Chili’s Santa Fe Burger

This Chili's Santa Fe Burger is a perfect copycat, stacked with avocado, Monterey Jack, red onion, jalapenos, tomato, cilantro & spicy sauce.

Ingredients and substitutions

• Extra-lean ground beef – you could also try making this recipe with ground turkey, chicken or pork. For a vegetarian option, make black bean burgers.
• Salt & pepper – to taste.
• Jalapeno pepper – serrano peppers and poblano peppers would both work. For a milder option, use regular bell peppers.
• Brioche burger buns – use any bun of your choice or even lettuce wraps to make this recipe low-carb.
• Pickles – relish would also be good here.
• Tomato – use any variety of your choice or leave the tomato off altogether if you’re not a fan.
• Red onion – white onion would also work but has a milder flavour.
• Avocado – swap out for some guacamole instead.
• Monterey Jack cheese – use another cheese of your choice like cheddar or Swiss.
• Cilantro – leave this off altogether if you don’t like cilantro.

Santa Fe sauce

• Light mayo – you can use regular mayo, but it will increase the calorie count. Sour cream or Greek yogurt will work but will alter the flavour of the sauce.
• Lime juice – freshly squeezed lime juice is best but bottled lime juice will work in a pinch.
• Chili powder – make your own using a blend of paprika, cumin and cayenne.
• Paprika – cayenne is the best substitute for paprika although it has more of a kick.
• Onion powder – use garlic powder instead for a similar flavour.
• Salt & pepper – to taste.

How to make Chili's Santa Fe burger

1. Form the patties.
2. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side.
3. Sauté the jalapenos.
4. Make the Santa Fe sauce.
5. Toast the buns.
6. Assemble your burgers and dig in!

More topping ideas

There are plenty of ways to customize your burgers to give them your own special touch while keeping the Tex-Mex flavour. A few ideas include:

• Guacamole
• Roasted garlic
• Sautéed onions and peppers
• Battered fried onions

Frequently Asked Questions

Storing and reheating

I’d recommend waiting to assemble your burgers fresh right before you eat them, since the assembled burgers won’t store and reheat very well. You can store the patties and toppings separately in the fridge for 3 to 5 days.

When you’re ready to reheat your burgers, there are a few different reheating methods you can try:

• Oven: Arrange the burger patties in a single layer inside a shallow baking dish. Add a couple of tablespoons of water or beef broth to help prevent the meat from drying out. Cover the dish tightly with a layer of foil and reheat for 15 to 25 minutes at 350° Fahrenheit.
• Stovetop: This is my favourite way to reheat cooked burgers and steak! Place the meat inside of a large Ziploc bag and be sure to seal it completely. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. After that, immediately remove the pan from the heat. Allow the bag with the burgers to sit in the hot water for 5-10 minutes and they will be completely warmed through and perfectly juicy!
• Grill: Place the cooked burgers on a preheated barbecue and spritz them with a little bit of water to keep them moist as they reheat.

Freezing the burger patties

To freeze the patties, stack them with a small piece of wax paper or parchment paper in between them. This makes it easier to separate the frozen patties.

Place the stack inside of a freezable container or Ziploc bag and freeze them for 3 to 4 months. Cook them directly from frozen on the grill or on the stovetop, then add on your fresh toppings and dig in.

More Chili's copycat recipes

• Margarita Grilled Chicken
• Santa Fe Chicken Salad
• Cajun Chicken Pasta

Meal prep tools for this recipe

• Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on storing leftover patties.
• I get all my grass-fed ground beef from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.