California Burger Recipe with Homemade Burger Sauce
Burger night is one of my favorite nights! Especially when it’s these california burgers. The meat is seasoned simply, and we top the burgers with smashed avocado, cheddar cheese, mixed greens, pickled onion, tomatoes and a delicious homemade burger sauce!
Sometimes I forget to add burgers to the weekly dinner rotation, but I need to change that! Burgers are so easy and there’s so many fun ways to jazz them up. I think everyone knows anything with ‘california’ in the name will have avocado and these burgers are no different! Fresh avocado is a must and I’m also including an easy + delicious burger sauce you can whip up in just a few minutes. If you are short on time, it’s TOTALLY fine to use a store-bought version. I love Trader Joe’s Magnifisauce or Kinders burger sauce if I don’t feel like making my own. Let’s make these!
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What do I need to make california burgers?
- ground beef
- garlic powder
- olive oil
- onion powder
- salt
- pepper
- avocado
- mixed greens
- tomatoes
- red onion
- red wine vinegar
- sugar
- sliced cheddar – I also like jack or havarti
- hamburger buns
A little extra touch I added to this recipe is pickled onions. This is another thing you can adjust if you prefer raw onions. I just like the extra punch of sour it gives!
homemade burger sauce ingredients
- mayonnaise
- mustard
- ketchup
- pickles
- paprika
- garlic powder
- salt
- pepper
- agave nectar – or you can use honey
How to make california burgers
In a small bowl combine ground beef, a drizzle of olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix the seasonings into the meat until fully combined. Press the meat down into an even layer in the bottom of the bowl and score with your hand into 4 even sections.
Shape the meat into patties. You’ll want to make them flatter and larger than your buns because they will shrink a bit as they cook.
Set aside while you heat a cast-iron skillet with a drizzle of oil.
Cook burgers for about 3 minutes on each side or to desired doneness and remove from the pan. Top patties with cheese just before removing from the grill. Cover burgers with foil after transferring to a plate to finish melting the cheese if necessary.
toast burger buns
Toasting buns is a must for me! If I’m cooking in the house (as opposed to on the grill), I place the buns cut-side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment and pop them under the broiler until golden. This doesn’t take more than 3 minutes.
make the homemade burger sauce
Simply combine the mayo, mustard, ketchup, chopped pickle, agave/honey and seasonings in a small dish and stir until combined.
Now you’re ready to assemble those delicious california burgers!!
assemble the burgers
My assembly method for these burgers was as follows:
- bottom bun
- sauce
- burger patty
- avocado
- onions
- tomatoes
- greens
- top bun (with sauce on it)
And it was perfect.
Tried this recipe?
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More delicious burger recipes
California Burgers with Homemade Burger Sauce
Burger night is one of my favorite nights! Especially when it’s these california burgers. The meat is seasoned simply, and we top the burgers with smashed avocado, cheddar cheese, mixed greens, pickled onion, tomatoes and a delicious homemade burger sauce!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 burgers 1x
- Category: main
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced into rounds
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 cheddar cheese slices
- mixed greens
- tomato slices
- 2 small avocados
- 4 burger buns
Burger sauce
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/8 cup ketchup
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp pickles, small dice
- 1 tbsp pickle juice
- 1 tbsp agave nectar
Instructions
- Start by making the pickled onions. Place the sliced onions in a glass container or jar and add vinegar, water, 1 tsp salt and sugar. Shake well and set aside.
- Make the burger sauce next. Place all ingredients in a glass container or a small bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.
- Add ground beef to a mixing bowl with 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder. Use your hands to thoroughly mix the meat with the seasonings. Once it’s mixed well, flatten the mixture evenly in the bottom of a bowl. Score the meat into 4 sections with your fingertips. Use one section per patty. Shape patties flatter than you think they should be and larger than your buns because they will shrink.
- Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium heat and add a drizzle of oil.
- Place burgers in the skillet (you may need to do two batches), and cook to desired doneness. I usually do about 3 minutes per side.
- Place cheddar slices on top of the patties towards the end of cooking. Then transfer to a plate. If the cheese isn’t fully melted, you can “tent” a piece of foil over the plate.
- Toast buns (if desired) under the broiler, cut side up under the broiler for about 3 minutes, or until toasted to your liking.
- Smash avocado: the easiest, dish-saving way is to cut the avos in half and smash the avocado right inside the skin using a fork.
- Here’s my order of assembly: bottom bun->sauce->patty->smashed avo->onions->tomatoes->greens->top bun (with sauce spread on it before topping)
- Enjoy!
