Fans Are ‘Embarrassed To Admit How Many Times’ They’ve Made This Viral Cheeseburger Recipe—I Had to Try It

It surprised my entire family during our taste test.

As a food writer, I try lots of viral recipes, from Tennessee Onions to Don’t Tell the Doctor Dip. When I present these trending dishes to my family, they’re usually excited to try them out. But recently when I mentioned Cheeseburger Salad, everyone seemed a bit dubious.

“It sounds harder than just making a cheeseburger,” said my 14-year-old daughter. And my husband, the hands-down most adventurous eater in my home, proclaimed himself “not too sure” about Cheeseburger Salad, a flavorful mixture of burger-seasoned ground beef served with hamburger bun croutons and cheddar cheese over a bed of lettuce and veggies.

Allrecipes user Kristina Bowling Briceno shared her own Cheeseburger Salad recipe on the site, and it’s received tons of five-star reviews. “I wanted a cheeseburger but I didn’t want the greasy, too-full feeling afterward,” wrote one home cook. “This salad worked like a charm.”

Another reviewer admitted, “I’m almost embarrassed to admit how many times I’ve made this. It’s so good.”

What Is Cheeseburger Salad?

Cheeseburger Salad is exactly what it sounds like—a cheeseburger in salad form. To make it, I cut two hamburger buns into 3/4-inch strips and toasted them in the oven to make croutons. While Bowling Briceno’s recipe called for placing the sliced buns straight onto a cookie sheet, I gave them a toss in olive oil and garlic salt first for some added flavor. After about 10 minutes in a 425 F oven, I had some crispy, tasty croutons that definitely gave off burger bun vibes.

I chopped all of my salad ingredients while I was slicing up my burger buns. The base of the salad is eight cups of chopped lettuce, half a thinly sliced red onion, and chopped, fresh tomatoes, all of which came together in no time. A cup of shredded cheddar cheese also gets sprinkled over the lettuce mixture before adding the “burger” part of this salad, so I assembled the whole thing and then went to work on the ground beef filling.

The “burger” part of cheeseburger salad is a mixture of diced red onion, a pound of lean ground beef, one cup of ketchup, and a bit of dill pickle relish and yellow mustard. Everything hangs out in a sautée pan until the beef is cooked and the onions are softened, and then the mixture is ready to be poured on top of the green salad.

How To Serve Cheeseburger Salad

There are plenty of variations on Cheeseburger Salad out there as well. TikToker The Salad Lab adds mayo to their dressing, while Her Wholesome Kitchen tops her Cheeseburger Salad with Thousand Island salad dressing. The version of Cheeseburger Salad on Allrecipes doesn’t call for salad dressing, and we found it wasn’t needed, as the sauciness of the ketchup and ground beef mixture provided a dressing-like feel to the dish.

I served my family Cheeseburger Salad with a side of frozen fries crisped up in the air fryer. The meal was really good and felt like a healthy alternative to the greasy fast food burgers my teenagers know and love. The ground beef mixture had all the flavors of a cheeseburger topped with classic condiments like ketchup, onion, relish, and mustard, and the crispy homemade burger bun croutons were the perfect pop of bread, although you could skip them if you were eating a low carb diet.

How Does Cheeseburger Salad Taste?

My skeptical family actually loved Cheeseburger Salad. “I thought I wasn’t going to like this by the way you described it,” said my husband, “but it’s really good and I’d eat it again.”

“It’s probably a good way to get some salad greens in,” my daughter commented, while my son, a burger-lover and my pickiest eater, went back for seconds. Overall, the dish felt like it combined a classic comfort food—cheeseburgers—with a healthy and fast family dinner.

Based on my family’s rave reviews of Cheeseburger Salad, I’ll be adding this quick and simple dish to our weeknight meal rotation. The salad was a unique twist on flavors we all enjoy and felt like a fun way to switch up one of our go-to family dinners.

Read the original article on All Recipes.