Burger Bowls – aka Burger Salads – are a quick and delicious way to enjoy all the flavors of a burger loaded in to a bowl with fresh veggies and all your favorite burger toppings! Add some homemade fries and healthier “special sauce” for a dinner your whole family will love.
Burger night is a staple for us in the spring and summer months because cheeseburgers are one of the few foods we all agree on here. And, because burgers are the freaking best, right?
Anyway, on one of these recent burger nights, I decided to try something new because we were out of propane for the Blackstone and I had fries in the air fryer already. I didn’t feel like making burgers stovetop and dealing with the mess, and I also had a bunch of veggies to use up including a few heads of romaine. Everything was coming together for a burger in a bowl.
And so, we had our first burger in a bowl night and let me tell you, it was pretty freaking awesome. Tasty ground beef in a bowl with pickles, veggies, shredded cheese, avocado, and a sweet and tangy special sauce…oh, and a bonus side of fries. Perfecto.
Why Healthy Burger Bowls > Lettuce Wrapped Burgers
We LOVE this Burger Bowl recipe because:
- It’s a very easy dinner and a great option if you are cooking for picky family members because it’s totally customizable.
- Easier to eat than a lettuce wrap burger and instead of a bun, we are enjoying our carbs in the form of fries.
- The healthier “burger sauce” is made with Greek yogurt for a little extra protein and less fat but totally tastes like the full fat mayo version.
- It’s full of veggies while still satisfying those burger cravings.
- It’s the perfect assembly style meal that works so well for meal prep. Start with greens and your ground meat of choice and add the toppings that YOU want!
Ingredients
These are the ingredients I use to make my loaded burger bowls, but feel free to customize this bowl with what you like or what you have on hand. Exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
For the bowls:
- lean ground beef – or you can use ground chicken, ground turkey or your favorite meatless crumbles or beans for a protein-packed base for your burger bowls.
- russet potatoes – we are going to make homemade french fries for the bowls, and russet potatoes are my favorite choice for this.
- avocado oil or avocado oil spray – important for getting crispy baked fries.
- romaine lettuce – you can use whatever greens you want to, but I love the crunch of fresh romaine.
- cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes – love fresh tomatoes on my burgers and in my burger bowls.
- cucumber – cool and refreshing cucumber slices that provide a crisp texture and a hint of freshness to your burger bowls.
- red onion – optional, but I love the pop of color and flavor.
- sliced avocado – I love some creamy avocado slices in my burger bowls.
- cheddar cheese – my burger cheese of choice – freshly shredded or cubed. I use Daiya shreds for my dairy free kiddo!
- dill pickles – I pile on alllll the pickles. Use store bought or make your own Easy Refrigerator Pickles!
- salt + garlic powder – this is how I seasoning my favorite bunless burgers, so I do the same with the meat in these bowls.
For the Healthier Special Sauce:
- plain Greek yogurt – I couldn’t believe how well the Greek yogurt worked to make a tangy and creamy sauce – so good.
- naturally sweetened ketchup – I love that you can get ketchup made with honey now.
- yellow mustard – I prefer yellow, but you can sub dijon for a different vibe.
- mayo – just enough to add some creaminess, but also please omit if you are avoiding mayo for any reason.
- pickle juice – the secret ingredient to this sauce for sure.
- optional – maple syrup – the ketchup will also add sweetness, but for a touch more, a drizzle of maple syrup or honey will do the trick.
- sprinkle of salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika – just a pinch of each!
How to Make Burger Bowls aka Burger Salads
These bowls come together in a few easy steps:
1. Make Fries:
- Wash and peel potatoes, then slice into fries. Soak for 20 minutes in cold water, then dry.
- Place fries on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spray fries well with olive oil spray, then season fries liberally with salt – I like a fine salt because it sticks better. Bake on 450 for 20 minutes, then flip and finish cooking for about 10 minutes. For Air Fryer instructions, see my Air Fryer Fries post!
2. Mix up the Special Sauce:
- While the fries are baking, prepare the special sauce by combining the plain Greek yogurt, naturally sweetened ketchup, yellow mustard, mayo, pickle juice, and a sprinkle of salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Mix well until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
3. Brown the Burger Meat:
- Season ground beef with salt and garlic powder, and saute in a large skillet over medium heat until fully cooked and browned. Chop into bite sized pieces and use a salad spinner to dry.
4. Assemble Burger Bowls:
- For each bowl: Add romaine (1 ½ cups ish), cherry tomatoes (about ½ cup), diced red onion (small amount – 2 teaspoons, maybe), pickles sliced cucumbers to a bowl in sections.
- Add in ground beef (about ¼ of the pan), shredded cheese (about 2-3 tablespoons) and some sliced avocado. Add fries to the bowl over to the side)
- Serve bowl with with 2 T of the sauce in a small bowl on the side and then show it being drizzled over the top.
Substitutions and Variations
The best part of these burger bowls is how fully customizable they are!
- Want an actual burger? Make burger patties instead!
- Make my Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries instead of regular fries. Or for low-carb burger bowls, skip the fries and make Air Fryer Zucchini Fries or these Keto Jicama Fries.
- Add some more burger flavor by adding Worcestershire sauce to the meat mixture.
- Swap in your favorite cheese – pepper jack, blue cheese, even goat cheese for these bowls.
Meal Prep and Storage
Meal prepping your hamburger bowls is a great way to save time and ensure you have delicious and satisfying meals ready to enjoy on those busy weeknights.
Prep Ahead: All the components of this recipe can be prepared up to 4 days ahead of time. I especially like to prep the sauce, wash and dice romaine and veggies, and even brown the meat all in advance. Ensure that each component of the bowl is stored separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator to prevent sogginess.
To Freeze: While this isn’t what I think of as a traditional freezer meal, you can freeze individual portions of the meat to pull out for an easy lunch or dinner bowl. Also, the fries can be frozen. You can blanch them first, then freeze them raw for homemade freezer fries – more on that in this homemade french fries + how to freeze fries post – or you can cook them all the way and freeze them to have fries whenever you get the craving!
To Reheat:
- Fries: If you have frozen the fries, reheat them in the oven or air fryer until they are heated through and crispy. If you stored them in the refrigerator, you can reheat them in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes until they are warm and crispy again.
- Ground Beef: Gently reheat the cooked ground beef in a skillet over medium-low heat until warmed through.
Recipe FAQs
Healthy is a very objective term, but these bowls are nutritionally balanced with lean protein, several cups of veggies, healthy fats, and carbs!
Yes! The recipe mentions that you can substitute ground chicken, ground turkey, or your favorite meatless crumbles for lean ground beef.
With a few simple swaps, you can make these burger bowls dairy free. Simply swap the cheddar for your favorite dairy free cheese and use dairy free plain yogurt or mayo for the sauce.
To make the burger bowls vegetarian, you can use meatless crumbles or substitute with grilled vegetables like portobello mushrooms or eggplant. For a vegan option, ensure that all ingredients, including the special sauce and toppings, are plant-based and free from animal products.
More Healthy Burger Recipes
BBQ Chicken Burgers [Air Fryer + Grill]
My Fave Burger Recipe + Burger Sauce
Turkey Burgers with Goat Cheese and Citrus Maple Dijon
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating & a review in the comments section! We love hearing from you!
Burger Bowls
Ingredients
Burger Bowls:
- 1 lb Lean Ground Beef
- salt to taste
- Garlic powder to taste
- 2 cups Cherry Tomatoes halved
- 3 heads Romaine hearts washed, dried, and chopped
- 1/2 cup Freshly shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 avocado sliced
- Dill pickle slices round hamburger pickles work great
- 1/4 cup Red Onion finely diced
- 1 Cucumber seeded and chopped
Fries:
- 2 Russet Potatoes
- Avocado oil spray can sub olive oil spray
- salt to taste
Special Sauce:
- ¼ cup plain low fat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup naturally sweetened ketchup
- 1/2-1 Tbsp maple syrup You can omit!
- 2 Tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tsp mayo
- 1 Tbsp pickle juice
- sprinkle salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika
Instructions
For the Fries:
- Wash and peel potatoes, then slice into fries. Soak for 20 minutes in cold water, then dry.
- Place fries on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spray fries well with cooking oil spray, then season liberally with salt – I like a fine salt because it sticks better. Bake on 450 for 20 minutes, then flip and finish cooking for about 10 minutes.
For the Special Sauce:
- Mix ingredients for sauce. Sprinkle in a dash of salt, garlic powder and paprika. Taste and adjust seasoning, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
For the Burger Bowls:
- Season ground beef with salt and garlic powder, and saute until fully cooked and browned in a skillet.
- Wash romaine. Chop into bite sized pieces and use a salad spinner to dry.
- For each bowl: Add romaine (about 1 ½ cups), cherry tomatoes (about ½ cup), diced red onion (2 teaspoons or less), pickles, and sliced cucumbers to a bowl in sections.
- Add in ground beef (about ¼ of the pan or 1 RED), shredded cheese (about 2-3 Tablespoons) and some sliced avocado (about 2-3 Tablespoons). Add 1/4 of the fries to the bowl over to the side.
- Serve bowl with 2 Tbsp of the special sauce. I like to have mine on the side as a dip!
Video
Notes
Meal Prep and Storage
Meal prepping your hamburger bowls is a great way to save time and ensure you have delicious and satisfying meals ready to enjoy on those busy weeknights. Prep Ahead: All the components of this recipe can be prepared up to 4 days ahead of time. I especially like to prep the sauce, wash and dice romaine and veggies, and even brown the meat all in advance. Ensure that each component of the bowl is stored separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator to prevent sogginess. To Freeze: While this isn’t what I think of as a traditional freezer meal, you can freeze individual portions of the meat to pull out for an easy lunch or dinner bowl. Also, the fries can be frozen. You can blanch them first, then freeze them raw for homemade freezer fries – more on that in this homemade french fries and freezer hack post – or you can cook them all the way and freeze them to have fries whenever you get the craving! To Reheat:- Fries: If you have frozen the fries, reheat them in the oven or air fryer until they are heated through and crispy. If you stored them in the refrigerator, you can reheat them in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes until they are warm and crispy again.
- Ground Beef: Gently reheat the cooked ground beef in a skillet over medium-low heat until warmed through.
Kara Koopmans says
Just made this and the family loved it! We have lots of extra sauce, can the sauce be frozen?
Nancylynn says
Yes!!!
Sigrid Anderson says
So glad I found you! You have wonderful recipe substitutions especially since I joined Weight Watchers 2 weeks ago, but want to keep cooking my meals! Love that you give lots of tips & options for substitutions. I found you looking for a low-fat version of cream of chicken soup, and will probably never buy a can of soup again!
Thank you for what you do, and I will be sharing your website with all my friends (some on WW).
Nancylynn says
Sigrid, this is the best comment! Thank you! I am so thankful you found the blog and that you are finding it helpful – we are happy to have you!
Pooja says
Your recipes are always so good! So glad to have found your blog. Yummy and healthy recipes ( and quick)! Win-win for me 😀
Can’t wait to make this one!
Nancylynn says
This made my day! Thank you ❤️