Burgers with Bacon Bourbon Burger Sauce
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Let’s talk about burgers. Burgers are a funny thing. Years ago I wouldn’t touch a burger, especially if it wasn’t made by me. I thought they were pretty gross but as it turns out all burgers are not created equally. Nowadays I am super picky about where I will eat a burger but I always say the best burgers are the ones I make at home.
A few things that make my burgers the best? The first is the beef. I’ve had some pretty low grade beef burgers before. I will only buy Certified Angus Beef brand ground beef for my burgers because I can taste the difference. Certified Angus Beef brand holds their beef up to 10 high standards so I always know I’m eating the best. If I do happen to buy another kind my husband will look at me right away and tell me that he knows it isn’t Certified Angus Beef and I agree!
The other thing that makes my burgers the best is that I don’t add a ton of filler. Burgers don’t need egg and breadcrumbs and tons of seasonings. Make a basic burger patty with high quality beef, salt, and pepper then pile on the toppings if you want additional flavor. While I do still add a small amount of breadcrumbs to help hold my burgers together I don’t pile it in or add eggs anymore. If I do add seasonings besides salt and pepper it’s usually simply garlic or chopped fresh herbs from my garden.
I think a good quality burger allows for some delicious topping opportunities and boy do I have an out of this world sauce for you! It’s Burgers with Bacon Bourbon Burger Sauce and I made the sauce by accident. Well that’s not entirely true. I was trying to make a sauce using bourbon and bacon but the sauce that I ended up making was not what I had envisioned. This sauce is thick, sticky, slightly sweet, salty, and bursting with flavor. I piled it on my burgers along with cheese and that’s all I needed!
My husband was a little skeptical when he tried it but after the first bite he was piling on more! In fact, he then asked if I could make this sauce and use it on top of baked beans as well. I have to tell you, that’s a great idea! While I made it as a burger sauce it would be awesome for baked beans as well. It has bacon, onions, garlic, bourbon, brown sugar, and a few other ingredients that combine in one outstanding sauce.
I could seriously use this sauce on everything. It’s great for dipping fries in, on top of burgers or hot dogs, used as a baked bean sauce, and it could even be the base for a pizza sauce! You might want to double this recipe because you’ll be making it a lot this summer!
Burgers with Bacon Bourbon Burger Sauce
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 4 strips bacon
- ½ onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 Tablespoons bourbon
- ¼ c. brown sugar
- 1/3 c. ketchup
- ¼ c. vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For the burgers:
- 1 ¼ lb. 85/15 ground beef I used Certified Angus Beef brand
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon roasted garlic powder
- 4 slices American cheese
- 4 hamburger buns
Instructions
- To make the sauce chop the bacon into small pieces.
- Place the bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently for 5-7 minutes or until the bacon is browned. Remove from the saucepan with a slotted spoon and drain the bacon on a paper towel lined plate.
- Add the onion to the bacon drippings in the bacon and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the bourbon, brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the bacon back to the saucepan along with the salt and pepper and continue cooking for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat.
- To make the burgers heat an outdoor grill to medium high heat.
- Mix together the ground beef, salt, pepper, and garlic. Do not over mix.
- Divide the beef mixture into 4 equal balls and flatten into patties. Place a dent in the center of each burger.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes per side on a grill. Place a slice of cheese on each and cook for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and place the burgers on a bun and top with the sauce.
Notes
Bodacious Burger Recipes
- Burgers with Bacon Bourbon Burger Sauce by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Lentil Mushroom Burger by That Recipe
- Meatloaf Burgers by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Mushroom Beef Burger by Art of Natural Living
- Oklahoma Fried Onion Short Rib Burgers by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Pepperoni Pizza Burger by Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Rabbit Sausage Burger with Carrot Horseradish Aioli by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- The Ultimate Taco Burger by Our Good Life
Can I freeze this or make it ahead of time?
Thank you
Hello, You can make the burgers and freeze them ahead of time. However, you cannot freeze this sauce. It will stay in the refrigerator for up to 5 days so you can make it ahead of time. Enjoy!
I just made this sauce and it was delicious! There is a restaurant I go to that has something similar to this so I tried to recreate it with this recipe it and it came out great – what I did was to toast an English muffin and spread plenty of cream cheese on each half. Then, dust the cream cheese with garlic powder and add some sliced jalapeños or banana peppers to the top half. Finally, add the burger to the bottom half, add a generous amount of this bacon bourbon sauce, and close up the burger. It’s so good, can’t wait to make it again!
The only advice I’d give is that when you cook the bacon, it gives off a lot of fat. You don’t need all of it to cook the onions and garlic, so after you set the bacon bits aside, pour the fat into a bowl and add back maybe a tablespoon, just enough to cook the onions. If it starts to look a little dry, you can always add more of the fat as needed.
So glad you liked this sauce! It’s one of my favorites. Your English muffin burger sounds amazing! Definitely going to try that soon.
You had this Kentucky girl at bourbon! That sauce sounds divine. And that burger looks awesome.
That sounds like an amazing way to top a burger! It’s made me want dinner again…
That sauce looks sooooooo amazing! I like how nice and thick and rich it looks with the grilled burgers. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
I would be putting that sauce on all the things, including a spoon to eat it without anything. And I completely agree about not loading a burger up with fillers, many just dry them out.
It’s so awesome I really could eat it with a spoon!
Three of my favorite words in the English language: burgers, bacon, bourbon! Of course I’m going to love this!
Lol I agree! 3 awesome B words.
That sauce sounds totally amazing. There’s nothing like good quality beef for a burger.
My husband is a member of Men’s Club here in our community and I know they would love to have this burger. Maybe I’ll have to surprise them with this someday!
For sure! I think they would love it
That sauce sounds delicious and I love putting caramelized onions on my burgers. I have never added bread crumbs nor eggs to my burger until this event when I decided to share a meatloaf burger LOL.