These healthy burger bowls with special sauce are the perfect way to get your burger fix with even more fresh veggies and flavor. These bowls are so easy to make, use only real food ingredients, and the delicious “special sauce” dressing pulls everything together. This recipe is Whole30 compliant, Paleo-friendly, and low carb.
Healthy Burger Bowls with Special Sauce
Burger bowls or “burger salads” were one of the first meals that I regularly made when I switched to a Paleo lifestyle. Years later they are still my absolute favorite thing. Honestly, the burger bun just gets in the way at this point.
These healthy burger bowls with special sauce are packed with all the classic burger toppings and can easily be customized to add even more veggies and toppings. A delicious creamy special sauce ties everything together so you get that perfect burger bite.
Serve your healthy burger bowls with a side of crispy homemade air fryer to French fries or roasted potato wedges with chipotle lime aioli for the ultimate weeknight meal that is Paleo friendly, Whole30 compliant, and so GOOD.
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Flavorful Ground Beef for Delicious Burger Bowls
When it comes to the ground beef in these burger bowls you have a few options. You can go the traditional route and serve your burger bowl with a burger patty or crumble the ground beef as shown here. Both are great options and there is really no “wrong” way. With either option you are going to get perfectly seasoned and flavorful ground beef.
Here are a couple of tips and tricks:
- If you decide to make burger patties you can easily melt sliced or shredded cheese on each patty like you would with a traditional burger.
- Making burger patties is a great option if not everyone wants to go the burger bowl route. You can make both traditional burgers and burger bowls with the patties.
- If you crumble the beef, be sure to drain any excess fat from the meat or use a slotted spoon to remove it from the pan before adding it to the bowls.
- Don’t overcook your beef! There’s nothing worse than dry, tough hamburger meat.
- Don’t love ground beef? You could easily make this recipe with ground turkey!
The Best Burger Bowl Toppings
Next to the juicy ground beef, the toppings are really the best part of any burger. These burger bowls keep things a bit classic and use delicious toppings like:
- Fresh tomato
- Tangy pickles
- Red onion
- Herby dill
Of course, you can get even more creative with your toppings! What is great about burger bowls is that there is plenty of room for even more fresh toppings.
Here are a few more topping ideas to try:
- Crispy bacon
- Grilled veggies like zucchini, peppers, and onions
- Creamy avocado
- Shredded carrots
- Shredded cabbage
- Fresh or pickled hot peppers like jalapeños or pepperoncinis
- Mushrooms
- Shredded cheese
- A fried egg
- Fresh herbs like dill or parsley
- Sliced green onion
How to Make the “Special Sauce”
Since these are burger bowls, there is no place to spread on your favorite condiments like mayonnaise, ketchup, or mustard. So instead, this recipe using a special sauce, that includes all three, as the “dressing” for the burger bowls.
Special Sauce Ingredients
- Mayonnaise
- Ketchup
- Yellow mustard
- Pickle juice
- Dill relish
- Spices and seasonings
To make the sauce, add all of the ingredients to a small mixing bowl and stir until they are well combined. Remember, you can always adjust a recipe to fit your tastebuds! If you want a little more tang in the dressing add more pickle juice. Want more mustard flavor? Add a little more. Do not be afraid to get in there and make this your own!
If you are concerned about making sure this recipe stays Whole30 compliant, be sure to check the labels on your ingredients before using them to make the sauce. You will want to use a Whole30 compliant mayonnaise, ketchup, and dill relish in this recipe to keep it Whole30 friendly.
More Delicious Recipes to Love
- Chicken Bacon Avocado Chopped Salad
- Greek Turkey Burgers
- Homemade Honey Mustard Sauce
- Healthy Homemade Chicken Nuggets
- Whole30 Crispy Buffalo Chicken Wings
- Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Burrito Bowls
I hope you give these Healthy Burger Bowls a try! This makes a quick and easy dinner that everyone will love!
If you do give this recipe a try, I want to know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @allthehealthythings on INSTAGRAM. Your reviews help support All the Healthy Things and make it possible for me to continue to create the recipes you know and love.
Print
Healthy Burger Bowls with Special Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Lunch + Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Healthy burger bowls with special sauce are the perfect way to get your burger fix with even more fresh veggies and flavor. These bowls are so easy to make, use only real food ingredients, and the delicious “special sauce” dressing pulls everything together. This recipe is Whole30 compliant, Paleo-friendly, and low carb.
Ingredients
For the Burger Meat
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For the Salad
- Romaine lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Pickles
- Red onion
Special Sauce
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon pickle juice
- 1 tablespoon dill relish
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and spices. Brown the beef, breaking it up as it cooks, until it is fully cooked through.
- While the beef is browning, make the special sauce. Add all of the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together until well combined.
- Assemble your burger bowls. Start with romaine lettuce then add the toppings and cooked ground beef. Drizzle the special sauce over everything and then enjoy!
We absolutely love this salad! It’s in our weekly rotations and a ton of my friends have made it as well who absolutely love this! Such a great healthy twist on a true classic!
So glad y’all love it, Emma! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
I have been craving a burger and this was the perfect healthy alternative. I could (and did!) eat the special sauce with a spoon!!
So happy you loved it, Caitlin!
Great recipe! I made it last week and again this week. Love how easy it is.
Thanks, Em! I’m so happy you loved it!
Perfect recipe, and really fast and easy to do. I’ve made this several times since discovering your web site this summer, and each time it’s wonderful. Definitely in my regular rotation. The meat is so flavorful, and I love how there’s so much room for customizing the bowls to individual tastes.
So happy to know you love the recipe, Samantha! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
Husband loved it, even asked to make it again.
One of our favorites. Healthy take on a burger and the special sauce is AWESOME.
Game changer! I found this recipe early in summer, and I make it multiple times per month! It’s easy and satisfying. Now it’s becoming a game day favorite.
My husband and I LOVE this recipe! Such an easy week night dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day! I even convinced him on multiple occasions to have this salad instead of regular burger, and each time he admits that it hit the burger craving perfectly! Great recipe, in our week night rotation!
Love, love, looooove this! All the best parts of a burger and hits the spot when craving a burger.
The best whole30 meal I’ve ever made! All of Ashlea’s recipes are easy to make but so full of flavor! I’ve tried so many and every one of them is a keeper ❤️
Not sure what I can say that has been said – but this was AMAZING!
The recipe is super easy to make, and the sauce. Can one drink it, asking for a friend? I also love that you could easily swap ground beef for turkey to make it a little lighter.]
I will keep this in rotation for sure!
Seriously delicious! I was skeptical at first, but boy was this tasty!
This is one of our favorite recipes! We have it every other week and we make the special sauce any time we have oven fries. We have a different comb of “toppings” every time. The possibilities are endless. So easy and super tasty. I’ve made it with turkey and beef. Prefer beef, but both were delicious. This helped us survive two Whole30s at the beginning of the quarantine.
This recipe is the bomb.com!
So yummy. So easy.
Hubby loved it.
Will definitely go in the rotation!!
So tasty! And the sauce is delicious!!!
This is one of my favorite recipes and has become a regular in my meal prep rotation! I absolutely love adding a little bit of Sriracha to the sauce recipe for an added kick!
Love that idea, Erinn! So happy you love the recipe!