There’s nothing ordinary about this Santa Fe Burger. Stacked with smoky roasted poblanos, creamy jalapeño queso, and a crispy fried green tomato, it’s the kind of burger that turns a regular cookout into something special. The mix of Southwest heat and Southern crunch hits all the right notes—bold, messy, and impossible to forget. Great for summer grilling or anytime a plain burger just won’t cut it.
I don’t know if y’all have ever seen Bobby Flay on television, but bless his heart, he’s kind of pitiful in the kitchen, isn’t he?
Ok, of course I’m just kidding. I love Bobby Flay and so does my son, Brian. We decided to try our hand at one of his super burgers, and settled on the Santa Fé burger with a bit of a Southern twist.
Hamburgers are usually something I make when I don’t feel like making anything else for dinner. Burgers are simple: Add salt and pepper to ground chuck and form into patties, then throw on the grill or in a skillet. They’re easy and everybody likes them.
This burger, however, was far from easy. This burger was a production. An event. A much-anticipated culinary experience. This burger was, as we say in the South, a To-Do.
Testing notes for the Santa Fe burger
- We wanted to add a bit more heat and some vegetables. We considered onion rings (yes, onion rings count as a vegetable), but decided onion rings are everywhere and too common. Then we thought, tomato. And almost immediately, that thought transformed to…fried green tomato.
- And I wanted to include something green, so we added arugula too.
The result of our experiment was a fantastic burger with so much flavor that we all fell in love with it. The queso sauce blended perfectly with the fried green tomato, which lent just enough crispy texture to give the burger a notch up. It was amazing!
I hope you make this recipe. I think you’ll love it!
Ingredient notes
➡️➡️➡️ The full ingredient amounts and instructions are listed below on the printable recipe card. Scroll below the recipe card for frequently asked questions and tips for success.
This burger has a lot of ingredients and a lot of steps. It’s not a quick and easy meal, but it is absolutely worth the effort. Here are a few things to know:
Poblano peppers: These peppers are mild and add a touch of flavor to the burger meat. You can substitute a can of diced green chilis if you want to save some time, but we highly recommend the poblanos.
Ground chuck: Ground chuck has enough fat to make a tender burger. If you use leaner ground beef or sirloin, your burger may be too dry.
Jalapenos: A lot of the reviews for Bobby Flay’s original Santa Fe burger said the queso sauce was too bland. We changed it to use Pepper Jack cheese and added jalapenos. If you want something a little less spicy, use Monterey Jack cheese and omit the jalapenos.
How to make the Santa Fe burger
- Roast the peppers.
- Cover and let sit 15-20 minutes.
- Make the queso sauce.
- Fry the green tomatoes.
- Cook the burgers.
- Assemble!
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below!
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Sante Fe Burger Recipe
Ingredients
Burgers:
- 2 large poblano chiles
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds ground chuck
- 4 hamburger buns, toasted
- 12 blue corn tortilla chips
- 4 fried green tomatoes
Queso Sauce
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 8 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated
- 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely diced
Instructions
Chiles:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place 2 large poblano chiles on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in oven until skin is blackened, about 15 minutes.
- Remove chiles from oven and place in a bowl, then cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let chiles rest in bowl for 15 minutes. Remove chiles from bowl and peel and seed the chiles, then coarsely chop.
Queso Sauce:
- Optional: saute diced onion and jalapeno in oil or butter in a skillet until tender. Wipe out the skillet and continue.
- Melt 1 tablespoon unsalted butter in a large skillet over medium heat and then whisk in 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour and cook for one minute.
- Add 1 1/2 cups whole milk, increasing heat to medium-high, and whisk constantly until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Turn heat to low and stir in 8 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated, 1 medium red onion, finely chopped, and 1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely diced.
- Season with salt and pepper and cook on low for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then remove from heat and keep warm.
Fry the tomatoes now. Please see separate post on Fried Green Tomatoes.
Burgers:
- Divide 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck into 4 equal portions about 3/4 inch thick.
- Make a depression in the center of each burger and season each side with salt and pepper.
- Cook the burgers either on the grill or in a skillet.
Assembly:
- Place burger on bottom half of toasted bun and top with a few pieces of the chopped poblano chile, 1 fried green tomato slice, a couple of tablespoons of the queso sauce, crumbled tortilla chips, and arugula.
- Cover with top half of bun and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Questions and tips
- Don’t skip letting the roasted peppers sit in a covered bowl. The steam will loosen the skin, and you can peel it right off.
- You can saute the onion and jalapeno before adding them to the queso sauce if you’d like it a bit more tender. This seemed like an unnecessary step to us, and nobody minded a little crunch.
- This is a fun two-person project. It’s helpful to have one person cooking the burgers while the other cooks the fried green tomatoes, so everything will be hot once assembly begins.
You can fry the hamburger patties in the skillet, cook them on the grill, or even bake in the oven. The cooking method does not change the set up of the burger.
You could do several of the steps in advance:
1. Roast and chop the peppers.
2. Make the queso sauce.
3. You could cook the burgers and then reheat them.
