Just like a tasty cheeseburger but as a dinner bowl – these are such a fun and easy meal! The best part is some crispy croutons made from French fries, yes, really!
This burger bowl recipe is like a Big Mac in a bowl, but better. Ground beef, your favorite burger fixings, a special sauce, and topped with toasted sesame seeds (like you get on a burger bun!) and croutons made easily out of frozen French fries. These bowls are fun to put together and delicious to eat, plus they can be on the table in about half an hour.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
What Are Burger Bowls?
You’ve probably heard of other bowl recipes, like the classic Burrito Bowl, Buddha Bowls, or like my Taco Bowl recipe, this Shawarma Chicken Bowl recipe, or this Sarku Chicken Rice Bowl. This burger bowl is like those, but with a lettuce salad base instead of rice (although, you could do a rice base also, totally fine). To add in a bit of carbohydrate though, we’re adding some fries cut into crouton-sized bites to top the salad. They’re so fun!
The other thing I really love about this recipe is that it’s finished with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, just like the ones found on some popular burger buns.
Other than that, it’s all your favorite burger elements: ground beef, cheese, a tasty burger sauce used as a salad dressing, tomatoes, pickles, onions. You could add in other favorites like bacon bits, sauteed mushrooms – think of a tasty burger and go for it!
Why Make Burger Bowls?
Burger bowls let you have bread-free burgers, which a lot of people prefer. I will say though, for my family, especially when the kids were little, they didn’t like my homemade burgers at home, which tended to be too big and messy for their little hands. This was a good solution, they could have burgers when we were out, and have the flavors at home with this burger bowl recipe.
It’s also great because everyone can pick and choose which toppings they’d like on their bowls, which is truly why bowl dinners are in general so frequent at my house. It’s also great to do when my kids have friends over because I don’t have to know in advance what they like since everyone can build their own bowl. And when you tell them they’re Burger Bowls, everyone gets excited!
The other benefit of making burger bowls is that they’re quicker and easier than actual burgers. You don’t have to mix the beef mixture and shape burger patties before cooking them. I find this quicker to make with all the great taste. It’s also a great use for leftover ground beef, so I often cook extra beef when making spaghetti and then I have it to quickly whip up these bowls.
Ingredients And Substitutions
Burger Bowl Base: I use roughly chopped Romaine lettuce for the base, but you can use a different type of lettuce or a salad blend. I like the crunch of the Romaine though. You could instead use cooked rice or another grain as the base of the bowl, as you would for a burrito bowl, but I suggest skipping the French fry croutons in that case.
Ground Meat: I usually stick to ground beef, but you can use other kinds of ground meat as well. Get tips here for cooking ground turkey if that’s what you prefer.
Cheese: The recipe calls for shredded Cheddar cheese twice, once stirred into the cooked beef and once as a sprinkle on top of the bowls. I will say though that I often make this with processed American cheese stirred into the beef. You’ll want 4-6 slices cut up and added into the hot beef. It’s so creamy. And Velveeta works too, which you know I like that from recipes such as my Easy Velveeta Macaroni and Slow Cooker Velveeta Queso.
Condiments: We’ll be using mayonnaise, ketchup, and relish to make a burger sauce. I prefer to use dill pickle relish here, but the more traditional option for burger sauce is a sweet pickle relish. Whatever you prefer will work. If you don’t have relish, you can dice up any type of pickled cucumber and mix it with a small drizzle of vinegar and a sprinkle of sugar. Alternatively, you can sometimes find Burger Sauce at the store, or you can use Thousand Island dressing or Russian dressing. Some of these sauces are thicker than others, so if the one you get is very gloopy, you can pour some into a bowl and thin it down with a small bit of water so that it can be drizzled.
Note that you’ll also be adding some ketchup and mustard to the cooked ground beef, along with that cheese. If that sounds weird, just trust me. It’s seriously good! An alternative is to add 2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce instead of the ketchup and mustard. That makes it taste like a burger that was grilled from adding that great BBQ flavor that we associate with grilling, you know?
Burger Bowl Toppings: Pickles, of course! Dill pickles are my favorite for burgers, I either buy dill chips or whole pickles that I slice. If you’d prefer bread & butter pickles, or some other type, whatever you like best on a burger will work here!
I also add sliced red onion and chopped tomato on top of my bowls. Halved cherry tomatoes work well too. And like I said before, any other toppings that you love on burgers will work here too.
French Fry Croutons: The recipe below calls for store-bought frozen fries that you cook according to package instructions and then cut into bite-sized pieces so that they’re like croutons on your burger salad. My favorite is to use crinkle-cut, but really, any thicker-cut fry will work. And note that instead of the store-bought frozen fries , you can use cubes of leftover baked potatoes and toast them in the air fryer. Homemade oven fries, sweet potato fries, or regular salad croutons also work. If you’re using cooked rice or another grain as the base of the bowl, as you would for a burrito bowl, you can skip the croutons.
Sesame Seeds: You may be surprised by this one, but think of those classic sesame seed buns like you would find with your McDonald’s Big Mac. It’s the perfect finishing touch. Just a sprinkle adds that little bit of bun flavor and is so amazing!
Variations
I kept the flavor pretty classic in my recipe with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and a special sauce. But there’s plenty of variety to be found with burgers, and you can do the same here with your favorite burger toppings!
If you love bacon burgers, add bacon bits. If you love a California burger, add some sliced avocado or guacamole. Or serve the burgers with a few bacon-wrapped avocado wedges on top. Yes! If you’re a mushroom-Swiss burger person, use Swiss cheese instead of cheddar and sauté some mushrooms (these are pan-seared king oyster mushrooms, which would be perfect on here, or you could cook up some mushrooms in the air fryer like these) and then maybe add the sauce from our Beef Stroganoff Burger.
Let me know what you’re adding to your burger bowl in the comments below.
More Ground Beef Recipes
Want more delicious dinner ideas featuring ground beef? Try these recipes next.
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Burger Bowls with French Fry Croutons Recipe
Just like a tasty cheeseburger but as a dinner bowl – these are such a fun and easy meal! The best part is some crispy croutons made from French fries. But I also love the sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds that really gives that burger bun flavor.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen crinkle-cut french fries (optional)*
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 4 Tbsp. ketchup, divided
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp. relish**
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. mustard
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, plus more for optional garnish
- 2 cups romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 small red onion, finely sliced
- 2 dill pickles, sliced***
- 2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cook the fries according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of the ketchup, and the relish. Set aside.
- While the fries finish cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef. Stir in the salt and pepper. Cook undisturbed until browned underneath, 3-4 minutes. Flip and stir. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is no longer pink, 2-3 more minutes.
- To the beef, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of ketchup, the mustard, and the Cheddar cheese. Stir to combine. Remove from heat. Taste and add more salt but remember that there will be pickles and burger sauce on the bowls, which are both a bit salty.
- When the fries have finished cooking, transfer them to a cutting board and cut them into crouton-sized pieces.
- Divide the lettuce among four dinner bowls. Top each with ¼ of the beef mixture, tomatoes, red onion, and pickles. Drizzle each with ¼ of the sauce. Top with the fry croutons and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
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Notes
*Instead of the store-bought french fries, you can use chunks of leftover baked potatoes toasted in the air fryer, homemade fries, or croutons. Alternatively, you can use cooked rice or another grain as the base of the bowl, as you would for a burrito bowl, and the skip the carbohydrate croutons, if desired.
**I prefer to use dill pickle relish here, but the more traditional option for burger sauce is a sweet pickle relish. If you don’t have relish, you can dice up any type of pickled cucumber and mix it with a small drizzle of vinegar and a sprinkle of sugar.
***Dill pickles are my favorite on burgers. I either buy dill chips or whole pickles that I slice, but whatever you like best on a burger will work here!
This recipe is fun, and tasty for adults and children. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Vicky! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. If you have a moment, I’d really appreciate you adding a 5 star rating which helps others find this recipe too. Thanks!