These halloumi bagel burgers include crispy halloumi, creamy homemade coleslaw and chutney. All served in a wonderfully buttery and crispy poppyseed bagel.
Bagels
Halloumi bagel burgers are one of my favourites to whip up. They are so easy to make and they are always delicious! These burgers are from the New York Bakery Co. and are Everything Deli Bagels. I absolutely love these bagels and I think they make excellent burger buns for the halloumi. If you don’t want to or can’t use these bagels, then my second choice would be to find some sesame seed bagels. I in reality you can use any bagel, burger bun or roll that you want.
Whatever burger bun you decide to use, I recommend covering each side with butter and grilling until crispy. I like to add this step in because it adds another layer to the bagels. They taste extra crispy and extra buttery and just all-round amazing. This step is completely optional. If you are trying to cut out some butter or don’t have time to grill, then you can pop them in the toaster until crispy instead. I prefer the taste and texture of adding extra butter and grilling. That being said I don’t do this every time as it is not always convenient and isn’t exactly healthy.
Do I need to soak the Halloumi?
I love halloumi and I think it is very versatile. Even for burgers you can prepare it in quite a few different ways. If you’ve had a halloumi bagel burger before, and its been a bit too ‘squeaky’ then I recommend soaking the halloumi beforehand. Whenever I cook halloumi in large chunks, I like to soak it in cold water. I would do this for at least an hour before I cook it, ideally 2-3 hours. I do this by placing the block of cheese into a bowl and filling with cold water- its that simple.
Soaking the halloumi in water helps to remove excess saltiness and it also softens the cheese which is why the texture will be a little less ‘squeaky’. I like to do this most of the time when I cook with halloumi, however I would most definitely recommend this step when making burgers. This is because we are keeping the halloumi quite chunky and so we don’t want the large chunks to be too squeaky or tough.
Check out some of my other halloumi recipes.
Once soaked, pat dry, chop, and toss in flour before frying. When I am making halloumi bagel burgers in I like to cut into sixths. Slice once down the middle, creating two large rectangles and then cut each half into 3 strips. These will fit quite nicely into each bagel.
Cooking the Halloumi
I would recommend using corn flour for frying the halloumi plain flour will also be fine. I also mix in my spices with the flour so that you get an even coating over the halloumi blocks. Personally, my favourite spices are hot paprika and turmeric but feel free to use any of your favourite spices.
To do this, you will want to add a large amount of flour to a flat place or wide bowl and use a fork to mix together with the spices. Mix in the halloumi until all sides are coated, tap gently to remove any excess flour, and add to some hot oil. These should be fried until crispy on all sides and you will want to turn them regularly to prevent sticking to the pan and ensure even crispiness.
Sides with you Halloumi Bagel Burgers
Sweet Potato Fries
If you have any leftover flour like I did, I used it to coat some sweet potato and baked in a hot oven to create crispy sweet potato fries. If you want to do this as well, wash, peel and cut the sweet potato into strips. Toss in a small amount of oil and mix in the flour and spices and bake in a hot oven. I find my sweet potato fries turn out better if I keep them a bit chunkier.
Check out some of my other sweet potato recipes.
Homemade Slaw
In addition to the crispy halloumi and buttery bagels, I made extra creamy coleslaw to make the burgers even more indulgent. I did this by mixing chopped red cabbage, fresh spinach and finely grated carrot together with some mayonnaise, tahini, a squeeze of lemon juice and a dash of celery salt.
I do know not everyone always has tahini or celery salt to hand so if you don’t have these you can leave them out of the recipe, as long as you have tasty mayo, it will be tasty!
Don’t forget the chutney
The last ingredient we are adding to the burger is a thick spread of chutney. I don’t have a recipe for this so just use your favourite. An onion chutney is one of my favourites but honestly any chutney will be tasty in this dish. I served my burgers with some fresh greens, extra slaw and crispy sweet potato fries.
Halloumi Bagel Burgers
Ingredients
- 4 Poppyseed Sesame Bagels (Normal bagels are also fine)
- 450 g Halloumi
- 1 Cup Slice Red Cabbage
- 1 Carrot Finely Grated
- 4 tbsp Mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Celery Salt
- 2 tsp Tahini
- 2 tsp Turmeric
- 2 tsp Paprika
- Onion Chutney
- ½ Cup Cornflour For coating
- Oil For Frying
Instructions
- Drain and remove the halloumi from all packaging, place in a bowl and fill with cold water. Leave this to soak for an hour or longer if possible.
- Prepare the slaw by mixing together the red cabbage, carrot, spinach, mayonnaise, celery salt and tahini.
- Place the cornflour in a wide bowl or plate and mix together with the spices.
- After it has soaked, remove the halloumi from the water, pat dry and cut into large chunks. I usually tend to cut a block of halloumi down the middle lengthways and then cut each half into thirds.
- Heat some oil in a frying pan and swirl to ensure the bottom is coated. Toss the halloumi in the flour and tap to remove any excess flour and add to the pan once the oil is hot.
- Once crispy on the bottom, turn the halloumi chunks and repeat until crispy on all sides. You may want to keep the halloumi moving around the pan to make sure it doesn’t stick.
- Slice the bagels into halves and butter each side. Place under the grill for a few minutes on either side until fully crispy.
- Spread a thick layer of chutney on the bottom half of the bagel, top with the slaw and top that with the halloumi.
- Serve with any extra slaw, fries or salad.
