Description

This delicious Burger Salad with Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs and Special Sauce combines the satisfaction of a classic cheeseburger with a fresh and flavorful salad. Featuring crisp romaine lettuce, juicy cherry tomatoes, zingy dill pickle slices, carrots, black olives, red onion, and a generous sprinkle of crispy bacon and salty blue cheese crumbles. A drizzle of zippy Special Sauce provides the crowning touch to this burger-inspired creation.

Ingredients

Scale

For the cheese-stuffed meatballs:

1 lb ground beef
30 g (½ cup) panko bread crumbs (can use gluten-free if needed)
1 large egg
15 g (1 tbsp) Dijon mustard
10 g (2 tsp) Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dried chopped onion
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp cracked black pepper
6 oz cheddar cheese, cut into 12 cubes

For the special sauce:

112 g (½ cup) mayonnaise
68 g (¼ cup) ketchup
30 g (2 tbsp) dill pickle relish
15 g (1 tbsp) Dijon mustard
6 g (1 tsp) white vinegar (distilled, rice, or white wine)
½ tsp dried dill
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp cracked black pepper

For the salad:

½ lb bacon
1 hearts of romaine, chopped (about 500 g)
1 large avocado (about 7-8 oz)
125 g (¾ cup) cherry tomatoes, sliced
43 g (½ cup) carrots, shredded
70 g (½ cup) black olives
113 g (½ cup) dill pickle slices
2 oz (⅓ cup) blue cheese, crumbled
43 g (¼ cup) red onion, sliced

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Prepare the Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit / 190 degrees Celcius. Line a baker’s half sheet with parchment paper and reserve to the side.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, panko bread crumbs, egg, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, dried chopped onion, dried parsley, kosher salt, and cracked black pepper. Mix until just blended.
3. Divide the mixed meat into 4 equal portions, forming quadrants in the bowl. This will help you portion out 12 meatballs evenly (3 meatballs from each quadrant).
4. Place a cube of cheddar cheese in the center and mold the beef mixture around it, forming a meatball. Repeat with all the mixture and cheese.
5. Arrange the meatballs on the reserved baking sheet and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until the meatballs are golden and cooked through. There will likely be some cheese beginning to seep out of the meatballs and that is perfectly okay. They should still be very cheesy inside.
Cook the bacon (while the meatballs are baking): In a skillet over medium-high heat cook bacon until crispy, stirring occasionally to make sure that the bacon gets evenly browned, then reserve to a paper-towel-lined bowl to the side. Drain any residual grease.
Mix the Special Sauce: In a bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, ketchup, dill pickle relish, Dijon mustard, white vinegar, dried dill, paprika, garlic powder, and cracked black pepper. Stir until the sauce is well blended, then reserve to the side.
Assemble the Burger Salad: You can assemble the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl and serve it family style, or assemble it into individual plates or bowls. To plate individual servings, arrange the chopped romaine, avocado, cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots, black olives, dill pickle slices, and red onion on each plate. Top with a few Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs and generously drizzle the Special Sauce over the entire creation.

Notes

Nutritional information on Whip & Wander is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.

8/10/23 This recipe was updated and may no longer fit specified dietary preferences from previous versions of this post. Previous version 8/21/19.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1/4th recipe + 2 tbsp Special Sauce
Calories: 857
Sugar: 5 g
Sodium: 1923 mg
Fat: 63 g
Saturated Fat: 23 g
Carbohydrates: 20 g
Fiber: 7 g
Protein: 51 g
Cholesterol: 212 mg