — but when you mix too much and let too much myosin escape, you can be left with chewy meat.”
• Salt burgers just before grilling.
• I used a 2.5 inch round cookie cutter to form my sliders. But feel free to form by hand if that’s more your style.
• Cook lamb burgers to an internal temperature of 135°F. Insert instant read thermometer into burger from the side, not the top, and push it until it reaches the centre of the burger.
• The pickled onions can be made and stored in your fridge up to 2 weeks ahead of time. This recipe makes more than you will need, but they are great on sandwiches and in all kinds of salads.
• If you prefer to keep the tzatziki sauce dairy free, look for a plain vegan yogurt or sour cream that does not contain coconut as the main protein. The coconut flavour will not work for this application. I like Tofutti brand Sour Supreme

Click here to print recipe for Lamb Sliders.