Loaded Cowboy Burgers

These cowboy burgers are loaded with all the works! Flavorful caramelized onions, silky avocado, crisp bacon, and an incredible homemade special sauce take them over the top.

Let’s talk about the most life-changing burger that you need in your cookout life like yesterday!!

Today we’re doing a riff on the restaurant-style cowboy burgers and making our version that we’re loading down with ALL the works and thensome.

We’re not holding back anything with these burgers and they really do have it all. We’ve got the signature juicy burger patty, a thick slice of cheese, crisp bacon, and yep, even caramelized onions and special sauce.

This is definitely one of those burgers that’s a struggle to wrap your mouth around and super messy to eat, but I’m here to tell you it’s WORTH it.

The amount of toppings we’re packing into these babies should probably be illegal, but we gotta go all out and pile ’em all on there. True cowboy style.

These Burgers feature…

• Juicy grilled burger patties
• A sweet and tangy homemade special sauce
• Tons of toppings including caramelized onions, avocado, bacon, cheese, tomato, and lettuce

Making the Burgers

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Mayonnaise
• Barbecue sauce
• Pickle relish
• Sugar
• Worcestershire sauce
• Ground chuck
• Garlic
• Onion powder
• Cayenne pepper
• Burger toppings

Choosing Your Beef

We recommend using an 80/20 ground chuck for these burgers. This ratio means 80% lean meat and 20% fat which we find leads to an incredibly juicy and tender burger.

You can use regular ground beef if that’s all you have on hand, but be aware your burger will likely not turn out quite as juicy.

Tips for Perfect Burgers

1. Make special sauce from scratch – this sauce is seriously so easy to make at home and adds an incredible flavor boost to the burgers.
2. Do not overknead burger mixture – this will lead to a tough, dry burger. For best results, gently fold meat until just combined.
3. Prep all burger toppings before grilling – ideally, you will want all the toppings prepped and read to go before you start cooking the burgers. This way once the burgers are off the grill you can assemble and serve them immediately.
4. Preheat grill – you always want your grill preheated prior to grilling the burgers.
5. Toast buns – this is a little secret weapon that always boosts a burger! Throw your buns on the grill for a few seconds to toast or stick them under a broiler until a light golden brown.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on these burgers!

• Change up the toppings – the sky’s the limit for what you can top these burgers with! Try onion rings in place of the caramelized onions, a different cheese, shredded lettuce, etc.
• Try a different sauce – barbecue sauce, ketchup, or ranch would work perfect in place of the special sauce.
• Make burgers into a salad – skip the buns and instead cut the burgers into bite-sized pieces and arrange over a bed of lettuce with toppings and special sauce.

Temperature Guide

Use this temperature chart to determine when to pull your burgers off the heat for your desired level of doneness. We always recommend using a kitchen thermometer to test internal temperature.

• Medium-rare – 130-135F
• Medium – 140-145F
• Medium-well – 150-155F
• Well-done – 160-165F.

There’s just simply no words to describe what an utter flavor bomb these burgers are! The beef is soo insanely juicy and perfectly complimented by the crisp bacon, sweet caramelized onions, silky avocado, and creamy special sauce.

This is it, y’all. You’ve officially met your new burger match.

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

More incredible burgers to throw on the grill next!

• Basil Bruschetta Burgers
• Bacon Cheddar Jalapeno Popper Burgers
• Caprese Chicken Burgers

This post was updated with new recipe notes and photos on 6/15/23.