Name: Healthy Burger Bowl - With Special Sauce
Prep time: 7 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 pound ground turkey; 2 teaspoons olive oil – plus more for cooking; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon paprika; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/2 cup avocado mayo; 2 tablespoons ketchup – like primal kitchen; 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard; 1 tablespoon pickle juice or apple cider vinegar; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon paprika or chili powder; Pinch of salt and pepper; 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce; 1/2 cup sliced cherry tomatoes; 1/3 cup sliced red onion; 1/3 cup sliced pickles; 1/3 cup cooked, chopped bacon – optional but so good!; 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

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This healthy-loaded burger bowl is a quick and easy way to enjoy all the flavors of a burger in salad form. Skip the burger bun and enjoy your burger in a bowl!

Healthy burger bowl covered in special sauce with a plate of sweet potato fries and a bowl of the sauce behind it.

A burger bowl is a fun healthier way to enjoy a burger topped with your favorite burger toppings as a burger salad.

It starts with fresh chopped lettuce as the base, topped with cherry tomatoes, red onion, pickles, cooked bacon, cheddar cheese, and turkey burgers. Finished off with my special burger sauce that takes it to a whole new level of deliciousness.

You may also love these amazing smash burger tacos that are equally as delicious!

It tastes like a big mac salad or cheeseburger salad but as a low-carb burger bowl. This is fantastic because you get to enjoy a side of fries since you are skipping the burger bun. How great is that? Honestly, I prefer it this way because I have to have the fries!

You could also drizzle it with an avocado ranch dressing which would be a delicious finishing touch to this recipe.

Why you’ll love this burger bowl recipe

Healthy, low-carb burger heaven – packed with protein, fiber, healthy fat, and so delicious!
Super quick to make in about 15 minutes!
Makes a great easy dinner for the whole family.
Simple ingredients.
Totally customizable – go crazy with the toppings and use any you like!

*Check out the recipe card located at the bottom of this post for the complete list of recipe ingredients and instructions.

Burger Bowl Ingredients

Ground turkey – any ground turkey will work. You can mix and form it into burger patties like I did or crumble, season, and cook the meat and add it to the bowl. Lean ground beef or ground chicken also works.
Burger seasoning – olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
Lettuce – I used romaine lettuce but any lettuce will work.
Tomatoes – cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes work best since they have great flavor but you can use any type of tomatoes you like.
Red onion – sliced red onion for that nice punchy flavor and crunch.
Pickles – I used baby dill pickles that I sliced into rounds but use any you like.
Bacon – this is optional but it really gives these burger bowls a nice bacon cheeseburger-type of flavor.
Cheddar cheese – you can add shredded cheddar cheese to the burger salad or top the burgers with a slice of cheddar cheese.
Special sauce ingredients– mayo, ketchup, dijon mustard, pickle juice, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Recommended Kitchen Tools

Mixing bowls
Measuring cups and Measuring spoons
Skillet
Spatula

How to make healthy burger bowls

This is a pretty simple and straightforward recipe that you can make in 15 minutes!

Form and cook the burgers – Mix and form the turkey burger mixture into burger patties and cook over medium heat for about 4 minutes per side.
Make the special sauce -add all of the ingredients to a medium size bowl and mix until a creamy, smooth sauce forms.
Assemble the burger bowls – spread a generous amount of fresh chopped lettuce into the bottom of a shallow bowl, and top it with the sliced tomatoes, red onion, pickles, bacon, cheese, and 1-2 burgers. Drizzle the sauce over the bowl and enjoy! I love to serve these burger salads with a side of sweet potato fries or sweet potato wedges.

Raw ground turkey in a glass bowl with spices and olive oil.

Formed, uncooked, seasoned turkey burgers on a round white plate.

Tips for Success

Make the burgers smaller (about ⅓ cup each) so you can have two burgers in each burger bowl. If the burgers are too big then there may not be enough room for all of the amazing toppings.
You can make the burger sauce in advance and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before you make the burger bowl.
Enjoying a burger in a bowl is one of the best ways to have a fun and healthy burger night with your family since everyone can customize their own. Just lay out all of the toppings and make it a fun meal everyone can enjoy!
Make the loaded burger bowls vegetarian by swapping the turkey burgers will black bean burgers and leaving out the bacon.
If you prefer to wrap the burgers in the lettuce to make a lettuce wrap burger then go for it! This is actually one of my favorite ways to enjoy homemade burgers.

Bowl filled with chopped lettuce cooked with burgers sliced veggies, cheese, bacon, and pickles with a plate of fries and burger sauce behind it.

Make ahead and storage

This burger bowl recipe is a wonderful make-ahead recipe for meal prep. I always have the ingredients ready to go since I make these loaded burger bowls at least once a week.

Make ahead:

Cook the burgers, let them cool, and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Make the burger sauce and store it in the fridge in an airtight container.
When you are ready to assemble the burger bowls, heat up the burgers, cook the bacon, chop the veggies, and build your bowls.

Storage: leftovers can be stored in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.