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This Japanese Hamburger Steak is a sweet, savory, and simple one-pan meal. It’s paleo and can be made whole30 and AIP-friendly.

What is Japanese Hamburger Steak?

You may have heard of Hamburger steak which a southern classic made with a pan-fried hamburger with yummy mushroom gravy. Japanese hamburger steak is a very similar dish but made with a sweet and tangy sauce made from ketchup, soy sauce, and sake (or rice vinegar).

This super simple meal is made with minimal ingredients, cheap ground meat, and tastes great with a side of vegetables! This version is paleo and easy to make whole30 compliant and AIP-friendly.

How to make Japanese Hamburger Steak

  • Prep the burgers: Using a medium bowl, combine the ground meat, coconut flour, and seasonings and mix well. Form into 4 burgers and set aside.
  • Cook the burgers: Heat the avocado oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the burgers, being careful to not overcrowd the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, flipping often until fully cooked through. Set aside and drain any excess fat from the pan.
  • Prep the sauce and combine: Combine the coconut aminos, ketchup and vinegar in a small bowl and mix well. Pour the sauce mixture into the pan along with the burgers. Coat the burgers in the sauce and cook for another minute.

What can you serve this Japanese hamburger steak with?

  • Cauliflower rice
  • Roasted bok choy
  • Stir fried vegetables of your choice
  • Japanese sweet potato fries

The Ingredients You’ll Need for the Hamburger Steak

Ground beef and ground pork 

Doing a mix of ground beef and pork adds lots of extra flavor! You can try and do just ground beef as well.

Coconut aminos, ketchup, and rice wine vinegar

These are the main ingredients for the sauce! Coconut aminos is a soy sauce alternative and be found online or in health stores. You can swap out the rice wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar.

As for the ketchup here are some compliant options…

AIP compliant ketchup-

Whole30 compliant ketchup-

You’ll also love…

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Japanese Hamburger Steak

  • Author: Michelle
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
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Description

This Japanese Hamburger Steak is a sweet, savoy, and simple one-pan meal. It’s paleo and can be made whole30 and AIP-friendly.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1/2 lb ground beef
  • 1/2 lb ground pork (sub all ground beef)
  • 2 tbsp coconut flour
  • 1 tbsp coconut aminos
  • 3/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper (omit for AIP)
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp avocado oil
  • 1/4 cup coconut aminos
  • 1/4 cup compliant ketchup (use sugar free for whole30, I used this for AIP. See blog post above for more options)
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (sub 2 tsp apple cider vinegar)

Instructions

  1. Using a medium bowl, combine the ground meat, coconut flour, and seasonings and mix well. Form into 4 burgers and set aside.
  2. Heat the avocado oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the burgers, being careful to not overcrowd the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, flipping often until fully cooked through. Set aside and drain any excess fat from the pan.
  3. Combine the coconut aminos, ketchup and vinegar in a small bowl and mix well.
  4. Pour the sauce mixture into the pan along with the burgers. Coat the burgers in the sauce and cook for another minute.
  5. Serve with a side of vegetables such as cauliflower rice and broccoli.

Notes

All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Estimations do not include optional ingredients.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 351
  • Fat: 21.1g
  • Carbohydrates: 15.7g
  • Fiber: 1.6g
  • Protein: 23.1g