Fully Loaded Burger Bowl with “Special Sauce”

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”.

How to Make This Recipe

See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.

cOOK THE BURGER MEAT

Season 1 pound of ground beef with a little garlic powder and salt, stirring it all together in a big bowl to make sure the spices are really well incorporated. Add the seasoned ground beef to a large skillet with a teaspoon of hot avocado oil and cook it, stirring often, until the meat is browned and crumbled. Transfer it to a plate or a bowl and set the ground beef aside.

Make the Special Sauce

While the ground book cooks, add all your sauce ingredients – mayo, ketchup, maple syrup (IF you’re not Whole30!), relish, dried minced onion, crushed red pepper, and salt – to a mixing bowl. Stir it all together then taste and adjust the amounts of each ingredient to dial in the flavors. Set it aside until it’s time to serve your burger bowl.

mASH UP SOME GUAC

The flesh from a couple of avocados, the juice from a lemon, and a little salt. Toss them all into a bowl, then mash them together with a fork until you’ve got a guac consistency you like.

sAUTÉ THE ONIONS

Add slices of red onion to the skillet you used for the ground beef and arrange them in a single layer, making sure none of the slices touch or overlap. If you’re using a smaller skillet, you may need to work in batches. Let the onions cook just until they’re browned on the underside, then flip them over and cook them until they’re browned on both sides.

bRING IT aLL tOGETHER

Lay a bed of romaine lettuce in a bowl, then top the lettuce with ground beef, cherry tomatoes, dill pickle chips, bacon, the sautéed red onions, a dollop of guac, and any other toppings you like. Finish it off with a drizzle of prepared special sauce and enjoy!

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.

Recipe Variations

• Change Up Your Protein: 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.
• 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.

Recipe By: Cheryl Malik

4.99 from 56 votes

Fully Loaded Burger Bowl with “Special Sauce”

Prep 20 minutes minutes

Cook 15 minutes minutes

Total 35 minutes minutes

Loaded burger bowls with pickles, bacon, a quick guacamole, and a "special sauce"! An easy and satisfying alternative to lettuce wrapped burgers.

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4 burger bowls

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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

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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.

Click for Nutrition Info

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.

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