This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy.

A fully-loaded burger in a bowl takes everything you love about a classic hamburger, throws out the bun, and layers the rest in a satisfying and mouthwatering salad-style dish. It’s a quick and easy alternative to lettuce-wrapped burgers that you can dress up with all your favorite toppings, including our super simple “special sauce”.

Top-down view of a loaded burger bowl with pickles, onions, ground beef, and special sauce.

🥗 What Makes This Recipe So Good

  • Similar to burrito bowls or taco salads, a burger bowl takes all the amazing parts of a really good burger (minus the bun) and layers them all on top of a bed of chopped romaine lettuce. It’s a great alternative to lettuce-wrapped burgers because you don’t have to deal with all the dripping mess or the uneven topping distribution. You’ll get a little bit of everything in every bite this way.
  • This burger bowl in particular is absolutely loaded with incredible flavors. Savory seasoned ground beef. Salty bacon. Sweet red onions. Briny pickles. Citrusy guacamole. A tangy burger sauce. And it’s all thanks to simple, real-food ingredients.
  • This recipe is naturally paleo-friendly, dairy free, gluten free, and low carb, but with a simple ingredient swap you can also make it Whole30-compatible! You can even take things a step further and make it into a keto burger bowl if you need to. I’ve included everything you’ll want to keep in mind to fit those dietary needs, so be sure to check out the recipe notes down below.

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

  • Should you use ground beef patties or ground beef crumbles in a burger bowl? Well, it’s up to you, but I prefer crumbled ground beef for a couple of reasons. For one, the crumbles stay tender longer than a thick patty you have to cut into multiple times. Also, you’re way more likely to get ground beef in every bite if it’s crumbled up. And, maybe most importantly, it’s much easier to get the perfect doneness on ground beef crumbles than on a burger patty, especially if you’re cooking for multiple people.
  • You don’t have to use ground beef if you don’t like, don’t have it, or just don’t want to use it! Burger bowls work just as well with ground turkey, ground chicken, ground bison, ground pork, etc. You can even use ground seitan for a meatless option.
  • If you’re meal prepping your burger bowls, I recommend packing the ground beef and the special sauce separately from the lettuce and toppings. That way, you can warm up the ground beef without having to eat hot lettuce, and your toppings won’t get soggy from sitting under the sauce for a day or two.
Angled view of a loaded burger bowl with pickles, onions, ground beef, and special sauce.

🥘 More Dinner Recipes You’ll Love

Top-down view of a loaded burger bowl with pickles, onions, ground beef, and special sauce.
Recipe By: Cheryl Malik
4.99 from 56 votes

Fully Loaded Burger Bowl with “Special Sauce”

Prep 20 minutes
Cook 15 minutes
Total 35 minutes
Loaded burger bowls with pickles, bacon, a quick guacamole, and a "special sauce"! An easy and satisfying alternative to lettuce wrapped burgers.
Remove Ads
4 burger bowls

Equipment

  • 2 medium mixing bowls
  • Large skillet cast-iron preferred
  • Spatula or large wooden spoon
  • whisk
  • small mixing bowl
  • Fork
  • 2 medium bowls or plates
  • Serving bowls

Ingredients

For the Burgers

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 4 teaspoons garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
  • 1 teaspoon avocado oil or melted refined coconut oil

For the Special Sauce

  • ½ cup mayonnaise see Notes
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup see Notes
  • 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or 1 tablespoon coconut aminos if on Whole30, see Notes
  • 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish
  • 2 teaspoons dried minced onion
  • 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes more or less to taste
  • 1 pinch salt more or less to taste

For the Quick Guacamole

  • 2 medium avocados pit removed, peeled
  • ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice juice from approximately half of 1 lemon
  • ½ teaspoon salt more or less to taste

For the Bowls (All Optional)

  • 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
  • 2 small heads romaine lettuce leaves only, roughly chopped; approximately 8-9 cups total
  • 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes halved; or grape tomatoes, halved
  • ½ cup pickle chips plus more to taste
  • 8-10 slices thick-cut bacon cooked, crumbled

Instructions

For the Burgers

  • Add 1 pound lean ground beef, 4 teaspoons garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon salt to medium mixing bowl. Use hands or wooden spoon to mix ingredients together until well combined. Set bowl aside.
  • Heat large skillet over medium heat. When pan is warm, add 1 teaspoon avocado oil and swirl or tilt pan to distribute oil across surface. Continue heating pan until oil is hot and shimmery.
  • When oil is ready, add ground beef mixture to skillet. Cook beef, stirring frequently, until browned and crumbled. While ground beef cooks, prepare guacamole and special sauce.

For the Special Sauce

  • Add ½ cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons ketchup, 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup (see Notes), 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish, 2 teaspoons dried minced onion, 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, and 1 pinch salt to second medium mixing bowl.
  • Whisk ingredients together until fully combined. Taste and adjust quantities as needed. When satisfied with flavor, set sauce aside until ready to serve.

For the Guacamole

  • Add 2 medium avocados, ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon salt to small mixing bowl. Use fork to mash ingredients together until fully combined. When desired consistency is achieved, set bowl aside until ready to serve guacamole.

For the Red Onions

  • When ground beef is fully cooked and crumbled, transfer beef to medium bowl or plate and set aside. Return skillet to medium heat.
  • Add 1 cup thinly sliced red onion to skillet in single layer. Work in batches as needed to avoid layering onions or overcrowding pan. Cook onion slices until lightly charred on underside, then flip onions over and cook until charred on other side.
  • Transfer sautéed red onions to second medium bowl or plate and set aside. Repeat with any remaining onions until all onions have been sautéed.

For the Burger Bowls

  • Divide 2 small heads romaine lettuce evenly between serving bowls.
  • Divide ground beef mixture into 4 equal portions. Place one portion in center of each serving bowl, on top of lettuce layer.
  • Arrange equal portions of 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, ½ cup pickle chips, 8-10 slices thick-cut bacon, sautéed red onions, prepared guacamole, and other preferred toppings around ground beef in each bowl.
  • Drizzle plenty of special sauce over top of burger bowls and serve immediately with additional sauce if desired.
  • Maple Syrup: If you’re on a Whole30 round, do NOT use maple syrup! Replace the maple syrup with 1 tablespoon coconut aminos. If you’re not on a Whole30 round, use maple syrup as instructed, and don’t use coconut aminos.
  • Coconut Aminos: If you’re not following a Whole30 diet, use maple syrup instead of coconut aminos. If you are on a Whole30 round, replace the maple syrup with 1 tablespoon coconut aminos.
  • Lemon Juice: Replace the lemon juice in the guac with lime juice for more of a Tex-Mex flavor.
  • Make it Whole30: Use a Whole30-compatible mayo (store-bought or make your own), a Whole30-compatible ketchup (store-bought or make your own), and do NOT use maple syrup in the sauce! Instead, replace the maple syrup with 1 tablespoon coconut aminos. Make sure your bacon is Whole30-compatible, too.
  • Make it Keto: Replace the maple syrup with a maple-flavored keto sweetener, like Lakanto’s Sugar-Free Maple Syrup. Use a keto ketchup (store-bought or make your own). Use a sugar-free bacon. Omit the guacamole, tomatoes, and red onions to lower the carb count even more.

Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1burger bowlCalories: 875calProtein: 36gFat: 71gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 133mgSodium: 1596mgPotassium: 1330mgTotal Carbs: 25gFiber: 8gSugar: 10gNet Carbs: 17gVitamin A: 8674IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 97mgIron: 5mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

Did You Make This Recipe?

Tag @40aprons on Instagram and be sure to leave a review on the blog post!

Rate this Recipe Tag @40Aprons on Instagram
Cheryl Malik

In addition to being a certified health coach, certified yoga instructor, and mom of 3, Cheryl is also the recipe developer, editor-in-chief, food photographer, and passionate foodie behind 40 Aprons. Having spent the last 10+ years as a food blogger, she's become known for her flavorful recipes, detailed instructions, gorgeous photography, and down-to-earth approach to food and cooking in general.

Never Miss A Meal!

New Recipes Straight To Your Inbox

A curated selection of our most recent recipes, delivered straight to your inbox once a week.

Leave A Review

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

115 Comments

  1. We really enjoyed this. I am low carb so I ate it the Whole 30 way. I made basmati rice for my family which they ate with the burger meat and toppings and had salad on the side. I will be making this again soon. Thst special sauce scratched an itch I didn’t know I had!5 stars

    Reply

  2. So flipping amazing!!
    I made this with some roasted sweet potato cubes and cashew garlic cream cheese….. Unreal. Pickles make this dish ?
    My husband absolutely adores lettuce burgers, but always ends up using a fork and knife too! This is the perfect solution ♥️5 stars

    Reply

  3. This burger bowl is SO good, and I don’t feel guilty eating it. From the crumbled beef, to the salty crispy bacon, and the amazing sauce …everything about it was tasty! Thank you for sharing this recipe. It will be in my regular rotation!5 stars

    Reply

  4. This was amazing! I used Primal Avocado Ranch dressing instead of making my own, and I forgot the bacon (no!!!) but it was still amazing! thanks for the quick and easy lunch idea!5 stars

    Reply

  5. Cheryl!!! This burger bowl is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing you gift of creating reviews with others. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ This is going to be staple in our “newly” low carb household. Now I’m going to download you’re cookbook and make all your recipes!5 stars

    Reply

  6. Made this recipe last night and am so upset that I never made the Whole 30 Ketchup recipe on your blog when we first started! It is so tasty! Anyways, loved the burger bowl, the ketchup AND the mayo recipe. I think all of the Whole 30 recipes from your blog have all been winners, actually. Thank you for making it less difficult by offering really yummy recipes when it seems like so much is off limits. 🙂5 stars

    Reply

  9. I made this to show my husband how tasty it could be if we try whole30. It was a big hit! I garnished with sesame seeds as a play on a sesame seed bun.5 stars

    Reply

  10. So, maple syrup if NOT on a Whole30 and coconut aminos if you are? Not both? Having this for dinner tonight and I’m excited!

    *not doing a whole30 right now

    Reply

Where To Next?