I’ve been eating a lot of burgers lately. When I want to do something different than the classis burger with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and red onion, I often go in the direction of a mushroom, bacon, and Swiss burger.
This recipe includes a quick and tangy homemade vinegar-heavy BBQ sauce to go on top of the burger.
Burgers with Sauteed Mushrooms, Swiss Cheese, Caramelized Onions, and Crispy Bacon
Ingredients
For the Homemade BBQ Sauce:
- 2 Tbsp butter
- ¼ red onion, finely minced
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- ½ cup ketchup
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp hot sauce of choice
- ¼ tsp freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
For the Remaining Burger Components:
- 24 oz ground beef, 75-80% lean
- 4 slices Swiss cheese
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked until they are crispy
- 4 Tbsp salted buttered, softened
- 1 large onion, thinly-sliced
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- Kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 burger buns of choice
Instructions
For the Homemade BBQ Sauce:
- Heat 2 Tbsp butter in a small sauce pot on the stove.
- Add the minced onion and cook on medium-low heat for 8 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining BBQ sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer.
- Remove from the heat, and taste the seasoning level.
- Add more hot sauce, salt, pepper, vinegar, ketchup, or brown sugar based on your desired sauce profile.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce to a smooth consistency.
- Set the sauce aside for later use.
For the Remaining Burger Components:
- Preheat grill to 500F.
- Cook your bacon on the stove and set aside for later.
- Caramelize the onions in butter and set them aside for later.
- Cook the sliced mushrooms in butter until they are tender and cooked.
- Season the mushrooms with kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper to taste and set the cooked mushrooms aside for later.
- Prepare your ground beef patties.
- Salt the burger patties, and grill them at 500F until they are cooked on one side.
- Flip the patties and add continue to cook for an additional 3 minutes.
- Before the burgers are cooked through, add the Swiss cheese and allow for the cheese to melt.
- Butter the burger buns and briefly grill them over a warm section of the grill that is not directly above the flame.
- Set the toasted buns aside on a plate when they are ready.
- When the burgers are almost cooked, remove them from the grill and allow them to rest on a plate for 3 minutes before serving.
- Top the Swiss cheese burgers with the bacon, mushrooms, and caramelized onions that you cooked earlier.
- Add some homemade BBQ sauce on top, and enjoy the burgers while they are still warm.