Saucy Baja Burgers
Sometimes you just need a good burger and Saucy Baja Burgers are one of my personal favorites! These yummy burgers feature a beautifully grilled burger, a cilantro sauce, pickled onions, avocado and more. It’s probably the messiest burger I’ve ever eaten my life and half the time you have to resort to using a fork, but it’s 100% worth it!
I’ll be honest with you, this burger was inspired by a cookbook recipe. However, there were certain parts of it that I just didn’t think sounded very good and I made a few suggestions to my husband. (He’s the grill master around here.) The end result is something that is good enough for any restaurant!
Tips & Tricks
- Saucy Baja Burgers are amazing on the grill, but they could easily be fried in a skillet. Just make sure to drain them on a paper towel because they are messy enough as it is.
- Mashing the avocado up in the cilantro sauce makes it more of a spread and it’s just as delicious. It’s still messy though.
- Keep lots of napkins and paper towels close by. I’d tell you to just lick your fingers, but it will probably be all over your hands and halfway up one arm because it’s just that messy.
- I suggest having a fork on your plate just in case. Did I tell you it’s soooo messy?!?
Saucy Baja Burgers Ingredients
Burgers:
- 4 pounds ground beef (not too lean)
- 8 hamburger buns
- 8 slices pepper jack cheese
Seasoning Mix:
- 3 Tablespoons garlic powder
- 3 Tablespoons salt
- 3 Tablespoons paprika
Pickled Red Onions:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 red onions, sliced thin
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Cilantro Sauce:
- 1 Cup Mayonnaise
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons chopped red onion
- 1 teaspoon pickle relish
- Juice of two lemons (or about 6 Tablespoons if you’re using bottled juice)
- 1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1 to 2 teaspoons hot sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
Toppings:
- 16 pieces bacon, fried or baked
- 2 Tomatoes, sliced
- 3 large avocados, sliced thin
- 8 leaves green leaf or butter lettuce
Directions:
- Mix garlic powder, salt, and paprika to make seasoning mix.
- Cook the bacon, drain the grease, cover, and put in oven to keep warm. It doesn’t matter if you bake the bacon or fry it. We’ve done it both ways. As long as you let the grease drain off and keep it warm until you’re ready to assemble the burgers, it’s all good.
- Chop red onion and cilantro. Mix with mayo, pickle relish, lemon juice, hot sauce, and salt/pepper. Stir until combined and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Heat olive oil in a medium pan, saute the onions until tender. Remove from heat. Add honey and balsamic vinegar, stir to combine, and then set aside. This is basically a quick pickle, so it doesn’t need to be kept hot unless you just prefer it that way.
- Form the burger into patties. It should make about eight. Sprinkle both sides of the burger with the seasoning mix and put them in the fridge for 30-45 minutes to let the seasoning mix sink in. There should be seasoning mix leftover, so just save it for more burgers or something else later!
- Grill the burgers for 6-7 minutes on each side for medium well. If you are new to grilling, I recommend getting a meat thermometer and adjusting your time accordingly. My husband prefers medium-well burgers, but the rest of us like well done, so he leaves them on a little longer for us. One hundred and sixty degrees is really the recommended internal temperature for ground beef, but if it gets too much hotter than that, your burgers could become very dry.**
- Top the burgers with the cheese and let it melt. If you want to toast the buns, do it while the cheese is melting. My husbands likes the buns toasted, but I prefer them soft.
- Layer lettuce, tomato, burger, avocado, bacon, and onions on bottom bun. Spoon cilantro sauce over other ingredients (Go wild and use as much as you want. It’s going to make a mess anyway!) and cover with the top bun.
- Eat and enjoy!!!
What To Eat With Saucy Baja Burgers
These burgers will fill you up and you may not want a side dish at all, but just in case you do, here are a few suggestions.
- Corn with elote sauce/Mexican Street Corn. This is probably my favorite side for these burgers, but I could eat corn on the cob all day long. I may be a little biased!
- Corn Salad. In case you don’t like corn on the cob.
- Tortilla chips and salsa.
- Nacho cheese fries. Not sure why nacho cheese and french fries go so well together, but they really, really do. Serve the cheese on the side to save a few calories. The cilantro sauce for the burgers also makes a great dip for fries.
- Doritos/Chili Cheese Corn Chips/Potato Chips
**Because I’m not the person who grills things around here, I decided to make a guide with times and temperatures for grilling burgers. Hope this helps!!
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