The world champions head to Twickenham on November 8, but seven-cap Burrell is set to miss out for the hosts with a hand injury sustained in Northampton Saints' European Champions Cup victory over the Ospreys at the weekend.
After tackling the All Blacks, England will go toe-to-toe with South Africa, Samoa and Australia.
And Lancaster remains hopeful that Burrell - who has 15 international points to his name - will be able to recover for those games.
"I think it would be tight for New Zealand, if I'm being honest," Lancaster said.
"He's not been in camp this week at all. He's seeing the specialist and it will probably unfold over the weekend.
"He's still in the equation further down the line. He's definitely not out the series. We'll see how he goes.
"If the specialist is positive, then potentially he could come back into camp next week, but he won't have done any of the work.
"It would be a big step to put him in [against New Zealand]."