Venison burger and chips recipe

Bun-free, high-protein venison burgers make the ultimate healthy dinner.

This venison burger and chips recipe comes in at only 295 calories. It's a full meal that feels like a treat but is actually really healthy. Venison contains more protein than any other red meat which means it's great for sustaining healthy muscles. Not only that, it will make you feel fuller for longer. And chips don't have to be unhealthy - these homemade oven baked ones are cooked in almost no fat at all, and they taste great. This recipe serves one - it's a great post gym pick-me-up. If you want to serve more people, it's easy just to multiply the amounts.

Ingredients

For the chips:

• 1 large maris piper potato (about 175g/6oz)
• Spray oil

For the burgers:

• 125g venison steak, roughly chopped
• 1tbsp quark
• 2 spring onions
• 1tsp freshly chopped thyme

To serve:

• 6 baby plum tomatoes, halved
• 4 small gherkins

Method

1. Set the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
2. Cut the potato into chips. Cook them in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain well and spread them out on a baking tray. Spray very lightly with oil. Bake in the centre of the oven for 15 minutes.
3. Place the venison, quark, spring onion and thyme in a food processor and whizz until just blended. Shape into 2 burgers and place on a sheet of baking parchment.
4. Remove the baking tray with the chips from the oven, turn them over and move them to one side of the tray. Place the parchment with the burgers on the other side of it and bake for 15 minutes. Serve immediately with tomato and sliced gherkins.

Top tip for making venison burger and chips

There's no need to peel the potato before you chop it into chips, unless you prefer to. The burgers can be made up to 24 hours in advance and kept in the fridge before cooking. Similarly you can chop the chips and store them in a pan of water in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

If you haven't used quark before, it's worth discovering. It's a dairy ingredient, made from milk curds, and it gives foods a lovely creaminess - a bit like a mild cream cheese. However, it's low in calories and fat, but high in protein. Find it in the yoghurt aisle at supermarkets.

If you prefer the tomatoes cooked, add them to the baking tray 10 minutes before the end of cooking.

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