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Frita

The frita, or Cuban hamburger, is mostly found in southern Florida. It originated during the 1930s in Cuba where it was served by street vendors. It is believed that Dagoberto Estevil brought the sandwich to the United States in 1961 when he opened a restaurant called Fritas Domino in the Little Havana section of Miami. A frita is traditionally made with a patty of beef and pork— often chorizo sausage—and topped with shoestring potatoes.    

Recipe Servings: 6

Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Total Time
25 minutes
Vegetarian
Vegan
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Kosher
Halal

Ingredients

Sauce:
Shoestring Potatoes:
Fritas (Burgers):

Directions

    Sauce:
  1. Combine the oil, tomato paste, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper in a small saucepan set over medium heat.
  2. Cook the mixture for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until it is fragrant and rusty in color.
  3. Whisk in the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt until smooth.
  4. Bring the mixture to a boil before reducing the heat to low and simmering for 10–15 minutes, whisking occasionally.
  5. Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool.
  6. Shoestring Potatoes:
  7. Preheat the oven to 200°F.
  8. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and then add the shoestring potatoes.
  9. Fry the potatoes, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until they are hot and slightly golden.
  10. Transfer the potatoes to a baking dish and place them in the warm oven until they are needed to assemble the sandwiches.
  11. Fritas (Burgers):
  12. Mix together the beef, pork, garlic, and onion in a large bowl until well combined.
  13. Blend in the ketchup, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper.
  14. Form the meat mixture into six patties and fry them on a griddle or in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Just before they are cooked to medium well, reduce the heat to medium-low and cover them in the sauce.
  15. Continue frying for about 1 minute or until the patties are cooked through and then remove them from the heat.
  16. Assembly:
  17. Spread sauce onto the inside of each bun.
  18. Place a patty onto each of the bottom halves of the buns.
  19. Pile about a ½ cup of the shoestring potatoes onto each patty and top them with the other halves of the buns.
  20. Serve the fritas hot with additional shoestring potatoes on the side.      

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