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Go Gr

Green chile burger

noun | encyclopedia/cuisine
Pronounced: \green chil-ee bur-ger, green chee-lay bur-ger\
IPA: /grin ˈtʃɪl i ˈbɜr gər, grin ˈtʃi lɛ ˈbɜr gər/

Definition of green chile burger

New Mexican; a variation of the classic American burger, a cooked ground meat (usually beef) patty between two pieces of bread, with green New Mexico chile on top of the ground meat. The green chile cheeseburger is the most common variation of this dish.

lexicon/new-mexican-cuisine

Examples of green chile burger

Origin of green chile burger

Green chile burgers originated in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when Route 66 arrived through New Mexico. Several restaurants have numerous stories about the origin of the green chile burger, well into the 1940s; one common story revolves to The Owl Bar and Cafe in San Antonio, in Socorro County, when scientists working on the Manhattan Project would order burgers with green New Mexico chile on the side. One day, the dishwasher didn’t show up to work, and since the bowls which usually held the green chile were dirty, they instead put the green chile on the burger patty instead.


First Known Use: 20th century
Alternate spellings exist; Hatch chile burger, New Mexico burger
Popular variation; Green chile cheeseburger