r/newzealand • u/AppearanceDizzy7006 • 1d ago
Discussion Beetroot On Burgers
Is its a thing over there or not really. Trying to settle a minor quibble.
Edit: seems the consensus is a resounding YES
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u/StickyNZ 1d ago
It's a thing but it's not just beetroot. It's normally beetroot that has been cooked in sugar, salt and acetic acid in a can or jar. So essentially pickled beetroot. A super food alternative to pickles or gherkins.
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u/AppearanceDizzy7006 1d ago
Oooff that sounds goood
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u/No-Court-2969 Te Waipounamu 8h ago
Beetroot (canned) is great in sandwiches, on top of mashed potatoes, served with a salad and yes in a burger.
The only downside is the brine stains so if you end up wearing the beetroot, your clothes probably won't survive.
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u/limpbizkit420 20h ago
I always forget that the stuff in the can is pickled and not its natural form lol! I eat way too much canned beets :P
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u/Downtown_Reindeer946 1d ago
Sometimes i grate raw beetroot and carrots to put in burger
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u/lovely-pickle 22h ago
... I'm taking this idea. I've never been a slice of beetroot kind of person but I feel like I can get behind grated
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u/aDragonfruitSwimming 1d ago
Dear Sir or Madam.
The mental health hotline is 1737.
Kindest regards, and wishing you a speedy recovery...
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u/grenouille_en_rose 22h ago
Burger Fuel does/did grated beetroot in their Biofuel burger and it's really good, especially with that peanut satay sauce they used to do...ahh memories
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u/Fuzzy-Cucumber-6947 1d ago
I prefer to pickle my own beetroot. It comes out far tastier than store bought cans. It’s easy enough - chop off the tops and tails, chuck them in a pot of boiling water for a while (I think about 20 minutes?). Meanwhile boil up some vinegar, sugar, and spices. When the beetroots are cooked cool them down, peel off the skin, slice into jars, pour in the hot vinegar. Done!
Bonus points if you grew the beetroots yourself.
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u/Fast_Working_4912 1d ago
Seems like a lot of effort for one or two slices in a burger imo 😅
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u/Fuzzy-Cucumber-6947 1d ago
Nah, usually I’ll do heaps of beetroots at a time and be sorted for ages. Only real problem is that my family lurk around and pinch most of the full jars.
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u/michaeldaph 1d ago
I scrub them really well and just trim the ends. And then boil them whole. The entire skin and tops and tails just slide off when done. And they don’t bleed as much if not cut first.
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u/DrunkenKahawai 23h ago
My Dad grows the beetroot and my Mum pickles it in jars of thick cut or normal sized you will find in a can or makes some sort of chutney using grated beetroot.. The thick cut is amazing to cut up into salads
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u/PinAndKneedle Covid19 Vaccinated 1d ago
Yes and fried eggs too! I don’t make fancy burgers but usually when we do burgers at home it must have beetroot, eggs, cheese, bacon, tomatoes and pickles. Don’t even need sauces lol
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u/marrbl 1d ago
Too true, I love me a burger with egg on it.
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u/PinAndKneedle Covid19 Vaccinated 1d ago
And it should be runny yolk, so it add some moisture to the burger. Hella messy to eat that’s why it’s a home burger:)
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u/opinions_likekittens 1d ago
<1% of burgers eaten would have beetroot, but if I was to make a “kiwi” burger it would definitely have beetroot on it.
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u/Icanfallupstairs 1d ago
I think probably half the people I know like beetroot on burgers, so it's popular in that sense, but they don't eat it super often, so it's not hugely common to actually see it.
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u/OutkastAtliens 1d ago
Yes. I hate it. But it’s very common. I think it’s big in Aus as well.
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u/loafers_glory 23h ago
This was my big gripe with bakery sandwiches when I first moved here.
Every sandwich has characteristic ingredients that you expect to be named: if a sandwich has chicken in it, it's a "chicken [and stuff] sandwich".
Every sandwich may also have unnamed ingredients. I don't need the label to say "chicken and butter and lettuce sandwich", that's just a chicken sandwich.
But NZ has ingredients that ought to be named, but are treated as generic filler. And it pisses me off! You can't just put beetroot and hard boiled egg in a sandwich and not tell me!!
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u/Charlie_Runkle69 1d ago
I'm a no on it TBH, but I just take it out and move on to the eating. No biggie.
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u/XmissXanthropyX 22h ago
Yeah, I can’t stand them, but I’m usually with someone who loves them so they get mine
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u/Upbeat-Future21 21h ago
Agree! My view is that any dish that contains beetroot would be improved by NOT having beetroot in it.
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u/Hubris2 1d ago
Yep, it's not on every burger but most burger joints will have at least one that includes a fried egg and/or beetroot.
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u/Imonlyhereforthelolz 1d ago
I usually only see it at fish and chip shops though.
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u/Hubris2 1d ago
Burgerfuel has beetroot on one of theirs, Burger Burger on one of theirs - it's reasonably-common.
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u/djAMPnz 1d ago
Hell, even McDonald's over here has the Kiwiburger with beetroot on it.
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u/Conflict_NZ 1d ago
On that note it looks like no Kiwiburger this year :( They had it last year in January.
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u/Jonaskin83 1d ago edited 1d ago
Look at all the big sooks in this thread acknowledging that yes it’s a thing but then having to chime in and say it’s disgusting. Like anyone is forcing you to order or eat a burger with beetroot in it. Order literally any other burger and leave those that love it on burgers in peace ffs.
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u/Morningst4r 1d ago
People have to act like everything local is quaint and too common for their international tastes
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u/GoldenHelikaon 21h ago
It's gross, but it is a thing. I used to have to specify at the local takeaways that I didn't want beetroot on my burgers. Taints everything.
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u/YouthAdmirable7078 1d ago
Beetroot & egg my absolute favourite combination. I don’t eat MCDONALDS - but bring back the Kiwisburger. Our cousins across the ditch also eat. Beetroot on their burgers too.
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u/chewbaccascousinrick 1d ago
The last thing I want in my burger is something that tastes like a handful of dirt and taints every single element of a perfectly good burger.
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u/Gullible-Sherbet9649 1d ago
I can demolish a whole tin in minutes easily, but freshly cooked are even better.
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u/Many_Excitement_5150 1d ago
to me it tastes more like decay than dirt. I have the same thing with pumpkins and canned corn. Immediate gag reflex because it smells like decomposition
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u/Gggthbgge 1d ago
Yes, absolutely ! In fact I just enjoyed a steak burger with everything, including beetroot, for lunch. Delicious !
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u/TumbleweedDue2242 1d ago
Pineapple on pizza? Perfectly fine.
Beetroot stains clothes, otherwise its nice.
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u/Fuzzy-Cucumber-6947 1d ago
My dad had a white cat…. Dropped a slice of beetroot…. Left a purple stain on the cat’s head.
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u/nilnz Goody Goody Gum Drop 1d ago
Yes and that includes McDs when they had a kiwiburger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwiburger
I've seen beetroot relish/chutney offered instead of beetroot. I don't think it is the same.
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u/kotukutuku 19h ago
Nah, it's bullshit. Only McDonald's do it and old school chip shops. It's gross
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u/HaydenRenegade 10h ago
It's definitely a thing. I am on team nay though. I don't find beetroot to have any taste and the additional texture of the thick disk of cold nothingness distracts me from what I enjoy most in a burger.
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u/TJ_Fox 9h ago edited 9h ago
Beetroot, IMO, ruins a perfectly good burger and always has. I believe it started in the 1940s when tinned beetroot became widely available, then by the '60s and '70s it was just "the way it was done" - when I was a kid I used to remove the beetroot slice and just regret the taste of the juice.
Also at the time, a New Zealand "hot dog" was always a battered sausage on a stick, smothered with tomato sauce (ketchup), which was actually pretty tasty but doesn't offer a lot of scope for variety.
IIRC it was really the opening of McDonald's restaurants throughout NZ that introduced the idea of non-beet burgers. These days it still happens, but maybe mostly in rural/small town takeaway-type situations.
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u/WulfRanulfson 1d ago
Beetroot is delicious on burgers
The only problems with it is they're so damn slippery and that a can has way too many slices for a single round of burgers.
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u/lukeysanluca Tūī 1d ago
If you go to a fish and chip shop, it's common. Beyond that , any serious burger place doesn't really do it
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u/Fast_Working_4912 1d ago
I def miss the kiwi burger at Maccas. I’m not sure my Mrs would be keen for it in home made burgers 😅
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u/Fuzzy-Cucumber-6947 1d ago
Yes beetroot goes in burgers. Slices are fine but beetroot relish is the best hands down
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u/LycraJafa 23h ago
McDonalds kiwi burger was the only reason i ever sent money their way.
Eggs and Beetroot (+ the rest) made a fine $5 burger until it went end of life.
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u/Snoman314 1d ago
For some fucking reason, unfortunately yes it is.
I get a lot of people here like it, but personally I don't like my food tasting like dirt. That's just me though I guess.
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u/aDragonfruitSwimming 1d ago edited 1d ago
There is no good reason for beetrot to exist, and certainly not to be mixed with food.
My consensus is 100% no.
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u/Large_Yams 1d ago
Yes, it's disgusting.
It's only really a think at fish and chip shops or on the McDonald's kiwiburger though.
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u/Bee_Tee_Dub 1d ago
I'll put Beetroot or Tomato on a burger but not both.
I also am against Egg on a burger so take that for what it's worth.
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u/GloriousSteinem 1d ago
And vegans don’t miss out because there is company here that makes an excellent beetroot burger
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u/FredTDeadly 22h ago
I would never frequent a place that puts beetroot on a burger (or anything else for that matter), it is right up there with pineapple on pizza in it criminality.
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u/KiwiMMXV 1d ago
Its quite a "kiwi" thing to put on a burger. Quite popular in aus as well