SummaryIn order to increase their safety and shelf‐life, raw hamburgers containing 30, 45 and 60 g kg−1 dry tomato peel (DTP) as a source of lycopene were manufactured, vacuum‐packed and irradiated with 2 or 4 kGy. The effects of this treatment on microbial load, lycopene concentration, physico‐chemical and sensory properties were studied during 17 days of refrigerated storage. After irradiation with 4 kGy and 17 days of storage, microbial levels fell, four logarithmic cycles and the lycopene concentration fell to 15% of the initial value. Even with this decrease, hamburgers containing 6% DTP had a final lycopene concentration of 7.14 mg per 100 g of hamburger, an amount very close to the recommended daily intake for a healthy diet. DTP masks the brownish colour characteristic of irradiated meat, and 6% DTP gives to the hamburger similar redness (a* parameter), independently of the dose of radiation applied. Sensory characteristics were influenced by irradiation, but the higher lycopene concentration (6 g kg−1) masked these changes sufficiently to assure an acceptable colour and odour in the final product after the storage period.