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!
My husband and I have now cooked and enjoyed this multiple times! It’s so good! Healthy, tasty, and fills you up.
Happy to hear that, Heather! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
So fast to make. And it’s delicious and full of flavor! Our whole family loves it!!!
Yay! I’m so glad this has become a family favorite! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, Jessica!
A quick, easy, and delicious dinner (or lunch) option. I love how versatile this recipe. I modified a bit by cooking ground turkey with sliced up sweet onions since I don’t care for raw onion. I also added a ton of veggies to the bowl (peppers, cucumber, shredded carrot, pickles, and grape tomatoes), If I had olives and avocado on hand I would have tossed those in two. I opted to sprinkle some shredded cheddar on top of the meat/onion mix and also served with a slice of toasted rustic bread but I could def leave the bread out next time and still be satisfied. this will definitely be made again, and I may try it with meatless crumbles for a vegetarian version.
That sounds so good, Sara! I’m so happy you made this recipe work for you. Thanks for sharing!
This dish is now a weekly request from my husband! We love it and the special sauce is so delish!
Love that, McKenna! Thanks for sharing!
I made this for a last minute dinner, and it will be a definite weekly repeat! The sauce is amazing, it really brings the whole burger bowl together.
So glad you enjoyed it, Samantha!
I LOVE this recipe!!! I’ve made this twice for my mom and my brother and both times they (and I) drooled over it. So good. I am making it again tonight because it is such a hit. Thanks for making this recipe, because it’s super quick, healthy, and still a yummy burger flavour that just hits the spot. NOM.
I’m so happy you love the recipe, Sharon! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
So good and so easy! The special sauce really brings it all together. I added some chopped red and yellow bell peppers and drained and rinsed black beans. I had it all week for my lunch and it was perfect. Thank you for the great recipe!
You’re so welcome, Brittney! The addition of the peppers and black beans sounds wonderful! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
This is my new favorite! I usually opt for a mexican / burrito bowl if i’m putting together a bowl, but this is going to be my new go-to! We stuck with mayo as the sauce base, but after reading a comment below I think I’ll try the greek yogurt / mayo mix. Added your pickled onions to this as well – YUM! I love the simplicity of your ingredients – I don’t feel like I need to buy out the paleo aisle at Whole Foods before making anything and you offer great topping / meat alternatives – thank you!!
You’re so welcome, Ashley! I’m so happy you’re going to make this recipe work for you! Thank you for sharing!
This is so good! My husband is very against bullets burgers (lol) but we both love this when we want that burger fix.
So glad you both love the recipe, Jaclyn!
I am obsessed with this salad. I add white cheddar cheese when not on Whole30. So so good!
That sounds delicious, Joanna! Thanks for sharing!
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! Healthier version of a greasy burger. I actually used 3T greek yogurt and 1/2T of Mayo to make the special sauce. Didn’t miss the extra Mayo and cut a few calories!! Had this 2 nights in a row. Thanks so much for sharing!
I’m so glad you loved the recipe, Aeria! Thank you for sharing!
This was absolutely delicious- and so easy to make (and use whatever is on hand / customize). Seriously such a great meal that isn’t too heavy.
Thanks for sharing, Sam! So happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Definitely a winner. A great spin on a protein-style/lettuce-wrapped burger with less mess! The sauce was a perfect balance, and no one missed the buns. When I’m craving a big juicy burger, this is my new go-to!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Caren!
I had been eyeing this recipe for a while and finally bought all the ingredients to make it tonight (adding some avocado as well) and this was such a great dinner! Loved the sauce, the extra dill flavor and the idea is just genius, for those of us who prefer no buns! Love it!
So glad you enjoyed it, Olivia!
Whole family loved it!
So glad, Allyssa!
Question… what kind of pickle juice – dill or sweet pickle? Thanks
Hi, Nicki! I like dill pickle juice but you could really use either and I’m sure it would be fine. Hope that helps!