You need to switch it up this summer with this delicious, sweet and savory, Bacon Blue Cheese Burger. Served with crumbly blue cheese and slowly braised onion jam for the perfect combination of flavors in a burger.
Looking for some more burgers and sandwiches? Try our My Big Fat Greek Chicken Burger or Gruyere Grilled Cheese.
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Sweet and Savory Burgers
When it comes to burgers in the summer, I'm cooking them at least twice a week. I keep a bunch of homemade burgers in the freezer so I'm always ready to go in the summer. I need some variety, so I always love to switch it up with a bacon blue cheese burger or a Goat Cheese Burger with Fig Jam.
I prefer to top the burger with blue cheese instead of making the patties with blue cheese. The texture of a ground beef burger is always better when it's not stuffed with cheese, but I do like to stuff chicken burgers with cheese, like a Gorgonzola Grilled Chicken Burger. These burgers are perfect for a different weeknight meal, and you can serve them with a salad with Traditional Caesar Dressing or a cold Italian Green Bean Salad.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Balsamic Vinegar. Substitute white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. I love the color that balsamic vinegar gives the onions while they're slowly cooking.
- Bacon. Whenever you're making bacon burgers, you want thick-cut bacon. I love to use dry-cured bacon.
- Blue Cheese Crumbles. Blue cheese is perfect because it's creamy but has that delicious, funky flavor. Don't use blue cheese, the dressing, but you could substitute gorgonzola or feta cheese.
- Onion. Three onions may seem like a lot, but they will cook down over time.
- Burgers. I use 80/20 ground beef for the patties and pat them out ahead of time.
*Please see the recipe card below for more information on the ingredients.
How to make the PERFECT Bacon Blue Cheese Burger
This Bacon Blue Cheese Burger recipe is perfect for scaling up or down. Belo,w I made 4 burgers and used 3 onions for the jam.
Step 1: Prepare as many patties as you need. Season both sides with salt and pepper and take them out of the fridge for 30 minutes before cooking them.
Step 2: Place the bacon in the pan while cold and bring to medium heat. Fry the bacon until crisp. You can prepare the bacon however you normally do, whether that be in the oven or on the stovetop.
How to Make Onion Jam
Step 3: Use 2-3 tablespoon of the bacon grease and bring the heat to medium. Add the onions to the pan and saute, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for about 8-10 minutes until the onions soften.
Step 4: Stir in the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and sugar. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-45 minutes. The onions will slowly start to get "jammy" and the sauce will get darker. The key here is patience.
Step 5: Continue to simmer until the sauce slowly returns together when you drag a spoon through.
Step 6: When the onion jam is finished, it will be a thick sauce and look like the above image. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
Preparing the burger
Step 7: Grill the burgers on the grill at medium-high temperature or on a cast iron pan at medium temperature.
Step 8: When the burgers are almost finished, top with blue cheese crumbles to finish.
Serve these Bacon Blue Cheese Burgers with some side dishes like Caprese Tortellini Salad, Italian Green Bean Salad, or Easy Italian Fried Green Tomatoes. It also goes perfectly with a St. Germain Basil Cucumber Spritz on a summer day!
Pro-tip
- Onion jam has a lot of sugar in it and requires you to pretty much stay in the kitchen the entire time it is cooking. You have to stir it often because the sugar can quickly burn.
- If you cook the burgers on a cast iron pan, I like to go with a slightly lower heat than if I am grilling. The burgers tend to burn faster on the direct heat from the cast iron pan.
- The bacon and onion jam can be cooked ahead of time and easily reheated if you're serving these at a party.
Recipe FAQs
Onion jam can last up to 7 days in the refrigerator if you place it in a container and place the container in an ice bath. This is how I kept things safe when catering. If you leave it out to cool without doing this, I'd toss it after 5 days.
Fresh bacon will always be better if you want a thick piece of bacon. Anything that comes shrink-wrapped will likely be in a preservative. Fresh bacon will crisp up a lot better because it has less moisture.
More Sliders and Sandwiches
Please leave a comment and star rating below in the recipe card! I love to hear what you think of our recipes. Feel free to tag us on Instagram @vindelgiudice.
📖 Recipe
Bacon Blue Cheese Burger
Equipment
- grill or cast iron
- large saucepan
Ingredients
- 3 medium onions, chopped
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 lb bacon
- 1.5 lbs ground beef, 85% lean
- 1 cup blue cheese crumbles
- salt and pepper
- 4 buns
Instructions
- Form your burger patties and season both sides with salt and pepper. Leave your burgers out 30 minutes before cooking.
- Place the bacon in the pan while cold and bring to medium heat. Fry the bacon until crisp. You can prepare the bacon however you normally do whether that be in the oven or on the stovetop.
- Use 2-3 tablespoon of the bacon grease and bring the heat to medium. Add the onions to the pan and saute, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for about 8-10 minutes until the onions soften.
- Stir in the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and sugar. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-45 minutes The onions will slowly start to get "jammy" and the sauce will get darker. The Key here is patience.
- Continue to simmer until the sauce slowly returns together when you drag a spoon through.
- Grill the burgers on the grill at medium-high temperature or on a cast iron pan at medium temperature. After flipping the burgers, top them with blue cheese crumbles until they reach the desired temperature.
- Assemble burgers with bacon and onion jam and serve
Notes
- Onion jam has a lot of sugar in it and requires you to pretty much stay in the kitchen the entire time it is cooking. You have to stir it often because the sugar can quickly burn.
- If you cook the burgers on a cast iron pan, I like to go with a slightly lower heat than if I am grilling. The burgers tend to burn faster on the direct heat from the cast iron pan.
- The bacon and onion jam can be cooked ahead of time and easily reheated if you're serving these at a party.
Vinny
The onion jam for this burger is the star of the show! Hope you enjoy!