What’s Your Beef?

How great is it getting your hands around a big juicy burger on a Saturday afternoon whilst you’re spending your precious free time with the people you care about?

Whether it’s at a family BBQ, a local burger place with friends or fast food from the drive-thru on the way to your next adventure, the mighty meaty burger is a favourite for most of us who enjoy something to indulge in.

Should burgers JUST be saved for satiating those weekend ‘cheat’ days though? What if you could add a burger into your weekly meal plan without going off track with your diet and feeling like you’ve cheated?

Here at Spicentice HQ we don’t believe in ‘cheat days’. We believe that you should be able to enjoy whatever meal you feel like eating, whenever you feel like eating it, without feeling guilty in any way.

We aren’t saying it’s a great idea to head down to the nearest fast food outlet on your lunch break & order the biggest, greasiest burger on the menu every day, before heading back to your desk and settling down to your afternoon’s work. You’d probably be falling asleep by 3pm and feel very sluggish.

However, it is possible to have your burgers AND eat them (there would be much point otherwise, right?!) Everything in moderation is always a good outlook to have.

One of the reasons we developed more recipes in our Fakeaway range following the success of the Southern Style Chicken, was because we think - If we want burgers at lunch time on a Tuesday, we should have them. Life is too short as they say.

It’s probably much more sensible to prep some at home & save one for your lunch box for when you fancy tucking in, but is the calorie count of a homemade burger really any better compared to the takeaway versions?

Well we did the research for you and the answer is – YES home made is best and you can do it without compromising on the taste, but who did we compare our recipe to?

The McDonalds Quarter Pounder with Cheese

A favourite for anyone who wants a quick bite in the restaurant or drive-thru, the Mcdonalds website states that there are 515 calories per burger.

What’s that though, DOUBLE Quarter Pounder with Cheese you say?? That’ll be 750 calories please. OUCH.

The Burger King Whopper

Whopper by name, WHOPPER by calories. 660 calories in one sitting. WOWSERS.

Most of the time these fast-food favourites are bought as a meal ad you can easily much away on an extra 300+ calories for a portion of chips. We did a chip comparison which is coming very soon.

The Rustler Quarter Pounder

Whilst this is probably a great option if you don’t have any time at all to think about your food, we aren’t sure it matches any of the other burgers on anything other than convenience. Shove it in the microwave for a short time & away we go.

It will set you back just over 500 calories and probably won’t taste that great if we’re honest.

THE WINNER – The Spicentice Burger

Our recipes use lean mince. There is less fat and it doesn’t contain any additives or preservatives, just beef (or lamb). They’re also oven-cooked rather than fried and the magic Spicentice burger spices make sure you get a great burger flavour without all the grease.

The fresh salad ingredients of your choice mean you can make great combinations and you have the freedom to choose your own bun. From a basic burger bap (used in our calorie comparison) to a brioche bun or crusty roll, build the burger to suit you. Our recipe is so flavoursome you could also go for no bun at all (save yourself even more calories).

We also use 100% pure herbs and spices. Our spices are all gluten-free and free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.

Add our burger recipe to your favourites and save one for your lunch box at work. We can’t promise someone won’t steal it from the work fridge & eat it before you get chance, but we can guarantee you’ll be the talk of the break room if you do manage to savour it until lunchtime.

To buy our burger spices now for £1.59- click here

For more comparisons, tips, recipes sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of this page