This one-dish dinner has everything you love about a cheeseburger, minus the bun! I’m calling them Cheeseburger Salad Bowls because you can customize these and make them more of a salad with some burger, or more of a burger with a little salad, ya know? Either way you’ve got flavorful beef covered in melty cheese, chopped onions, tomato and pickle, crispy bacon (if you want a bacon cheeseburger) with crunchy potato stix as fries! The dressing is based on my beloved fry sauce and it brings all the flavors together. My kids all love this recipe and have requested it multiple times, which is always the sign of a winning dish.
Ingredients Needed
- Lean Ground Beef – I like to use a lean ground beef because we’ll load it with seasoning as it cooks and if you use beef with a higher fat content, it will taste great, but you’ll need to drain the fat and you’ll lose some of that seasoning in the process.
- Bacon – I have this as an optional ingredient. If you love a bacon cheeseburger it’s a great addition, but it’s still great without it! Cooking it in the oven or the air fryer is quick and hands off.
- Spices – Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika
- Cheese – This is one of the few instances I love American cheese for that burger-joint creaminess, but feel free to use any cheese you like.
- Shredded lettuce – I do a mix of iceberg and romaine.
- Onion – I prefer red for color but any onion works great.
- Dill Pickle – you’ll use both the pickles themselves and also some of the brine.
- Tomato – any kind will work great. You can dice up a plum tomato or use cherry tomatoes cut in half.
- Potato Stix – these are like potato chips but in little stick form. Look for them by the potato chips- I buy them at Walmart but you can always grab some from Amazon. You could also sub out actual french fries, baked crisp in the oven or air fryer.
- Mayonnaise
- Ketchup
- Worcestershire Sauce
How to Make Cheeseburger Salad Bowls
Here’s a quick overview of the process, you’ll find a complete printable recipe at the end of this article.
- First prep all of your salad ingredients so by the time you cook your meat it’s ready to be eaten nice and hot!
- Wash and shred lettuce, dice tomatoes, onions and pickles. Pull out potato stix.
- Whisk together your fry sauce salad dressing and set in the fridge until ready to use.
- Lastly, brown your ground beef. Once it’s completely cooked through, I like to place slices of cheese on top of it and then cover it with a lid so the cheese gets melted on top!
- Assemble your salads by putting everything together.
Storage and Other Tips
- If you have leftovers, store all components separately in the fridge.
- I like to put the ground beef on nice and hot. When we build our bowls, we use large shallow bowls and push the salad ingredients over to the side just a bit. Then pile in the hot and cheesy beef and mix it together as you eat. I love the contrast of hot and cold.
- If you want to prep anything ahead, you can chop and prep all of the separate ingredients and also make the dressing ahead and store in the fridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’d say Thousand Island is the closest store bought option (if you’re a fan of thousand island), but you also couldn’t go wrong with a great ranch dressing.
Of course! Use literally any cheese you like, or leave it out if you need a dairy free option.
If I didn’t do beef, I’d probably do a ground turkey. Of course you could do any protein you like (grilled chicken, etc) but it’s not going to have that classic burger flavor combo.
You could always bake up some crispy frozen french fries, it would be kind of like a side of crispy potatoes 🙂
Cheeseburger Salad Bowls
Ingredients
Dressing
- ½ cup Mayonnaise
- 1½ tablespoons Ketchup
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dill pickle brine
- ¼ teaspoon Smoked paprika
Salad
- 4-6 cups shredded Lettuce I like a combo of iceberg and Romaine
- ½ cup diced tomato or 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- ¼ cup Finely diced onion red or yellow
- ¼ cup Chopped dill pickle more if desired
- 6-8 slices Bacon cooked and crumbled
- ½ cup Potato stix
Ground Beef
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4-6 slices American cheese or any other cheese of your choice
Instructions
- Whisk together all dressing ingredients and set aside
- Prep all of your salad ingredients (minus the beef). Wash and chop your lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle.
- Cook your bacon if you haven't already. My favorite methods are in the oven or air fryer.
- Lastly, heat a large skillet to medium heat. Add a small drizzle of oil to coat bottom of pan. Add ground beef and sprinkle evenly with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and pepper. Cook until no longer pink and starting to brown and caramelize.
- Spread beef out evenly in skillet and turn heat off. Place cheese slices directly over beef and place lid on skillet to melt.
- Assemble salad ingredients in bowls and then top with cheesy beef and drizzle with dressing.
Questions & Reviews
Outstanding! And so unique!
My picky kids even loved it!
We didn’t have potato sticks so we used potato chips.
We made this last week, and it was a hit. I think we could have used 2 pounds of ground beef now that all my kids are older and eat a lot more. But it was easy, fast, and delicious. I think I may have liked it more than a regular hamburger.