Inspiration: I’ve always been a burger kind of girl – you know, the person who will opt for a burger over a steak nine times out of ten. That’s definitely me. And when it’s summer time and we can have homemade burgers grilled on the charcoal grill, well…there’s just no beating that. In my opinion, it’s almost not a proper summer week without a burger thrown on the menu. And so we’ve got another burger recipe to bring you this week (….and probably a few more to come before the summer weather is over).
What We Loved: This burger is really all about the bacon onion balsamic jam. The burger itself is quite tasty – smoky rich and topped with a gooey gruyere – but the jam is what makes the burger so special. I really let the onions caramelize and let all of the vinegar reduce down until the result was a syrupy sweet yet smoky bacon-y topping. A little bit of the rich burger, gooey cheese, and sweet bacon jam on my fork was just such a wonderful myriad of flavors and textures.
Tips: The recipe calls for the bacon that is mixed into the burgers to be finally minced, but I’d almost recommend throwing it into the food processor to get a nice ground texture, instead. I chopped the bacon pretty small, but there were still pieces throughout the burger that I thought were a little large and had a tough texture. I think if the bacon had more of a ground bacon texture instead, it might mix into the burger a little bit better.
Bacon Burgers with Bacon Onion Balsamic Jam
Source: Slightly adapted from Annie’s Eats, originally from Fine Cooking
Serves: 3
For the Topping
4 slices bacon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 red onion, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup water
For the Burgers
2 slices bacon, minced
1 lb ground beef (85% lean)
Good dash Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and black pepper
Freshly shredded gruyere cheese
1. To make the topping, heat a sauce pan over medium heat. Cook the bacon until lightly browned, and remove to paper towels to drain. Drain all but about a tablespoon of the bacon grease from the pan. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cover the pan for two minutes. Uncover the pan, add a splash of water, and scrape any browned bits from the bottom. Cover again and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened and beginning to get nice and browned.
2.Stir in the vinegar, mustard, and water. Return the bacon to the pan, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer uncovered until thickened. Remove from the heat.
3. To make the burgers, add the bacon, ground beef, Worcestershire, and a good pinch of salt and pepper to a bowl. Mix well to combine, and form into patties (I was able to make three). Make a good indentation in the middle of the patties with your thumb to allow for even cooking.
4. Cook on a charcoal grill for about 5 minutes per side, until the burgers are cooked through. About two minutes before removing the burgers from the grill, top with the gruyere cheese.
5. Serve the burgers topped with the onion jam.
threeowlskitchen.com 
I think this will be my first meal after completing the Whole30!
I think it’d be a good one! :)
If I hadn’t already had dinner, I’d be a drooling mess right now :)
Haha, yeah….I find that it’s best not to read food blogs when I’m hungry!
Oh gosh, this looks so extremely delicious!! I’m getting really hungry! Great post, great photos. I love it!
Thanks so much! :)
you’re welcome (:
That is one really nice looking burger!
Thank you!
Tried this jam today (or at least a variation of it…only had regular yellow onions at home, and could not stop myself at only 4 slices of bacon ;)
Totally covered two fried pork chops with it, and it was great!!
Thanks! // Strictly Paleo…ish!
Oh good, I’m so glad that you liked it! It sounds like an excellent complement to pork chops or even chicken. I’ll have to give that a try!
Wow this looks incredible. We also eat a lot of burgers over summer. Since it’s winter now here in New Zealand, it’s been a long time since we’ve had home made burgers. I can’t say I’ve ever made bacon burgers, usually opting for a slice of bacon added to a beef burger. Do you have a mincer or is there another way to mince meat? I have memories of my parents mincing their own meat using a sturdy chopping board, a cleaver, and a lot of elbow grease.
I just minced up the bacon finely with a Chef’s knife and added it to the beef. I did find that the pieces were still slightly larger than I would have liked and a little tough in spots, so I might recommend throwing the bacon into a food processor for better results!
I guess I’ll get chopping too. Never found much cause for a food processor. We had one for a while but gave it away.
Good luck! :)
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Loved the bacon onion jam!!! Thanks so much!
Awesome, I’m glad! You’re welcome.
I love this and just want to take a bite into it. Who needs a bun?
Thanks & agreed! :)
This looks crazy good! I love the sound of that jam.
Thanks! It’s definitely unique…sweet, smoky, delish!
I can’t wait to try this recipe! And I’m excited to see an interesting burger that doesn’t have a bun, as the hubby and I are eating gluten-free. Definitely looking forward to this one :) Thanks so much for sharing it!
Stopping by to say hi from Megz Messy Mealz :)
I hope that you like it if you give it a try! We always just eat all of our burgers without a bun….and we find that we don’t really need it to enjoy it just as much!
The bacon burger and onion jam paired with pumpkin fries made for such a great mid-week meal. Thank you!
Oooh….that sounds like an amazing combo for this time of year. YUM!
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These were wonderful! left off the cheese but still amazing! Great job!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them!