Another Low-Carb Diet Idea: School Cafeteria Ranch Burgers

Preparing interesting meals for a low-carbohydrate diet is challenging. Especially since the diet has fallen out of "fad" status, and prepared low-carb items are hard to find.  But we Atkins acolytes are resourceful. And we have to be when we share a household with someone who is not on the diet.  "No, those are my low-carb, $4-per-pack tortillas, eat your own!!!"

I've posted a few recipe ideas in the past, from hamburger or chicken egg-drop soup, to low-carb pizzas and tuna melts.  But I came up with a new one today.  Back in school, I was a very skinny, very active kid. I could eat absolutely anything and everything, and not gain an ounce.  At lunch, it wasn't uncommon for me to scarf stuff off of others' trays, if they didn't like what was served (this was before ala carte or vending machines).  Other than pizza, my absolute favorite cafeteria food was ranch burgers.

Kids called it mystery meat, but it was really a ground beef concoction on half a hamburger bun, topped with cheese.  I just loved these things, and a few years ago, I figured out how to make them.  So first is the ordinary recipe, and at the bottom there is a low-carb addendum.

Greenlee Gazette's School Cafeteria-style Ranch Burgers

2-lbs. Ground Beef

1 Medium Onion

2 Cans of "Cream of. . ." Soup (I use one chicken, one mushroom)

Salt & Pepper

Hamburger Buns

Cheese

Chop onion, and sautee in skillet. Brown ground beef with onions. Drain fat.  Mix in soups, salt and pepper. Grease a cookie sheet, and set the oven to 350. Lay hamburger bun halves with bread side up on cookie sheet, filling the surface with buns. Spoon even amounts of ground beef mixture onto buns.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with cheese (for authenticity, American cheese slices, or use your favorite). Bake for 10 more minutes.

Low-carb diet addendum:

I use "Net-5" bread from Aunt Hattie's, available in Nevada at Vons, Albertsons, Smith's, and Wal-Mart.  The bread is bigger than a bun half, so you get a bigger ranch burger.  I filled half the sheet with buns for The Other Half, and half of it with my bread, and voila!

Two ranch burgers, using the low-carb bread, amounts to 10 net carbs, plus the small amount from the soups (there are 9-10 carbs in each serving of soup, so we're talking 4 or 5 max for two burgers).

Now, you're probably thinking, "why so much?"  Because these suckers are great to freeze in a sandwich bag, for a quick-and-easy snack or lunch later on.  If you don't do things that way, cut the recipe in half.  Enjoy!

NOTE: I went to Whitehall-Yearling High School from 1980-1984, Rosemore Junior High from 1978-1980, and Beechwood Elementary School from 1971-1978. Ranchburgers were a staple in all of Whitehall's cafeterias, and were a favorite of mine. They were usually served with corn and tossed salad, and probably jello or a cookie.