BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burgers
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My summer has officially started!ย My last day of school was Friday and I have 11 weeks off this summer.ย Now I’m ready for food, friends, and fun!ย We just had our first summer cookout and I tried several new recipes, all of which were a huge hit!
When I throw a party I like to go all out.ย That means I have a signature drink, delicious grilled food, cool summer salads, and decadent desserts.ย ย But having a big cookout doesn’t mean I have to spend a ton of time prepping or cooking to get ready for it.ย I made a list of everything I would need and headed out to my local Giant Eagle store.ย I love shopping at Giant Eagle because it’s my one stop shop for everything I need during grilling season.
The first thing I decided to try was my signature drink.ย I often go back and forth on whether or not to have an alcoholic signature drink or a non-alcoholic one and this time I made a refreshing non-alcoholic drink.ย This one isn’t for the faint of heart.ย It’s a Sweet and Spicy Arnold Palmer.ย Now the traditional Arnold Palmer is simply a combination of iced tea and lemonade.ย My idea was to spice it up a bit for summer but still have the sweetness.
I started by boiling water with a chopped jalapeno.ย ย Then I added some Lipton tea bags and a little bit of sugar to make the spicy iced tea.ย ย I always buy the Lipton 100 count tea bags so that I have them to use all summer long.ย I combined that with Lemon Lemon Sparkling Lemonade and that was it!ย ย The resulting beverage was lightly sweetened, bubbly, refreshing, and had just a touch of heat after swallowing.ย It’s really an awesome beverage and perfect for sipping on during a cookout.
I went to my side dishes next because whenever you make summer salads it’s good to let them refrigerate over night so they absorb all the flavors in the sauce.ย I made a tasty Broccoli Salad with walnuts and cranberries and then a Loaded Macaroni Salad with vegetables, bacon, and cheese.ย Both of them looked so good that I wanted to eat them right then and there!
Finally I came to the entree.ย ย I always go to Giant Eagle to shop for Certified Angus Beef.ย It’s high quality beef and we often eat their steaks and make burgers from their ground beef.ย ย I hadn’t realized that they have already made burger patties but this makes grilling for a crowd even easier!ย I chose the Certified Angus Beef Bacon Cheddar Burger patties to serve for our cookout.
While these burgers are totally delicious on their own when cooked on the grill I wanted to make a special BBQ Sauce to compliment them.ย I’ve been on a roll with homemade BBQ sauces lately.ย This time I made a Bacon BBQ Sauce using bacon, onions, garlic, and the usual BBQ sauce ingredients.ย It turned out amazing.
The Bacon BBQ Sauce was smoky, slightly sweet, and had a deep BBQ flavor.ย ย I made it ahead of time so I didn’t have to worry about being in the kitchen once our guests arrived.ย It’s easy to make and then store in a mason jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. Then once the Certified Angus Beef Bacon Cheddar Burgers were ready I simply put out the sauce next to the buns and everyone ate it up.
After polishing off dinner and drinks it’s time for dessert.ย Let me be honest here.ย ย After cooking for a crowd I don’t really want to make a big deal dessert.ย Usually people are full and don’t want anything too big.ย Plus it’s usually hot so it’s best to keep it cool and simple.ย ย That’s why I like to serve ice cream sundaes.
In this case, I made Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundaes!ย All I had to do was grab a container of Breyer’s French Vanilla Ice Cream and have one of my friends scoop it into bowls.ย Then I stuck one or two Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies into each one.ย ย Then I let my guests decide if they wanted to eat it like that or if they wanted to top it off with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and a cherry.ย I had mine with all the fixings.
All in all we had an amazing start to summer with a fun cookout with good friends.ย The food was awesome and it didn’t take very long to prepare.ย It was easy to run to Giant Eagle and grab everything I needed in one market run.ย At the end of the night everyone was full and satisfied and I was a happy host.
BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burgers
Ingredients
For the Bacon BBQ Sauce:
- 3 slices bacon
- 1/2 c. onion minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 c. ketchup
- 1/2 c. tomato sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tablespoons vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon molasses
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For the Burgers:
- 8 Certified Angus Beef Bacon Cheddar Burger Patties
- 8 hamburger Buns
- Bacon BBQ Sauce
Instructions
- Chop the bacon into small pieces and place them in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until the bacon is crispy. Remove from pan and set on a paper towel lined plate.
- Add the onions to the saucepan with the bacon grease. Saute for 3 minutes.
- Add in the garlic cloves and saute for 1 minute.
- Add the ketchup, tomato sauce, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, molasses, brown sugar, salt, and black pepper. Mix well to combine. Add the bacon back in and stir.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat then reduce to a simmer.
- Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the sauce has thickened.
- Remove from heat. Pour into a mason jar and refrigerate until ready to use.
- To make the burgers heat a gas grill to medium high heat.
- Add the beef patties and cook for 4-5 minutes per side or until they are cooked through.
- Add the buns to the grill at the last minute to lightly toast.
- Remove from grill.
- Serve the burgers on the buns along with the Bacon BBQ Sauce.
Notes
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Wow, everything looks so delicious! I am totally craving one of them burgers and some salad now! #client
These are SCREAMINGGGGG “hello summer!”
They are super easy and so good too!