Cheeseburger Bowls

These delicious bacon cheeseburger bowls absolutely hit every cheeseburger craving I could possibly have. They are full of protein, full of flavor, and low on carbs.

Cheeseburger Salad

This cheeseburger bowl is essentially a cheeseburger salad, but I promise you that this is not another boring salad. It is really similar to a Big Mac Bowl or a Five Guys Burger Bowls, and actually really easy to make. My wife and I rarely feel satisfied with a salad, but when I made these we could not stop commenting about how good these are the entire time we were eating these.

I have been on a huge burger kick every since I made these Oven-Baked Burgers, so I wanted to see if I could make these in salad form and actually feel satisfied. The answer is YES! The secret to being satisfied is to really load them up with tons of texture and different flavors. Here are all of the components:

Romaine Lettuce – I start out with two hearts of romaine lettuce and cut them up into strips. I like using romaine lettuce because of the crunch factor and also it is just an easy lettuce to love.

Tomato – I diced up a tomato and added it on top of the lettuce. I like the juiciness that the tomato supplies and I feel like it was needed.

Ground Beef – This is probably the most important ingredient in the salad. You want to season your beef the way the meat on a cheeseburger might be seasoned. Normally burger meat is not seasoned as much as taco meat, so no need to go overboard. I find that just 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/2 teasepoon of garlic powder does the trick and goes really well with the remaining ingredients

Also, I used 90/10 ground beef. You could go a little bit leaner, and it will still be delicious. If you are using 80/20 beef, I definitely recommend draining the oil out of all of your meat before you add it to the salad or else you have a really greasy and wet salad.

Bacon – I am clearly a huge fan of bacon and I like to add it anywhere I feel it fits. The bacon adds saltiness and a crunch factor. I pre-cook my bacon in the morning or even the day before. I like to chop it up before I cook it because it creates even pieces. If you cook it in strips and then cut it, it will end up breaking during the cutting process.

Avocado – This ingredient may not be traditional on a cheeseburger or in a big mac, but it gives this salad an additional texture that it needs. Just trust me on this one. If you absolutely hate avocado, it is totally fine to omit it, but the creaminess that it adds is so sooo delicious.

Pickles – Pure deliciousness. I like to use “bread and butter” pickles which are a bit sweet. With all of the other savory ingredients, it pairs really nicely. I dice them up and they taste amazing in this salad. It really makes it taste like a big mac bowl aka a big mac salad.

Cheese – Shredded cheddar is the move here. I shredded it myself so it didn’t have any of those preservatives around each shred. I could never make a cheeseburger salad without cheese obviously! If you add the cheese to the salad while the beef is slightly warm, the cheese will sort of melt into the meat and it is just absolutely *chefs kiss*

Dressing – I made a very simplified version of big mac sauce and just combined ketchup, regular mayonnaise, spicy mayonnaise, and a tiny bit of mustard. Since I added pickles to the salad already, no need to add any relish to the dressing.

Cheeseburger Bowls Recipe

This salad definitely has a lot of components to prep, but that is the reason why it is better than your average salad and also the reason it is really filling. First, I layered my washed and cut romaine lettuce, and then I added my beef, bacon, tomatoes, avocado, pickles, cheese, and dressing. I also added a tiny bit of red onion just for a tiny kick and I feel that it is normally on a cheese burger so it was fitting. Keep in mind that the order of the ingredients does not matter.

You can literally throw it all in a large bowl and then mix it, which is a lot easier to ensure that the dressing gets in every bite. I am actually getting hungry for another one of these salads as I write up this blog post. That is how good it is.

Meal Prep Cheeseburger Bowls

If you are going to meal prep these cheeseburgers salads, I would keep as many of the ingredients separate while being refrigerated if you can. Especially the dressing. If you mix the salad ahead of time, it may be super wilted after keeping it in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, when I am packing my lunch, I put the majority of the ingredients in a container like this and then I keep my meat and dressing in individual containers. The reason I keep the meat separated is because I like to heat it up before I add it to my salad, but I don’t like to heat the lettuce or tomatoes. I also like to keep the dressing separated so that the rest of the salad does not wilt while it is sitting in the fridge at work.

INGREDIENTS  

• 1 heart Romaine Lettuce
• 1/4 cup Tomato diced
• 1/8 cup Red Onion diced
• 1/4 cup Bread and Butter Pickles diced
• 1/2 Avocado
• 2-3 slices Bacon
• 1/4 cup Ground Beef
• 1/4 cup Shredded Cheddar

Dressing

• 2 tbsp Mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Spicy Mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Mustard
• 1 tbsp Ketchup
• 1 small splash of white vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS 

Cheeseburger Bowls

• Chop and cook your Bacon
• Season and cook your ground beef with 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon of sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
• Chop all of your vegetables while your beef is cooking.
• Shred your cheese
• Layer your salad and pour your dressing on top.

Dressing

• mix all ingredients together in a bowl and then either spoon it on your salad or pour it in a squirt bottle so you can drizzle it.