The Mississippi Slugburger - How to Make America's Strangest Hamburger - Food Wishes

I'm excited to show you my take on one of America's strangest hamburgers, and certainly the hamburger with the strangest name. But don't worry, this is 100% slug free. The name comes from the fact that these used to cost a nickel, and way back when, the slang term for nickel was "slug." Enjoy!

[imtired]

This reminds me of our tacos at home growing up, my folks always made them with boiled chopped potatoes to stretch the beef for the eight of us. They were amazing, better than just beef alone.

[RobbsHomemadeLife]

My mom used to make these when I was a kid to make the meat go farther. She would add onions. If things got worse we would have fried bologna on white bread with mustard. We knew we were in trouble when dinner was pancakes and homemade syrup. We didn't have a name for these burgers but they were pretty good.

[stevelogan]

Chef John, good budget meal, 45 or so yrs ago my grand parents lived in Jackson, Mississippi & we called them mud burgers as it was like making mud pies as a kid, fillers were what you had on hand

[harryrimmer]

Have you ever tried making these burgers using oatmeal as the filler? I learned to do this from my Mother-In-Law while I was then dating my wife. I use 80/20 burger, and a small diced onion instead of onion powder. The oatmeal tends to absorb all of the meat and onion juices and makes a very moist and flavorful burger.

[StephenSockett]

I've been away John. I missed you. I said I'd make whatever it was that you were publishing today. I'm making this tonight.

[spokehedz]

This works GREAT with any box of "stuffing/dressing" that you find after major holidays. You know the ones. They go on clearance, and it raises a couple of pounds of burger to something incredible. You will have to experiment with your beef/fat/moisture ratio, but it only takes a little bit of mixing to 'feel' when to stop adding little splashes of water/beer/milk.

[matthewb]

"There were times in the past where people couldn't afford burgers made out of pure beef." Seems to me those times are coming back around. Very timely upload.

[allday]

Perfect timing for a cost effective recipe during this historically high inflation. Thanks Chef!

[patrickbone]

Awesome! This is how my grandma always made these in AL. Money was tight her whole life so it wasn’t any big deal adding filler to things. Thanks for the good video!

[trae]

Mississippi has a LOT of garden slugs. They’d everywhere. When we first moved to Mississippi years ago, this Yankee honest to God at first really thought slugburgers were made with real slugs. They even have a Slug Fest! 😄

[fermentedbadger]

I knew you couldn't resist mopping up that cayenne from the plate with one of those bites. Good looking recipe. Similar to something my dad used to make at home. Thanks, Chef!

[GeeWhizRS]

Kudos for putting this video out when people are feeling the pinch.
Looks crunchy. 👍

[kindabluejazz]

I've found a box grater works pretty well for making bread crumbs. The bread might need to be a bit more dry though.

[wolfman]

My aunt use to make frikadellen like this, she used lard rather than oil, breadcrumbs from german rye loaf and a 70/30 beef pork blend. They where amazing and even using the recipe she gave me i have never managed to make any as good as hers. She learned the original recipe for her mother during the great depression which had 40% meat, 40% potato bread and 20% onion with spätzle. Thanks for the recipe and the fond memories it triggered, Take care, God bless one and all.

[tonysopranosduck]

Your timing is impeccable Chef John. With the current financial boondoggle, this is a great service to many, so thank you. I don’t know how families are feeding their children, with the price of every so outrageous and salaries not matching. Cheers!!!

[dopeymark]

This is really interesting. My stepfather was Swedish, and when we were kids, we were really poor. We grew every vegetable you can think of, and canned everything we didn't eat right away. He used to make this sausage that he called "curve". I genuinely don't know how to spell it. Anyway it was spiced beef or pork meat, (I can't remember which) with a whole lot of peeled and boiled potatoes. The ratio was probably similar to your slug burger, probably a 1 to 2 ratio of potato to meat. This would all be run through a meat grinder and then mixed up. Then we would run it through again with the sausage making attachment on the grinder, and stuff up some sausage links. Basically using the potatoes to extend the meat. Then of course we would fry them up. They were delicious!

[stephaniefoley]

Mississippi here 😀 and enjoyed this video ❤️ the slugburger originated in Corinth… Alcorn county…upper eastern north MS. Two restaurants claim to be the first…the White Tally Cafe and Bourrum’s Drug Store. Both great places. Milled soybeans was the original filler. Your looks good but a little thicker 👍 slugburger meat mixture can be found in the local grocery stores in NE area along ground round. There’s a yearly Slugburger Festival in downtown Corinth. Ever think about doing your take on another famous Mississippi side….fried dilled pickles ???

[ssdpqd]

Excited to see you make this. You never disappoint. Thanks

[imrevcritter]

I love this. The crust alone is worth it. Simple is the best a lot of the time.

[tlemon]

That looks incredible, about a Brazilian years ago my parents would serve these up with rice and gravy or bean, they ran a diner near the bus station in New Orleans, grew up with it. Thank you Chef for some great memories.