Stuffed “Juicy Lucy” Goat Burger Recipe
If you’re looking for a way to make burger night even more delicious, try this “Juicy Lucy” goat burger recipe. These ground goat burgers are stuffed with cheese, smoked to perfection, and then seared in a hot skillet. The result is a mouthwatering burger packed with savory flavors!
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I recently came across a recipe that was an interesting take on cheeseburgers. They are called “Juicy Lucy” burgers. This version was invented in the 1950’s in Minnesota and sounded too good to pass up.
What is a “Juicy Lucy” burger?
Instead of topping the burger with cheese, it is cooked into the middle so that when you cut or bite into it, melted cheese will ooze out of the center. Most of the time these are grilled or pan seared, but if you know me, I love to use my smoker.
Here is how I put my own twist on the “Juicy Lucy” burger using goat meat from our own farm. The results were amazing!
Goat Burger versus Ground Beef
If you haven’t tried goat meat, you are missing out! We raise meat goats on our farm and butcher them for personal use. When we process our animals we make ground goat with a ratio of 85% lean meat and 15% fat. The resulting burger is delicious and cooks well for a variety of purposes, including making burger patties.
Goat burger is very similar in taste to ground beef; it just has a richer flavor. To learn more about raising goats for meat or how goat compares to beef, click here to read our other article.
“Juicy Lucy” Goat Burger Recipe
- 2 pounds ground goat (or other burger)
- Block of cheese of your choosing
- Barbecue rub
- Hamburger buns
- Your favorite burger fixings
This recipe will yield four half-pound stuffed burgers. I used sharp cheddar for the burgers you see pictured, but pepper jack or your favorite cheese will work too.
Seasoning the burgers with a barbecue rub adds some savory flavor. My favorite includes paprika, salt, garlic powder, oregano, and thyme.
Serve these burgers on toasted hamburger buns with your favorite fixings. Lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles make great toppings. Don’t forget the ketchup, mustard, and homemade mayonnaise too!
How to Make Stuffed “Juicy Lucy” Goat Burgers
First, divide the burger into 8 equal portions. If a half-pound burger is too large for your liking, feel free to divide it into 10 or even 12 equal portions. I usually make some smaller ones for the kids and larger ones for the adults.
Form each portion into patties of equal size, ensuring that you do not make them too thin. If they end up too thin, they could crack during cooking and all that delicious, melted cheese will make its way out. A burger press is handy tool for making uniform patties!
Cut your block of cheese into squares and load a few of them onto one of the patties, staying in about a half inch from the edges. Lay another patty over the top and crimp the edges shut with your fingers. If you need to reform the burger a bit, go ahead. Just take care not to put any holes in the top or bottom for cheese to leak from.
Repeat this process until all of the burgers are assembled.
Now you can sprinkle a bit of barbecue rub on the outside of all the patties for extra flavor. This is optional, but I would recommend it. Even just a pinch of salt and pepper adds a nice touch.
At this point, you could throw them on the grill, for about 4 minutes per side, and you would have an excellent burger. However, I opted to smoke ours and it definitely adds to the flavor profile. I put the burgers on my homemade, off-set smoker at 235 degrees for about 45 minutes.
Given that the smoker does not give that good char you would expect on the outside of a burger, I did give each patty a quick sear in a smoking hot cast iron skillet after taking them off the smoke.
It might be hard, but it’s important to let the burgers rest for about 5 minutes for two reasons before serving. First, resting allows all the juices to redistribute throughout the meat and will give you a better product. Second, the cheese is hot! It’s best to let it cool a little before digging in.
Place on toasted buns, top with your favorite fixings, and enjoy!
Variations and More!
The opportunities for modifying this recipe are endless! It’s not just cheese you can put in that burger. Cream cheese and chives? Go for it! My buddy wants to try a blue cheese and olive filling for our next cook, which sounds amazing and is added to the list of things I want to try.
What is your favorite variation to this stuffed burger recipe? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Hungry for more goat meat recipes? Check out how to make ground goat tacos, goat belly rouladen, slow cooker goat pot roast, seared goat loin medallions, or a smoked goat leg on our blog!
