Mini Cuban "Fritas" Burgers

After the fact, I found out that in Cuba, these delicious little "Fritas" are made from chorizo rather than ground beef. While these were quite tasty as they were, I swoon imagining them with spicy chorizo! This Ingrid Hoffman recipe is my submission to this week's Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge. I prepared it on time but ran into some unforseen computer problems and couldn't get it posted until today. Head over to I Blame My Mother to see what everyone else whipped up this week.

Mini Cuban "Fritas" Burgers
Recipe courtesy of Ingrid Hoffman

1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 large yellow onion, grated on the large-hole side of a box grater
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 1 lime)
3 tablespoons ketchup, plus extra for serving
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 mini hamburger rolls or Cuban rolls


Place the bread crumbs in a large bowl. Cover with milk and soak for 2 minutes. Add the onion, the beaten egg, ground beef, lime juice, ketchup, garlic powder, salt, and paprika and work the ingredients together with your hands or a wooden spoon just until combined. Form the mixture into 12 small 1-inch thick patties and refrigerate them for at least 45 minutes or up to 8 hours.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add about 1/2 of the burgers and brown them on each side, flipping with spatula, 5 to 7 minutes. Set the fritas on the rolls and cook the remaining burgers. Serve with generous amounts of ketchup.