This Cheese Curd Bacon Burger is the ultimate burger recipe! It's grilled to perfection, full of gooey cheese curds, crispy bacon, and flavored with smoky chipotle seasoning. If you love a good cheese and bacon burger - this is a MUST make.
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You'll ❤️ This Cheese Curd Burger!
"Full of curds and bacon, this burger is a nod to our Wisconsin roots. It's super delicious on a pretzel bun (although I couldn't find any at the store when I took the photos!" 😉
Love unique burgers? Be sure to make my Peanut Butter Burger with Bacon (think grown up PB&J), and these Gyro Burgers - phenomenal flavor!
Cheesy Inspiration
Good 'ole Wisconsin cheese curds. I wish everyone could try a fresh squeaky cheese curd - the BEST! 🙂 I found myself with some extra curds recently, so I decided, why not add them to a burger? Add bacon, and voila! Best burger ever!
Customize
Make your burger patties according to the recipe then customize with your favorite toppings.
Healthy
This burger recipe is gluten-free, low carb, and keto with no sugar added. If you are following a low carb, serve your burger on its own, wrapped in lettuce, or on a grilled portobello mushroom.
🥘 What You'll Need
Here are the ingredients you will need to make a cheese curd bacon burger:
Ground Chuck - I used an 80/20 blend but use what you prefer.
Cheese Curds - use white or yellow cheese curds.
Bacon - hickory smoked is pretty darn good!
Chipotle Seasoning - you can also you any of your favorite seasonings blends. You can also use seasoned salt if you prefer.
Ground Black Pepper
Hamburger Buns - my favorite is a pretzel bun or a challah bun. When I made this recipe, neither was available at my local store, so I used sesame seed buns which were also quite delicious!
Butter
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
🔪 How To Make
Here are the step-by-step instructions for making a cheese curd bacon burger:
Prep
Pre-cook and crumble the bacon.
Make the burger
Mix your ground chuck, chopped cheese curds, and bacon in a bowl. Shape them into four equal-sized patties about 1 inch thick. Press your thumb into the middle to make an indentation (this helps prevent the burgers from shrinking).
Season
Season entire patty with your chipotle seasoning and black pepper.
Place your burgers on your preheated grill over medium heat (about 350 degrees F).
Grill
Grill your burgers until they are cooked to your desired doneness, approximately 4 to 7 minutes per side. Determine your doneness by checking the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer. (see the guide below).
Remove your burgers from the heat, and cover with foil. Let rest for about 5 minutes to help seal all those delicious flavors!
Prep buns
Brush your melted butter onto the sliced edge of each bun and place it on the grill, butter side down until toasted. Place your burger on the bun and top with your favorite toppings.
Enjoy!
🥗 How To Serve It
Here are a few ways to serve your cheese curd bacon burger:
Meal idea! Try these decadent burgers with grilled romaine hearts, herb marinaded BBQ vegetables, or a simple (no cook) zucchini carpaccio.
Low-carb followers should serve their burger in wrapped in lettuce on its own, or with a grilled portobello mushroom - delicious!
Topping ideas - mayo, onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, pepperoncini, French fried onions, smashed avocado. A unique topping - a runny over-easy egg.
📖 Variations
Here are a few ways you can vary or make substitutions to this recipe:
- Adjust seasoning to your desired preference.
- Make this a copycat Buffalo Wild Wings cheese curd burger: use a challah bun, double patty, and my air fryer fried cheese curds on top (omit curds and bacon inside the burger), add bacon slices, American cheese slice, tomato, lettuce, onions, pickle, and chipotle seasoning, and mayonnaise.
- Use ground turkey instead of beef.
- Add an extra slice of cheese to the top of your burger to make it extra cheesy! The chopped curds in the burger mixture will make it delicious, but who says no to extra cheese?
- Like it spicy? Add some red pepper flakes or hot sauce to your ground beef mixture to amp it up! Add some fresh or pickled jalapeno to your burger to kick it up!
💭 Top Tips
- You can make your burger patties ahead of time and refrigerate them for up to 12 hours for the best freshness. Remove from the fridge for 30 minutes before grilling to allow them to come to room temp.
- Let your burgers rest after cooking off the grill for at least 5 minutes - this allows the cheese to set and the burgers to re-absorb the natural juices to make them extra tasty.
- Spray your grill rack with non-stick cooking spray before placing your patties to help prevent them from sticking.
❓FAQs
How To Store
Store your leftover grilled burgers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat in the microwave or air-fryer until your preferred temperature and enjoy again!
Rare: 120 to 125 F (approx. 3 minutes per side)
Medium Rare: 130 to 135 F (4 min. per side)
Medium: 140 to 145 F (5 min. per side)
Medium Well: 150 to 155 F (6 min. per side)
Well Done: *160 to 165 F (7 min. per side)
(*USDA Minimum Safe Temperature is 160 degrees F)
For our recipe, you can top your burger with anything you want. If you are referencing the Buffalo Wild Wings cheese curd burger, they top their burger with deep-fried Wisconsin cheese curds, shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, American cheese, chipotle BBQ seasoning, mayo, and of course, bacon. You can modify any of these toppings and create your own!
Culvers created their curd burger by mixing white and yellow curds into one large fried cheese curd patty to top their signature butter burger for the ultimate curd burger.
✔️ More Burger Recipes
If you are looking for more delicious burger recipes, check these out:
- Peanut Butter Burger with Bacon - an absolute family favorite. Make the pepper jelly, or make my blueberry bbq sauce to slather on - like a pb&j burger. 😉
- Air Fryer Turkey Burgers - super easy in the air fryer.
- Buffalo Chicken Burgers (Low Carb Keto Burgers) - buffalo lovers will go nuts over this burger!
- Southwest Turkey Burgers On The Grill - juicy turkey burgers with a southwest flair.
- The Best Greek Burger (Gyro Burger) - if you love gyros, you will love this burger. It's fantastic!
- Big Mac Sloppy Joes - while not exactly a burger, it's a messy copycat of your favorite restaurant version! Family favorite.
📋 Recipe
Cheese Curd Bacon Burger Recipe
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds ground chuck (80/20)
- ¾ cup cheese curds (about ½" in size, rough chop if needed)
- 4 slices bacon (cooked and crumbled)
- 1½ teaspoons chipotle seasoning (or any favorite salted seasoning blend)
- ½ ground black pepper
- 4 hamburger buns (pretzel, challah, or sesame seed)
- 2 tablespoons butter (melted)
Instructions
- Mix ground chuck, cheese curds, and bacon in a bowl. Shape into 4 equal sized patties about 1" thick. Press your thumb into the middle to make an indent (helps prevent burger shrinkage).
- Season both sides of the patties with seasoned salt and black pepper. Place on preheated grill over medium heat (about 350 degrees F)
- Grill until burgers are cooked to your desired doneness, approximately 4 to 7 minutes per side. Determine doneness by checking the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer. (see below guide)
- Remove from heat, cover with foil, and let rest about 5 minutes.
- Brush butter on the sliced side of each bun and place on the grill, butter side down, until toasted.
- Place burger on the bun and top with your favorite toppings. Adjust seasoning if needed.
Notes
- Don't miss all of our helpful hints, substitution ideas, cooking tips, and other delicious recipes that can be found in our post. Check it out!
- VARIATIONS: Use chipotle seasoning or seasoned salt.
- SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Serve with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle slices, and mayonnaise. Make it a copycat Buffalo Wild Wings cheese curd burger and omit bacon and curds in the patty. Use fried cheese curds, bacon slices, and a slice of american cheese as toppings.
Burger Temperature Doneness Chart:
Rare: 120 to 125 F (approx. 3 minutes per side) Medium Rare: 130 to 135 F (4 min. per side) Medium: 140 to 145 F (5 min. per side) Medium Well: 150 to 155 F (6 min. each side) Well Done: *160 to 165 F (7 min. each side) (*USDA Minimum Safe Temperature is 160 degrees F)Nutrition
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