Healthy California Burger Bowl Recipe

A California burger bowl is a delicious and healthy low-carb way to enjoy a burger. Instead of a burger on a roll, it’s served in a bowl filled with crispy lettuce, onions, fresh tomatoes, and sliced avocado for a filling, healthy meal. 

When I make California burgers, I love topping them with onion, lettuce, tomato, and fresh California avocados. While I do love a nice Kaiser roll with my burgers, sometimes I like to lighten it up a bit and leave the bun out for a low-carb version.

Another great thing about these juicy burger bowls is that they’re perfect for meal prep, so make a few extra burgers to enjoy throughout the week. It’s a tasty, low-carb twist on a classic favorite that I always look forward to!

If you are looking for more easy and delicious ground beef recipes, check out these Grass Fed Ground Beef Recipes!

Here is What You Will Need

This is a brief summary of the ingredients needed to make California Burger Bowl recipe and a convenient shopping list from my Instacart affiliate link. For a printable recipe card with exact measurements and detailed instructions, scroll down to the recipe card section.

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How to make a California burger bowl

Prepare the ingredients: Rinse and cut up the vegetables, and from the ground beef into two hamburger patties and sprinkle them with sea salt, onion powder and black pepper to taste. Mix up the dressing. Preheat the grill at medium-high heat.

Step 1. Once the grill is hot, reduce the heat to medium. Place the patties on the grill, cover them, and cook them for 5 to 8 minutes.

Step 2. Continue to cook. Flip the burgers over, and continue to cook for 4 to 5 minutes longer until they reach an internal temperature of 145 F for medium-cooked flavorful burgers.

Step 3. Assemble the salad. While the burgers are cooking, fill the bowls with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and avocados and mix the dressing.

Step 4. Add the burger and dressing. Top the salad ingredients with the cooked burger, and pour the dressing on top.

Tip! Try an Instant Read Thermometer from Thermoworks for perfectly cooked meat!

Ingredient notes & substitutions

The full list of ingredients to make these delicious beef burger bowls is above. Below are notes about some of the ingredients along with ideas for substitutes.

Ground Beef. Lean ground beef (10 to 20% fat content) is the best ground beef for beef burgers. You can also use lean ground turkey, ground chicken, ground pork, or ground bison. For a vegetarian version, try veggie burgers or black bean burgers.

Dressing. Homemade balsamic dressing is simple to make with just a few ingredients: balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, sea salt and olive oil. If you prefer a thicker dressing, add 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard. If you would rather have another type of dressing, try your favorite dressing. I often swap out balsamic dressing with homemade ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Dressing Substitutes. You can use any kind of dressing in this recipe. We also like our burger bowls topped with homemade ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing.

Burger bowl meal prep instructions

Even though this recipe comes together quickly, it’s also a great option for meal prep and can be prepared up to three days ahead. Store the vegetables and meat separately: rinse and dry the lettuce, chop the onions, and refrigerate them. Keep the cooked burgers in a separate container in the fridge. Prepare the dressing and refrigerate it as well. When ready to serve, quickly reheat the patties on the stove before assembling the bowls, or enjoy them cold.

How to store leftovers

Store leftover burger bowls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Enjoy the leftovers cold or heat the burger separately in the oven or microwave.

Recipe Variations

These low carb burger bowls are very versatile, you can top them with your favorite burger toppings to make your own loaded beef burger bowls or try one of these variations below.

Greek burger bowl. Make a Greek turkey burger, and leave out the avocado from the bowl. Add diced cucumbers, olives, and feta cheese. Drizzle the salad with equal parts of lemon juice and olive oil with a pinch of garlic powder and oregano.

Tex-Mex burger bowl. Sprinkle the burgers with a little chili powder before grilling them. Once they are cooked, add shredded cotija, cheddar, or jack cheese on top of the burger, add a 1/8 cup of black beans to each bowl and replace the dressing with salsa or cilantro lime dressing.

Plant-based burger bowl. Instead of meat, use one of these meat alternatives such as a mushroom veggie burger or a beyond meat burger.

Loaded burger bowl. Top the burger with all of your favorite fixings or traditional burger toppings such as dill pickles, chopped red onions, cheddar cheese, avocado slices, and bacon crumbles.

Lettuce wrap burger. Instead of adding the lettuce to a bowl, stack several pieces of lettuce on a plate, top them with the burger, add tomato slices, onion and avocado and wrap them up.

Recipe FAQs

You Might Like These Bowl Recipes

• Vegetarian Egg Roll in a Bowl
• Mediterranean Cauliflower Rice Bowl
• Breakfast Burrito Bowl

 

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