You may not know it but Denver is famous for its Mexican burger. Refried beans and a burger are stuffed in a tortilla and smothered with green chile!
You may not know it but Denver is famous for its Mexican burger.
This Mexican hamburger was actually concocted at a now defunct restaurant, Joe's Buffet, in the 60's.
Table of contents
Want to Know More?
Though this looks like standard Tex-Mex fare through research (that I didn't do), I am happy to say that the Mile High City lays claim to this iconic beef burger that is grilled and placed on a flour tortilla spread with refried beans and topped with green chile and cheese.
If you don't live in Denver many think a Mexican hamburger is a burger with Mexican toppings. Think avocado, jalapenos, salsa, chile, and Mexican seasonings all on a bun.
Why I Love the Mexican Burger
Denver or Colorado for that matter, doesn't have any food that it's known for like a cheese steak in Philly or an Italian beef in Chicago.
A Mexican burger is about as close as one gets next to Rocky Mountain oysters.
Don't know what those are? Well, they are the part of the steer that a cow doesn't have!
And yes, I had plenty in my college days when we used to go to Bruce's Bar in Severance, Colorado and drank lots of beer and ate these fried "delicacies" with cocktail sauce.
So yes, I'll take the Mexican burger any day but especially because I love all the ways I can eat green chile.
Yes, Colorado is a great place to live!
Mexican Burgers Recipe Ingredients
Green Chile - I love making my own green chile with fresh roasted green chiles. Can't get your hands on them? You can sometimes find them in the freezer case. Want to save time? If you have a favorite green chile salsa, just use that.
Refried Beans - 1 large can 28 oz - I doctor up a can of refried beans with cumin, oregano, and bacon grease, then stir in some sour cream. Stir in a little cicken broth if the beans get too thick. Garnish the Mexican burger with the crumbled crisp bacon.
Ground Chuck - Season the ground chuck with garlic power, salt and pepper and other seasonings of your choice.
Large tortillas 10" (not burrito size)
Finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
Toppings include diced tomatoes, minced scallions, cilantro, crisp crumbled bacon, chicarrones if you are fancy
How To Make a Mexican Burger
Really making this Mexican burger recipe is pretty straight forward.
Begin by making the green chile. You can even pull it out of the freezer if you made a bunch.
Or use store-bought.
Make the refried beans. Don't feel like doctoring them up? That's OK, but I will tell you that it does make a difference in flavor.
Make the hamburger patties and either cook them on the grill or on the stove.
Get your garnishes ready which means grating the cheese. Please grate your own cheese.
That's it. Assemble and Serve. Don't forget the margaritas.
Other Famous Denver Food
No Philly cheese steaks here, but we are know for our lamb, trout and local breweries.
Local produce such as Palisade peaches, Rocky Ford cantaloupe and Olathe sweet corn, all start showing up in early July.
But the Denver omelette is year-round!
It's great to have local farmers close by and summer food really wets my taste buds.
Don't forget, Colorado style green chile has pork and tomatoes, and is different than my New Mexican style green chile.
Want to know some of my Denver food faves?
Who knows-maybe you will come visit!
You can find really good Colorado style green chile at La Loma and El Taco de Mexico, which has been honored by the James Beard society.
Not a fancy place and no Margaritas, but really good food.
For Margaritas make sure you hit La Loma!
The Buckhorn Exchange is Denver's oldest restaurant and may as well be a history museum. Go for the steak!
It's actually where we are going this year to celebrate Alex and Zoe's 32nd birthday!
And don't miss My Brothers Bar for the famous JCB, (Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burger) - my version is below.
Ice cream on a warm summer evening?
By all means hit Little Man ice cream or Bonnie Brae-just because Zoe loves it and Evan used to work there!
I'm a fan of the Triple Death Chocolate!
Best burgers? There are so many, but we love The Cherry Cricket and soon they will be opening one by me. Hurray!
The Denver food scene is always evolving and yes, there is great food to be had here in the local restaurants, here in the Rocky Mountains!
Our new favorite place for Italian and pizza which is actually nearby is Osteria Alberico.
Amazingly we also have great sushi and the freshest seafood is flown in daily by the owners of Izakaya Den and Sushi Den.
By all means if you love sushi, visit and also explore Pearl Street.
Denver restaurants often offer a great happy hour. In the DTC area we hit up Ocean Prime, Ruth's Chris and Pappadeaux's.
But the best restaurants-meaning not chains, are located near downtown.
It's fun going to Denver's original food halls.
The Source and Denver Central Market both are fun to explore.
My other fave is the Dairy Block which isn't far from Union Station, which is a great place to go also.
The great hall is perfect for people watching.
Make sure to grab a gin and tonic from Ultreia and have a few tapas while you're there.
Don't forget to explore the River North arts district, and grab a New York bagel from Rosenberg's bagels.
Really, they supposedly have figured out the secret of the water!
My favorite Italian restaurant is Bar Dough in the Highlands area, but a close second is Spuntino for handmade pasta.
Don't miss the fabulous Rosales Mexican bakery across the street.
Leave time to walk around Cherry Creek North.
It is constantly changing but there are some unique boutiques, great restaurants and several new boutique hotels that have recently opened.
Play ping pong and eat dumplings at Ace Eat Serve on 17th.
Our art museum is fabulous, too.
But the real gem is the Anschutz Collection across the street from The Brown Palace.
This collection of Western art is not to be missed but it is very hard to catch this museum open.
But tasty dishes are what I'm about and make sure you are on the look out for the Mexican burger.
Want a great breakfast and a Mexican burger? If you're downtown go to Sam's #3, another popular restaurant that kind of is a dive at the same time!
And if you have a car, don't miss Red Rocks. Great for a concert, perfect for a hike and truly amazing views of Denver.
Plus if you're into dinosaurs you can do the dinosaur trail near there.
Have fun exploring the mile-high city, but be prepared that restaurants do change.
So I'd always advise calling first!
But back to the the Mexican hamburger which everyone should be on the hunt for.
Often found at Mexican restaurants and diners, this burger can be easily made at home.
Now is the time to seek out chile roasters. I always head over to Federal Blvd to find mine. (Federal Blvd is also where the best Vietnamese restaurants are found!)
I buy a bushel, clean them and then freeze for future use.
If the only thing you make green chile for is this Mexican burger, well that's a mighty good reason to me.
Green chile is the best way to make everything taste better-just top your scrambled eggs with this and you will know what I'm talking about.
But the other great way to use green chile is making this smothered Mexican burger!
Now we're talking good food, shall we?
This local favorite is just a good time to satisfy all your Mexican cravings!
PrintRecipe
Denver's Famous Mexican Burger
- Prep Time: 75 Minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: Mexican/American
Description
Though this may seem very Tex-Mex, this Mexican burger encased in a tortilla spread with refried beans, and smothered in green chile is famous in Denver!
Ingredients
Green Chile Recipe Here (I doubled this to get 8 servings.)
Refried Beans 1 large can 28 oz
1 t cumin
1 t oregano
1 t garlic powder
2 T bacon grease
6 slices bacon
½ c sour cream
Salt and Pepper
Chicken Broth
8 flour Large tortillas 10" (not burrito size)
6 c finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
3 diced tomatoes
1 bunch scallions
2 lbs ground chuck
Morton’s kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder
Chicharrones
Cilantro
Instructions
Prepare green chile.
Prepare refried beans. Cook bacon in a non-stick skillet until crisp. Reserve bacon grease and bacon.
In the same skillet with 2 T of bacon grease add refried beans and seasonings. Heat and whisk until blended. Taste for seasonings. Add sour cream for consistency and flavor. Stir in chicken broth if mixture gets too thick. Keep warm until ready to use.
Stir garlic powder, salt and pepper into ground beef. Shape into 8 ¼ lb patties. Set aside until ready to fry.
Heat a cast iron skillet until hot. Add patties without crowding. Season again and cook for approximately 2.30 minutes on each side.
To assemble: Heat tortillas in a moist paper towel for 45 seconds. Place individually on oven-proof plates. Spread ⅓ c refried beans on each tortilla. Top with burger. Fold over tortilla. Cover with ½ c grated cheddar cheese. Place under broiler to melt cheese. Remove and spoon green chile around entire plate. Take out and garnish with lettuce and tomatoes. Sprinkle bacon and chicharrones, cilantro and scallions on top.
More Mexican Burgers
Caroline says
Oh man, this is going at the top of my MUST MAKE list! And I love, love your Vietri and vintage Pottery Barn plates, they’re so perfect for this recipe!
Abbe says
I have had those dishes for 32 years. So funny you knew. I really miss the old Pottery Barn when you could find treasures! Thanks for reading!
Marcelle says
Abbe, this Mexican-style burger looks ah-mazing!! I love all the flavors and that green chili looks so flavorful! I've pinning this recipe and I'm adding this to our menu plan to try next week!! Can't wait, thanks! 💛
John / Kitchen Riffs says
Hi Abbe, I just wanted to drop by to let you know we've just posted our last blog post. You're one of my earliest blogging friends, and I've so enjoyed our friendship. I'll just be reading your blog, but we've got a lot of activities on tap so my visits be become rather sporadic. Best wishes to you.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Now this is our kind of burger! It has it all going on. Maybe not the perfect dining option for Rosh Hashanah but delicious all the same. Wishing you a happy holiday.
Pam says
Here's another burger I have to try! Sounds delicious and with bacon! Unfortunately, Hatch green chiles are hard to find here but will persevere!
2pots2cook says
Oh boy! This is so inviting. I dream of adding some mozzarella on the top........
Healthy World Cuisine says
Mmmmm now this is something the boys could really sink their teeth into and a delicious change up from boring taco Tuesdays. Love hatch green chilis and its the season! Pinning to our need to make soon recipes.
Linger A Little, Kristy says
I can't even imagine how flavorful this Denver's Famous Mexican Burger. Gosh, all of these ingredients together is definitely a winner. I can't wait to try it. Thanks so much for sharing.
sherry says
this looks incredibly tasty Abbe. lots of fab flavours here!
John / Kitchen Riffs says
What a great dish! Love burgers, but haven't had one of these. I will, though -- Hatch green chilies are in our grocery store at the moment, so I can make the green chile. Perfect timing! 🙂 Good stuff -- thanks.
Liz says
I miss visiting Denver!! And I'm silently guessing the reason for your sporadic posting---and hoping I'm right. I've never heard of this burger, but it sure looks amazing!!!