Name: Bacon, Mushroom and Swiss Burger
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 4 hamburger buns; 8 slices center cut bacon (I use Oscar Mayer ); 1 onion; 8 oz white mushrooms; olive oil spray; kosher salt; 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar; 1 lb 96/4 extra lean ground beef; 1 tablespoon dehydrated minced onion; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire; 1 teaspoon ranch seasoning (I use Hidden Valley ); 4 slices extra thin or light swiss cheese (I use Sargento Extra Thin Swiss Cheese); ½ cup BBQ sauce (I use Stubbs Original BBQ Sauce)

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Step up your burger game with some extra toppings: sautéed mushrooms and onions, crispy bacon, Swiss cheese, and barbeque sauce. This bacon, mushroom and Swiss burger has layers of flavor and texture, and is anything but boring. Easy to make and using lightened-up ingredients, this burger tastes like it’s right from your favorite burger spot.

How is this burger lightened up? It doesn’t look it!

Even though this burger doesn’t look it, it’s a lightened-up version of what could potentially be a super heavy meal. With just a few simple tweaks, this burger is a smidge healthier than one you might get at a burger spot. Here are the swaps I make to lighten this recipe up:

96/4 Extra-Lean Ground Beef: I use this cut of ground beef all the time; this is real ground beef, just super lean and less fatty than other cuts. I find this at my local supermarket (King Kullen), but it is also sold at Trader Joe’s and Aldi.
Low-Sugar Barbeque Sauce: Since I do not use artificial sweeteners or sugar replacements, it can be hard to find a low-sugar or low-calorie barbeque sauce. My absolute favorite is this one from Stubbs. Their barbeque sauce is naturally low sugar (it is not sweet in flavor), so you can feel good about eating it. But you can use any other variety you enjoy.
Light or Extra Thin Swiss Cheese: There are so many light cheese varieties out there, and this is a great area to cut some calories and fat. For this recipe, I used these extra-thin Swiss cheese slices, but I have also used these light cheese slices.
Center Cut Bacon: Center cut bacon is a great lower-calorie and lower-fat swap in recipes. I use it all the time! It is real, pork bacon, but just a tad leaner. Center cut bacon has a little less fat on it than traditional bacon, and that is the only difference! It has the same great flavor as bacon, and it is truly a staple in my recipes. This is the brand I typically use: Oscar Mayer Center Cut Bacon

If you’re into lightened-up burger recipes, try these other ones out:

Lightened-Up Classic Burger

Italian Burger with Crispy Prosciutto

Skinny Big Mac Burger

Reuben-Style Cheeseburgers

What other ingredients will I need to make this recipe?

Besides the ingredients mentioned above, you will also need the following:

onion
white mushrooms
cooking spray
kosher salt
balsamic vinegar
hamburger buns
Worcestershire
dehydrated minced onion
ranch seasoning (I use this one)

How to make these bacon, mushroom and swiss burgers

First, let’s get our bacon crispy! Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with foil. Then, lay the bacon slices on the baking sheet and bake them until crispy (about 15 minutes).

While the bacon cooks, let’s cook down the mushrooms and onions. Add them to a frying pan over medium heat, and add cooking spray and a pinch of kosher salt. Cook the mushrooms and onions for about 10 minutes. The mushrooms should be tender and cooked down, and the onions should begin to caramelized. Then, add the balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan.

To make the patties, combine the ground beef with the Worcestershire, dehydrated minced onion, and the ranch seasoning. Form the meat into four equal-sized patties (they should be around 4 ounces each, you can use a food scale for this or just eyeball it). When forming each patty, create a small divot in the center of each patty so that when they cook, they don’t puff up.

Cook the patties in the same frying pan you used to cook the mushrooms and onions (less dishes? Yes please!). The burgers should be cooked over medium high heat for a couple of minutes per side, until done to your desired internal temperature. Melt one slice of cheese on top of each patty.

To assemble the burgers, add 2 tablespoons of barbeque sauce to each bun, and then top each bun with a cheesy patty, cooked mushrooms and onions, and crispy bacon.