I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made a variation of this recipe over the years. I love a hearty salad and an under 30-minute meal, and these burger bowls hit all the marks. The salad bowl itself is pretty customizable. You can add in all of your favorite burger toppings or sides! I like to use ground turkey, but ground beef or ground chicken also work. You’re going to use lettuce as a base and then add your favorite burger toppings like tomatoes, onion, and chopped pickles. I put garlic waffle fries on the side and drizzle the whole thing with my favorite homemade burger sauce. Life is busy for everyone for so many reasons, and in a season of lots of little kids at home, sports, church, and school schedules and more we definitely need to keep a few really easy healthy meals in our back pocket like this one. One thing that is great about meals in a bowl when you’re serving potentially picky kids is they can build their own and pick what they want on their plates. Our girls are big fans of tomatoes, so I always have to have extra of those!
Burger Bowl Ingredients:
- Ground meat: I am using ground turkey here, but ground chicken and ground beef will also work in this recipe. For ground chicken or ground turkey, we will use a little bit of olive oil when cooking because it’s a leaner meat.
- Lettuce: Romaine is my favorite here, but you can use a mix of romaine, iceberg, arugula, or whatever strikes your mood!
- Tomatoes: A burger usually has a slice of tomato, but for these bowls we are cutting grape or cherry tomatoes in half.
- Diced onion: I like red onion because they’re a little sweeter, but any onion will work.
- Diced pickles: Pickles are a must for me! Chop up a handful and put them on top.
- Waffle fries: We are going to hit the easy button here and use frozen waffle fries to pop in the oven while we are browning the meat.
- Burger seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika. If you have a favorite burger seasoning, you can absolutely use that instead!
- Burger sauce ingredients: mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, pickle juice, hot sauce, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
- Garlic salt: optional, but I like tossing my waffle fries in this seasoning because I love garlic fries!
How to Make Your Burger Bowls:
- To make these burger bowls efficiently you can have a few things going at once. Preheat your oven and sprinkle your waffle fries with garlic salt before putting in the oven and cooking according to packing directions. While your waffle fries are cooking, prepare the meat. If using ground turkey or chicken, drizzle some olive oil in a skillet and brown the meat, breaking up with a spatula as it cooks. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika. You can also use your favorite burger seasoning.
- Prep your veggies. Chop up your lettuce, tomato, onions, and pickles.
- Assemble your burger sauce by mixing together your mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and hot sauce. Taste and adjust your seasonings as needed.
- Once the fries and meat are done, assemble your burger bowls by putting the salad in a bowl and topping with tomatoes, onions, pickles, and waffle fries. Drizzle with the burger sauce and enjoy!
The possibilities are endless for this easy recipe. Onion rings would be a fun topping, you could also add shredded cheese, caramelized onions, or sauteed mushrooms depending on your own favorite burger toppings. You can substitute the waffle fries for regular fries or sweet potato fries, my personal favorite. There are no rules with these easy burger bowls as long as you use plenty of the burger sauce, just trust me on that one!
- 1 lb. ground turkey, chicken, or sausage
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- ½ tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- ⅓ cup chopped red onion
- ½ cup chopped pickles
- Shredded Cheese
- Other toppings: Caramelized onions, other cheese, sauteed mushrooms, onion rings, avocado, etc.
- Frozen waffle fries
- Garlic salt
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp. ketchup
- 2 tbsp. mustard
- 2 tbsp. pickle brine (from a jar of store-bought pickles)
- ½ tsp. smoked paprika
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- A few dashes of hot sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Preheat your oven and spread the waffle fries on a rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with garlic salt. Cook according to package directions.
- If using ground turkey or chicken, heat some olive oil in a skillet. Ground beef has enough fat that you don't need olive oil for cooking. Brown the meat, cooking into pieces as it cooks. Add the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Make your burger sauce: whisk together the mayo, ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
- Chop your lettuce and halve your tomatoes before assembling your bowls. Add the lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and any other burger toppings you want to use to a bowl. Top with half of the cooked meat and add some fries on the side. Drizzle with the burger sauce and enjoy!
[…] school. Dinners are usually cooked every night from scratch which works just fine with plenty of easy meal options, but one recipe I do always like to have prepped and in my freezer for emergencies are these turkey […]