Easy Banh Mi Burger Recipe (Pork Burgers, Pickled Veggies & Spicy Mayo)

If you’re looking for different burger recipes to bring to your next BBQ, you gotta try this ground pork Banh Mi burger.

Banh Mi Burger

I made this Banh Mi burger with ground pork because the fat content in the pork keeps the meat juice and full of flavor. If you are looking for something that’s leaner, try making this with ground chicken or ground turkey.

The best part? Most grocery stores carry these ingredients so you don’t have to worry about making all sorts of stops to international and specialty markets.

What is Banh Mi?

Banh Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich served on a baguette (or sub bun) that usually has pork, pickled vegetables, and a ton of flavor.

Inspiration

The first time I had a Banh Mi inspired dish was actually at Legoland in San Diego. They had this sandwich that was out of this world. Ever since then, whenever I see Bahn Mi in the title, I’m all in. (By the way it was the Bánh Mì Vietnamese sandwich at the Ninja kitchen.)

Yes, I was inspired by a trip to Legoland back in 2017. This has been on my list of things to make back when I had a whole different blog but it was always pushed to the back burner.

Then a year or two ago I found a pork Banh Mi burger recipe in my Chef’s Plate subscription. I saved the recipe and used it as inspiration for today. To change it up, I altered the ingredients and swapped the hard-to-find ingredients that the average jo like me doesn’t have access to and made a delicious burger that works for my family.

I also saw that most meal delivery services (like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron) offered this recipe as one of their creative burger recipes as well.

Banh Mi Ingredients

To make this incredible Vietnamese burger recipe, you’ll need the following:

• Buns, I used brioche but pretzel would be nice too
• Ground pork (you can also use ground turkey or chicken for a leaner option)
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Salt and pepper
• Ground ginger
• Panko
• Rice vinegar (seasoned)
• White vinegar
• Sugar
• Red Pepper flakes
• Carrots (I bought matchstick, or you can slice them yourself)
• Mini cucumbers
• Radishes or daikon
• Cilantro
• Red chile peppers
• Hoisin sauce
• Mayonnaise (I used 1/2 fat)

Traditionally a daikon radish is used, but my store had none so I went with regular radishes instead. Use what you can.

How to Make Pickled Vegetables

It’s so easy to make quick pickled veggies. They add so much flavor to many dishes (I love to add them to salads, sandwiches, and of course burgers).

I already have these pickled vegetable recipes:

• Easy Quick Pickled Radishes Recipe
• Super Easy Quick Pickled Carrots Recipe
• How to Make Pickled Onions

For this recipe, I did a quick pickle with cucumbers, radishes, and matchstick carrots.

All you need is equal parts water and vinegar, two teaspoons salt, one and a half teaspoons sugar, and seasonings (I use red pepper flakes), bring it to a boil, then pour over your vegetables.

Make sure the vegetables are in a glass jar and once it comes to room temperature, put a lid on it and pop it in the fridge. You’ll have meal prepped pickled vegetables for the week!

Why Ground Pork?

I went with ground pork patties instead of chicken or turkey because with their juicy and lock in a lot of flavor. If you want a leaner option, then yes you can go with a leaner ground meat but you will be sacrificing a bit of flavor.

Ground pork burgers are not something to fear for your health goals, give it a try (or you can even try a 50/50 blend). It’s still a great source of protein and a delicious option for a burger patty.

Ground beef would also work, it just wouldn’t be as neutral.

Banh Mi Sauce Options (Hoisin and Spicy Mayo)

A sandwich, and gourmet burgers in general, are only as good as their sauce.

Spicy Mayo

There are a few options here. I intended to use Gochujang sauce to mix with the mayo in a small bowl, but bought the wrong sauce and used a chile paste instead (aka sambal oelek). For the recipe testing, I used two tablespoons with 1/2 cup mayo and it was very spicy. Delicious, but spicy. I immediately knew that the kids couldn’t have it.

So I recommend adding 1-2 teaspoons at a time until you hit a heat that your whole family can enjoy.

You can also try it with Sriracha sauce too if you don’t have access to the sauces listed above.

To give it a little extra flavor, I added seasoned rice wine vinegar to it as well.

Hoisin Mayo

If you don’t do spice at all, why not make a sweet sauce?

I threw together hoisin sauce with mayo to make a sweeter alternative. I didn’t measure, just poured the hoisin little by little until I liked the taste.

My kids loved the sauce and it went so well on the burgers.

Common Questions

How to Make Banh Mi Burgers

If you love burgers with Asian flavors, add this to your list of must-make fun burger recipes.

I cooked these in a frying pan, but you can grill them on the bbq if you like. Just watch that they don’t dry out by using a food thermometer (165F means they’re done).

Enjoy this recipe, my family and I loved every single bite.