Say hello to your new go-to summer dinner: Grassfed Burger Bowls with Secret Sauce, Cowboy Candy Jalapeños, and Crisp Oven Baked Fries. It’s everything you love about a juicy, flavorful burger —just in bowl form and a bit lighter! Perfect for those hot summer nights when the last thing you want is to stand over the stove. You can prep most of it ahead (secret sauce + cowboy candy jalapeños = fridge staples!), then just sear your grassfed 'burger bites,' bake off the fries, and assemble! 

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

For the Burger Bowls – 

• 1 Lb. 1915 Farm Grassfed Ground Beef
• 1915 Farm Grill Seasoning
• 3-4 slices of American cheese (or cheddar), stacked and cut into quarters
• Iceberg Lettuce, chopped (romaine works too)
• Chopped tomatoes
• Thinly sliced red onions
• Cowboy Candy (candied jalapeños, recipe follows) 
• Secret sauce (recipe follows)
• Your favorite oven baked french fries (the garlic herb HEB brand are fantastic)
• Crumbled crispy bacon would be great here too, if you have some!

For the 'Cowboy Candy' Jalapeños – 

• 1 Lb. jalapeños, sliced into coins
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt

For the Secret Sauce – 

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 dill pickle spear, finely chopped 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

First, make the candied jalapeños. A note: this will make the air in your kitchen a little spicy. Use your stove fans and send the kids outside :)

Slice the peppers into 1/4-inch thick coins. In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.

Add the sliced jalapeños and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the peppers look slightly shrunken and glossy, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the jalapeños to a pint-sized mason jar or other heat-proof glass container. Bring the liquid back to a boil and cook until it is syrupy and has reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour the syrup over the jalapeños and allow to cool to room temp before sealing with a lid and refrigerating. 

Make the Secret Sauce – combine all ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and chill until ready to use. 

Cook the Fries – make the fries according to package directions. I always hit them with a few large pinches of kosher salt when they come out of the oven, even if you're using pre-seasoned fries. You can even use a seasoned salt such as Lawry's if using a plain fry.

Make the Burger Bites – Remove ground beef from packaging and pat between paper towels to dry. Pinch off small handfuls of meat, pressing slightly into the paper towel to flatten slightly. 

Season liberally on both sides with grill seasoning. Preheat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Once pan is hot, add a small amount of tallow or avocado oil. 

Place the burger bites into the hot skillet. Cook without moving for about 2 minutes before flipping and adding little squares of cheese (the quartered American or cheddar). Reduce heat to LOW, cover with a lid, leaving a small crack, for just 1 minute to let the cheese melt. Don't let this go too long or the cheese will melt too much and slide off.

Remove from heat and keep warm until ready to serve.

To Serve – place shredded iceberg lettuce in a shallow pasta bowl as your base. Add burger bites, thinly sliced red onion, candied jalapeños, chopped tomato, and a couple spoonfuls of secret sauce. Enjoy!

We hope you love this recipe! If you’d like to share your delicious dish on Instagram, don’t forget to tag us @1915_Farm

P.S. If you love our delicious grassfed ground beef – consider subscribing to the Grassroots Meat Club (ships free in TX, reduced in other states). Each Grassroots Meat Club box includes a variety of hand-selected grassfed and pasture raised meats, such as chicken breasts, chicken tenders, leg quarters, wings, thighs, drumsticks, whole chicken, ground beef, kabobs, stew meat, stir fry, cutlets, London broil (top round), beef roasts, beef ossobuco, short ribs, various sausages, pork roasts, pork chops, bacon, ground pork, fajita meat, country style ribs, spare ribs, and bacon!

Cowboy Candy recipe by Pioneer Woman