Burger Bowls

Easy to make, these Burger Bowls hit the spot for dinnertime! They’re naturally gluten-free and can be dairy-free as well. Loaded with all your favorite burger toppings, this bowl meal is packed with protein, veggies, and flavor. It’s all drizzled with secret sauce dressing for extra punch. And you’ll find my tips on how to make these burger bowls ‘animal style’ just like In and Out burgers!

These burger bowls are one of our personal most-made recipes, and you’ll find it on our menu on the regular. During the summer months, we’ve been known to eat these tasty bowls 4+ times per week.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Ground beef – I like to use 85/15 or 90/10 lean ground beef for this recipe. It’s best not to have too much extra fat with the cooked ground beef when you put together the burger bowls. I find the texture of beef fat unpleasant on lettuce. So, if you feel like there is too much when you’re cooking it, drain it off before seasoning. You can also use ground turkey for a lighter salad.
• Bacon – is optional, but crispy bacon bits are really tasty in a burger bowl. Omit it if you don’t like bacon on your burger or if you’re short on time.
• Cheddar cheese – grated aged cheddar cheese adds a lot of flavor to a burger bowl and we’re huge cheese fans in this house. But you can omit it for dairy-free or use your favorite dairy-free cheese.
• Romaine – is our favorite lettuce for burger bowls with plenty of good crunch. We also really enjoy locally grown iceberg lettuce in the summer, green leaf or red leaf lettuce as well. I’ve even used mixed greens when it’s all I have but they do lack a good crunch!
• Tomatoes – use the ripest tomatoes you can get cut into bite-sized pieces. I lean towards cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes because they’re the most consistent in flavor you can buy from the store.
• Red onion – I use red onion for milder flavor when we add it diced up raw. But any onion works and you’ll find my caramelized variation in the recipe as well. For even the most subtle flavor, try sliced green onion.
• Pickles – are also optional, just use whatever pickle you enjoy most on your burger. We love using Bubbie’s pickles, they have to be the best dill pickles I’ve ever tasted!
• Secret sauce – I use avocado oil mayo, sugar-free ketchup, garlic, vinegar, and maple syrup in my secret sauce. You can get sugar-free ketchup from Primal Kitchen or use regular ketchup and reduce or omit the maple syrup.
• Mustard – I like to add yellow mustard to the ground beef the way In and Out adds a thin smear of yellow mustard to their beef patties. It adds just the right depth of flavor to the ground beef. You could also use Dijon mustard, but we both prefer yellow mustard for a more classic flavor.

Step 1: Start by mixing up the secret sauce, also called ‘special sauce’ and set it aside in the refrigerator while you finish the recipe.

Step 2: Next cut up your tomatoes into bite sized pieces. Cut up the lettuce, wash, and spin dry in a salad spinner. Finely dice the onion, or follow my caramelized variation in the recipe card.

Step 3: Cook the diced bacon over medium heat until the fat renders out and the bacon is crispy. Drain and reserve the bacon grease for another use and set the bacon bits aside.

Step 4: In the same pan cook the ground beef breaking it up into small bits until cooked through. Drain off any excess grease if needed. Then add the yellow mustard and season to taste with sea salt.

Step 5: Serve everything family-style or assemble into serving bowl(s). Drizzle with the secret sauce or serve it on the side.

Ways to serve this

• If it’s too hot to cook, use a cast iron pan on your grill to cook the bacon bits. Then, grill the beef in a burger patty shape to serve in the burger bowls. This is how I originally wrote the recipe for those ‘dog days’ of summer. Most of the time, we cook it on the stovetop now, but my grill method works great, too!
• Add some of my Grilled Potatoes as a side dish, or my Instant Pot Crispy Potatoes. This is our at-home version of ‘burger and fries’. My Roasted Sweet Potatoes are really good with these bowls, too, in September and October. They’re cut into cubes, but you could cut them into sweet potato fries, and they come together easily on a baking sheet.

Storing leftovers

• To store – store the leftovers in separate storage containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If the burger bowls are tossed together like a salad, refrigerate and eat within 1 day and it will get a little soggy.
• Make ahead – the secret sauce can be made ahead, veggies can be prepped, and bacon bits can be cooked ahead up to 3 days as part of meal prep.
• Reheating – reheat the burger meat over medium heat stirring often until heated through and serve with the salad ingredients and sauce.
• To freeze –the bacon bits can be prepped and frozen ahead as well as the burger meat. Everything else needs to be fresh and cannot be frozen.

Dietary Options & Substitutions

• Dairy-free – omit the cheese or use your favorite dairy-free cheese option.
• Paleo: omit the cheese and use the sugar-free ketchup from Primal Kitchen. For Whole30, omit the maple syrup and make sure your yellow mustard and pickles are Whole30 compatible.

More Bowl Recipe Inspiration

• Taco Bowls
• Korean Ground Beef Bowls
• Fish Taco Bowls
• Banh Mi Burger Bowls
• Sriracha Shrimp Sushi Bowls