With Labor Day around the corner, many are looking for easy yet filling dishes that won’t take up too much grill space. Luckily, The Pioneer Woman has a great Cheeseburger Salad recipe that’s perfect for a barbeque.
The Pioneer Woman’s Cheeseburger Salad is a fresh take on comfort food
Ree Drummond knows how to combine dishes to create fun hearty meals. Her Cheeseburger Salad recipe does just that. And as she noted on her website, it’s a fresh take on two classics.
“This cheeseburger salad has everything you love about your favorite comfort food, but with a few smart and delicious twists that make it one of the best salads ever,” Drummond suggests. “Everything you love about a cheeseburger, but with more toppings and a little less bun.”
How to prepare the burger component of Ree Drummond’s Cheeseburger Salad
To prepare the Cheeseburger Salad, Drummond begins by making burgers. She uses about a pound and a half of ground chuck and combines it with Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. The mixture is then divided into 12 two-ounce balls.
To make things easy, Drummond uses a skillet rather than a grill to cook the patties. “This recipe uses the ‘smash’ method to cook the burgers in a hot cast-iron skillet by using a spatula to ‘smash’ them flat against the surface of the pan,” she explained. “This makes them super crispy on the edges and helps them cook quickly.”
Drummond places each ball on a hot skillet and smashes them with a spatula and a small cut-out square of parchment paper. She then peels off the paper and cooks the patties until browned for about two minutes before flipping and cooking for another two minutes.
When the burgers are done, she places them on a baking sheet and tops them with quartered slices of cheese.
She turns burger buns into croutons
To give her Cheeseburger Salad a good crunch, Drummond adds burger buns in the form of croutons. She starts by cubing the buns and then tosses them with melted butter.
The buttered cubes are then placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet and baked for about 10 mins or until toasted. Drummond places the tray of burgers in the oven for the last five minutes to melt the cheese.
How to bring the Cheeseburger Salad together
Once the croutons and burgers are done, it’s time to bring the salad together. Drummond slices romaine Lettuce and adds it to a large bowl with sliced pickles, sliced onions, and halved or quartered cherry tomatoes.
She then drizzles the salad with some pickle juice and salt. And when it’s time to serve, Drummond tops it with the burger pieces, the bun croutons, and crumbled bacon.
Drummond suggests dressing the salad with either store-bought or homemade Thousand Island dressing. Those who prefer a low-carb or keto Cheeseburger Salad can skip the croutons and use blue cheese, caesar, or ranch dressing instead.
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