These easy burger bowls are loaded with golden, crispy morsels of ground beef and tons of chopped veggies. The creamy house sauce drizzled on top is incredible!

This easy weeknight recipe is the most popular dinner I’ve made my family in months! My kids have requested that this meal make it on the menu plan every week. Each bowl is customizable, and the flavors are through-the-roof delicious.

Cooked ground beef, pickles, lettuce, pickled red onions, tomatoes, fries and creamy sauce in white bowl.

Why You’ll Love This Easy Meal

Well, first of all, why are bowl recipes so fun to make…and eat?? This might be one of my favorite bowl recipes to date.

  • The bowl ingredients can be chopped ahead of time and refrigerated.
  • Same with the special house sauce! Whisk it together days in advance. But be careful: the risk of doing so is that it will be used up for all sorts of dipping and drizzling long before these burger bowls happen – IT IS SO DELICIOUS.
  • Even if you don’t have time to prep ingredients in advance, this meal comes together so fast. It is a perfect weeknight meal!
  • This is a perfect meal to serve if you need a dinner where everyone can build their own bowl and customize it the way they want.
  • The flavors are fantastic. It’s like a deconstructed hamburger (sans bun but maybe with fries) all chopped up and thrown together, and oh my heavens, it is so good.

FYI: These are the white bowls {aff. link} in the photos. I use them ALL the time (they’ve been going strong for eight years) for bowl-type dinners, like this one, and also for ingredient toppings for build-your-own style meals.

Cooked ground beef, pickles, lettuce, pickled red onions, tomatoes, fries and creamy sauce in white bowl.

Key Ingredients

There are a few crossover seasonings used for both the beef and the sauce. Get all the details below. ⬇️

  • Mayonnaise: This is used for the creamy foundation of the special house sauce. You can experiment subbing in Greek yogurt or sour cream for part of the mayo.
  • Ketchup:
  • Mustard: Use yellow or Dijon mustard, whatever you prefer.
  • Pickle juice brine: Grab this straight from the pickle jar. If you don’t have it or prefer not to use it, sub in red wine or apple cider vinegar.
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • Garlic powder: This is used in both the sauce and the beef seasoning.
  • Paprika: This is also used in both the sauce and the beef seasoning. You can use either sweet or smoked paprika.
  • Onion powder: Used in the beef seasoning. Don’t use onion salt or it will be too salty.
  • Ground beef: I prefer using lean ground beef. Just make sure to drain excess grease after cooking and to cook the beef, without stirring, for a few minutes on each side to develop the crispy browned bits that are so yummy.

For serving:

  • Chopped lettuce: I like to use romaine, but you could use iceberg, green lettuce, spinach, etc.
  • Pickles: Use dill pickles or sweet pickles – whatever you like. You can also use hamburger pickle chips or slice whole pickles. 
  • Diced tomatoes
  • Shredded cheddar cheese: You can easily change the type of cheese up to your liking.
  • Thinly sliced onions: These burger bowls are really delicious with these easy pickled onions or caramelized onions. If you want to serve the bowls with raw, sliced onions, you can soak the onion slices in ice water for 10 to 15 minutes to take some of the pungent bite out of the onions (drain and pat dry before using).
  • Diced avocados

Optional: These burger bowls are super tasty served with French fries or tater tots. For a super easy option, just grab your favorite brand from the frozen foods aisle and throw them in the oven or air fryer to cook while prepping the rest of the meal. The Alexia brand of frozen fries are our fave (especially the sweet potato waffle fries).

Black pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika in glass bowl.
Ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and vinegar in glass bowl.
Chunks of crispy ground beef cooking in skillet.
Dipping sweet potato waffle fry in creamy sauce.

Variation Ideas + How to Serve

This is a super adaptable recipe to many different variations.

  • Use a different type of meat in place of the ground beef, like ground turkey, ground chicken, or a vegan ground beef.
  • Crumble the meat in smaller pieces rather than leaving in larger chunks.
  • Change up the bowl ingredients to what you have on hand or what you prefer. Add in other chopped ingredients and take out the ones you don’t want!
  • Add in other sauces, like ranch dressing, cilantro lime dressing, etc.

We serve this meal as a build-your-own dinner. Each bowl looks a little bit different. I load mine up with everything under the sun, because the colorful chaos and crazy good flavors make me so happy.

Top down view of lettuce and tomatoes in white bowl.
Top down view of lettuce, ground beef, tomatoes, pickles in white bowl.
Top down view of lettuce, ground beef, tomatoes, avocados, pickled onions, pickles in white bowl.
Top down view of lettuce, ground beef, tomatoes, avocados, pickled onions, pickles, shredded cheese and creamy sauce in white bowl.

A Huge Family Favorite

Can we have a moment of silence for that special house sauce? It’s the sauce of my dreams. Creamy, zesty, smoky. It is absolute perfection.

Unbelievably yummy drizzled on the burger bowl salads, it’s obviously also so good with fries or tater tots.

➡️ We have also realized that it is dangerously tasty served with Chik-fil-a-type chicken nuggets (like the Bare or Kirkland brand from Costco). Ermagersh. Yum.

I’m so happy to have this easy weeknight dinner in my meal plan arsenal. I really hope you love it, too!

Cooked ground beef, pickles, lettuce, pickled red onions, tomatoes, fries and creamy sauce in white bowl.
Cooked ground beef, pickles, lettuce, pickled red onions, tomatoes, fries and creamy sauce in white bowl.

Loaded Burger Bowls with Special House Sauce

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
5 stars (11 ratings)
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Ingredients

Special House Sauce:

  • ¾ cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup or BBQ sauce
  • 1 tablespoon yellow or Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon pickle juice brine from the pickle jar
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
  • Cayenne pepper, to taste, optional for a spicy sauce

Bowl Ingredients:

  • 4 to 6 cups chopped or shredded lettuce
  • 1 to 2 cups sliced or diced pickles
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1 to 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup thinly sliced red onions (or caramelized or pickled onions – see note)
  • 1 cup diced avocados
  • Optional: French fries or tater tots (grab from the frozen foods aisle and cook in air fryer or oven)

Beef:

  • 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 to 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef

Instructions 

  • For the sauce, mix all the sauce ingredients together until well-combined and creamy. The sauce can be made several days ahead of time and refrigerated.
  • For the bowl ingredients, prep and chop all the bowl ingredients and set aside (or refrigerate if prepping ahead of time). If cooking fries, get those started in the oven or air fryer per package directions.
  • For the beef, add the beef to a medium bowl. Sprinkle in the seasonings and mix until evenly combined. Pat the beef mixture into a thick patty, about 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick.
  • Heat a nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. If the ground beef is extra lean, add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan.
  • Place the beef patty in the hot skillet and let cook, undisturbed, for 1 to 2 minutes until well-browned (we're wanting the beef to get yummy little crispy bits on the outside).
  • Carefully flip and cook for another minute on the other side. Once both sides are browned, break the meat into 1-inch (more or less) pieces – a bit larger than when cooking and crumbling ground beef for recipes like tacos. Continue cooking until no longer pink. Drain excess grease.
  • Serve the beef in bowls (or on plates) with prepped, chopped bowl ingredients and drizzle special house sauce on top.

Notes

Onions: These burger bowls are really delicious with these easy pickled onions or caramelized onions. If you want to serve them with raw, sliced onions, you can soak the onion slices in ice water for 10 to 15 minutes to take some of the pungent bite out of the onions (drain and pat dry before using).
Pickles: Use dill pickles or sweet pickles – whatever you like. You can also use hamburger pickle chips or slice whole pickles. 
Fries: We love the Alexia brand of fries – the sweet potato waffle fries are our favorites. The fries or tater tots are completely optional. The burger bowls are delicious with or without them. 
Author: Mel Gunnell
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Method: Stovetop
Serving: 1 serving (does not include fries), Calories: 362kcal, Carbohydrates: 13g, Protein: 25g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Cholesterol: 80mg, Sodium: 1356mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 6g

Recommended Products

12-Inch Nonstick Skillet
Wooden Spoon
Box Grater
Air Fryer

Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (inspired after a reader, Connie H., emailed me about perfecting a burger bowl recipe)