After extensive taste tests and on-campus research, Rutgers University thinks it has built a better burger.

The new signature hamburger -- which blends ground beef, mushrooms, onions, celery, parsley, miso paste, egg and other ingredients -- has been getting high marks in campus dining halls.

Now, the Rutgers burger, dubbed the Sizzling Scarlet Knight burger, is competing against burgers at 14 other large universities to see which campus has the best healthy hamburger in the nation.

University officials are encouraging students, faculty and staff to vote online for the Rutgers entry in the "Blended Burger" competition run by the James Beard Foundation, a prestigious culinary arts organization.

The contest is promoting the idea that traditional hamburgers can be replaced with tastier and more eco-friendly versions that swap out some or all of the ground beef for mushrooms and other healthier ingredients.

"Winning would be an honor that would bring more notoriety to Rutgers and give us the bragging rights to having the best blended burger in the country," said Peggy Policastro, director of behavioral nutrition at Rutgers' New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health and nutrition specialist for the university's dining halls.

The two universities that receive the most online votes before Dec. 15 will face off at the James Beard House in New York City in April to cook their signature burgers.

Anyone, even if you are not affiliated with the university, can vote once a day. As of Wednesday afternoon, Rutgers University was in third place among the 15 universities in the competition.

The top two vote-getters were the University of Massachusetts Amherst (with its Chicken Tikka Masala Burger with eggplant raita, cilantro and red onions) and North Carolina State University (with its Carolina Style BBQ Blended Burger made with smoked Cremini and button mushrooms that are ground with chuck steak).

The Rutgers burger was developed as part of the university's efforts to offer healthier food in its dining halls.

The university, which is best known for the calorie-laden "Fat Sandwiches" served at campus food trucks, recently joined the "Menus of Change" movement led by Stanford University and the Culinary Institute of America that encourages dining halls to offer food that uses less resources and is more environmentally friendly.

Rutgers Dining Services introduced the Sizzling Scarlet Knight burger last spring after testing the idea of a blended burger on students. The version of the burger that used 50 percent white button mushrooms and 50 percent ground beef with added spices got the highest marks, campus officials said.

"What better vehicle to introduce stealth health into the student body than through the iconic burger,'' said Ian Keith, a Rutgers chef who is leading the effort to redesign campus menus.

The 8-ounce Rutgers burger, which is seared in sunflower oil and served on a whole wheat kaiser bun, has half the fat of a traditional burger, Keith said. The mushrooms and other vegetables add fiber and reduce the amount of red meat needed.

"Cows produce 500 million tons of manure each year, releasing more greenhouse gasses than 22 million cars,'' Keith said. "Americans eat 50 billion burgers a year. By taking four ounces of red meat in an 8-ounce burger and replacing it with mushrooms, we are helping to cut that number in half.''

The burger is currently served on Rutgers' New Brunswick-Piscataway and Camden campuses. It is on the daily menu at Livingston Dining Commons and Henry's Diner on the Piscataway campus and is available for takeout at the Neilson and Busch dining halls in New Brunswick.

It is not available at Rutgers-Newark, where an outside contractor oversees the dining hall food, school officials said.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.