Bourbon Bacon Cheeseburgers
These amazing Bourbon Bacon Cheeseburgers are a hearty and savory take on classic burgers! Easy to make and packed with flavor, this recipe always results in the perfect juicy burger.
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If you're craving something hearty and delicious, this is the ultimate bourbon burger recipe! It's loaded with delicious onions and a bourbon-infused burger patty and comes together in no time.
Why This Recipe Works
Quick, simple, and delicious, this juicy cheeseburger is topped with crispy bacon and melty cheddar cheese. Perfect for those nights when you're craving fast food but want a homemade option!
Use your favorite bourbon to caramelize the onions and enhance the flavor of the meat, this gourmet burger is a delicious option that you can make at home in just about 30 minutes. Perfect for any bourbon fan, it includes the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and smokey flavors.
And for even more bourbon-infused recipes, try my Bourbon Bacon Pulled Pork or this Kentucky Bourbon Butter Cake for something sweet instead!
Ingredients Needed
- Sweet Onion: A plain white onion will also work, but the sweet onion helps bring out the slightly sweet notes of these burgers.
- Seasonings: Salt and black pepper along with some garlic powder help support all of the bold and comforting flavors.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar for the onions
- Butter: Salted or unsalted is fine.
- Bourbon: You'll use this for the onions and for the burger patties.
- Ground Beef: I typically go for an 80/20 ground meat for lots of flavor, but feel free to use a leaner beef if you prefer.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Adds the perfect punch to these burgers.
- Bacon: I like to use a smokey bacon.
- Cheddar Cheese: Or your cheese preference.
- Brioche Buns: Any hamburger bun will work, but I like a brioche bun for this burger!
How to Make these Bourbon Burgers
- Step 1: Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, then add onions and cook for about a minute.
- Step 2: Add the seasoning and continue to cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. Once the onions have caramelized, add the bourbon and cook another minute or so. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef with bourbon, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Step 4: Form the mixture into 6 even patties, each about 5 inches round and an inch and a half thick. Press a divot into each burger to prevent shrinking while cooking.
- Step 5: Cook the burgers on a closed grill for about 3 minutes, then flip and cook another 3 minutes.
- Step 6: Reduce heat to low and top with cheese. Cook until melted, then serve on burgers with cooked bacon, onions, and any other toppings you like!
Recipe Tips
- Allow the burgers to rest for 2 to 3 minutes after cooking so the juices can distribute evenly and the burgers can finish cooking.
- Avoid pressing down on the burgers while they cook--this will let out all of the juices!
- This dish can also be made without bourbon, but be aware that all of the alcohol cooks out and the bourbon is mostly to add flavor.
- When it comes to caramelizing onions, low and slow is always better. Feel free to reduce the heat to prevent any burning or overcooking.
- Use a meat thermometer to check to see how done your burgers are. Take the burgers off the grill when they're about 5 degrees under your desired temperature.
- Rare: 120 to 125 F
- Medium Rare: 130 to 135 F
- Medium: 140 to 145 F
- Medium Well: 150 to 155 F
- Well Done: 160 to 165 F
- These burgers are also great for a quick and easy freezer meal. Form the patties and wrap individually with plastic wrap and store in the freezer until it's time to grill.
Recipe FAQ's
Not exactly! Bourbon is a specific kind of whiskey that's made only in the US and is aged in charred oak barrels. Bourbon is also primarily made from corn, while whiskey can use a wider blend of grains.
Maker's Mark is a good option, thanks to how widely available it is, but Buffalo Trace is another brand I like to use for this recipe! Whatever you choose, make sure it's a good bourbon for the best results. If you're also a bourbon drinker, you'll thank me later!
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Bourbon Bacon Cheeseburger
Equipment
Ingredients
Burger Onions
- 1 tablespoon oil or bacon fat from the cooking the bacon
- 1 large sweet onion approximately 12 oz after slicing, peeled, cut in half then julienned in slices
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 oz bourbon
Burger Patty
- 2 pounds ground beef 80/20 is good but you can use leaner meat if you want
- 2 oz Bourbon Buffalo Trace is a good option or your favorite
- 1 TBL Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Additional ingredients:
- 12 slices thick cut bacon cooked
- 12 slices cheddar cheese you can use a different cheese of your liking
- 6 Brioche hamburger buns
Instructions
- Make the onions: In a nonstick skillet, heat the oil or bacon grease over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the sweet sliced onions and saute for 3-4 minutes.
- Once they start to soften, add the salt, black pepper, sugar and butter. Cook for about 15-20 minutes over medium heat until the onions begin to become golden and caramelize. Add the bourbon and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove the cooked onions from heat and make the burgers.
- Pre-heat the grill to medium high heat about 375-400 degrees F.
- Make and press the burgers: In a large mixing bowl add the ground beef, bourbon, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix until completely combined, with your hands or with a heavy duty spatula.
- Divide the meat mixture into 6 even portions (about 5-6 oz each) on a working surface/tray. Form each portion into a patty about 5” round and 1½” thick. You can also use a burger press to accomplish a round pressed patty. Using your thumb, press a small impression into the center of each patty to help prevent the meat from shrinking when grilling.
- Place the patties on the grill, close the grill cover and cook for 3 minutes. Flip the burgers, close the grill cover and cook for another 3 minutes. This time should provide a medium temperature burger, or you can use a digital thermometer and remove the cooked burgers when the internal temperature reaches 120. (The burger temperature will continue to rise when you add the cheddar cheese, reaching 130 for medium.)
- Reduce the heat to low and add the cheese to each burger, close the grill cover and cook for about 1 minute longer to melt the cheese.
- Remove the burgers to a new tray and let them rest for about 3 minutes.
- Build your burger: Starting with the bottom of a brioche bun, top that with the cooked cheeseburger, then top with two folded slices of cooked bacon, then add 1-2 tablespoons of the caramelized bourbon onions. Finish with the brioche top and enjoy!
Notes
- If you prefer to make this without any alcohol, simply omit the bourbon in the onions and in the burger patty mix.
- Adjust the temperature down as the onions start to caramelize so all the pieces cook at the same time. Low and slow is better than fast and burnt.
- Use caution when adding the bourbon to the hot onions- it will steam and bubble violently!
- The onions will reduce down during cooking by half; so if you start with 12 oz of raw sliced julienned onions, the yield of bourbon onions after cooking is around 6 oz, which will provide about 1 oz or 1 tablespoon of onions per burger. If you like a lot of onions, double the recipe to have extr
