Blue cheese and bacon are among my favorite flavor combinations. Putting them atop burgers is always a crowd pleaser. Add a little barbecue sauce along with some crunchy lettuce and you are in business!
These burgers started off as a stuffed burger. I have to tell you, though, you just can’t fit the amount of filling in them that I’d like to have. So, the filling is now a topping and there is more of it. And what’s not to love about melty blue cheese and salty bacon oozing out the sides of your burger bun? Plus, using the cheesy mixture as a topping (rather than a stuffing) shaves about a half hour off the prep time.
The little details can make a huge difference when you’re serving up burgers. Anyone can throw a pre-made patty on the grill, but what gives your burger that little something extra? I always like my bun toasted, and since I had some fresh bacon grease available, I dunked this bun in the bacon grease and then put it on a griddle on the stove. The first time I tried this, I got the full-mouth version of “What kind of buns are these? They are really good!” from my husband and daughter. They are darn good this way, and I won’t lie, I ate the bun pictured here immediately after taking the photo. It was delicious 🙂
Tailgating is a lot like camping for me: you always want to have the best smelling grill but you don’t have the facilities to clean up a big mess. Certain foods are easier to deal with in this type of cooking environment, and any kind of assembly always carries the risk of a mess that will have to wait six hours to get cleaned up. And in the South Florida heat, that is a really long time. This blue cheese and bacon topping can be made ahead and chilled overnight so you can easily slather it onto your burgers in the parking lot without any mess at all. Now that’s a smart play!
Barbecue sauce is the only condiment you’ll need for these bad boys so there’s more room in your cooler for your beverages of choice. Just bring your crunchy lettuce washed and your onions chopped for the easiest – and tastiest – burger assembly you can have.
Ingredients
- 4 hamburgers
- 4 buns
- 4 oz blue cheese crumbles
- 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
- Bacon grease
Instructions
- Cook bacon per package directions and cool; crumble into small pieces.
- Reserve bacon grease.
- Combine blue cheese, crumbled bacon, and 1.5 T bacon grease in a bowl; stir to combine.
- If you're making ahead, cover mixture and keep refrigerated until 15 minutes before use.
- If you're eating it now, make your burgers and slather this topping on it just before they come off the grill.
- Top burgers with crisp lettuce, chopped red onion and a generous dollop of barbecue sauce.
Enjoy!
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