Description
Warm cheesy beef and bacon in chilled lettuce leaves with pickles, tomatoes, onion, and creamy burger sauce.
Servings: 4
Yield: Approximately 12–16 small cups
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15–20 minutes
Total: About 30–40 minutes
Ingredients
Scale
Filling
- 1 pound 80% or 85% lean ground beef
- 8 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled, divided
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Up to ½ teaspoon fine salt, to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Cups and toppings
- 2 heads iceberg lettuce or enough sturdy butter lettuce leaves for 12–16 cups
- ½ cup chopped drained dill pickles
- ½ cup diced cherry tomatoes, excess juice left behind
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- 2 tablespoons sliced green onions, optional
Sauce
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- Separate, wash, and thoroughly dry lettuce leaves. Refrigerate until needed.
- Whisk sauce ingredients together, cover, and refrigerate.
- Cook bacon until crisp if starting with raw slices. Drain and crumble. Reserve half for topping. Leave only a thin coating of fat in the skillet unless extra richness is desired.
- Cook beef over medium-high heat, breaking into crumbles, about 7–10 minutes. Verify 160°F, then drain excess fat.
- Stir in Worcestershire, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, pepper, and salt to taste. Cook about 1 minute.
- Remove from heat. Fold in cheddar until melting, then half the bacon. Let stand briefly, about 2–3 minutes, so it is warm rather than aggressively steaming.
- Divide among lettuce leaves without overfilling. Add pickles, tomatoes, red onion, reserved bacon, a little sauce, and optional green onions.
- Serve immediately, offering extra sauce separately.
Storage: Refrigerate components separately and promptly. Use cooked filling within 3–4 days and reheat to 165°F. Assemble with cold lettuce just before serving.
Estimated nutrition: Roughly 550–700 calories per serving when divided into four and using all the sauce. Ingredients and drained fat vary.
Texture note: “Crunch” comes from fresh lettuce and crisp bacon. Keep the topping bacon separate until assembly and avoid excess filling liquid.