Have an excess of cooked burgers after hosting your BBQ party? Turn them into family-friendly weeknight dinners like this leftover cheeseburger salad drizzled with homemade hamburger dressing and topped with crumbled chips.

Two bowls with leftover burger salad on a white background.

If you're like me, you load up your grill with food to last for days. Veggies, seafood, meats...I always feel like a waste if I'm not crowding my BBQ with all kinds of goodies, don't you?

It's a given to have cookout leftovers when the cookout season is in high gear, especially for holiday weekends like Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.

Why it Works

Not only is it quick and easy to make, but absolutely delicious and light too. It's a perfect solution for lazy weekdays.

Cook once eat all week is such an easy solution for busy people. Who doesn't want to spend more time with family and friends instead of cooking every day, amirite?

In just a few minutes, you'll have a delightful lunch at home or on the go. I like to add crumbled bacon and chopped pickles to this cheeseburger salad, too, or add whatever you usually put on your burger. The more, the merrier.

If you want a little bit more protein and fat in this salad, add some leftover chicken pieces and top it with sliced avocado. Ta-da! You'll be amazed at how substantial this meal is.

🛒Ingredients and Notes

You will need just a few budget-friendly ingredients, but feel free to add more to it as you feel fit.

Leftover cooked hamburgers (or cheeseburgers) - we used beef, but turkey and chicken burgers are great too.
Lettuce - Romaine, butterhead, Boston bib, flat-leaf, or whichever salad is your preference.
Tomatoes - I prefer Roma or cherry tomatoes. But don't let those meaty tomato slices you have leftover go to waste.
Cheddar cheese - I used shredded sharp cheddar; you go with what you have. American, pepper jack, Swiss, provolone, and even blue cheese, feta, or goat cheese are all an excellent choice.
Red onion - white or yellow works too, if you like strong onion flavor.
Baked potato chips - Sub with chips you like.

Homemade dressings are the best, and this one needs only two pantry ingredients:

Mayo - I like Hellmann's Real.
Ketchup - Whatever you have in your fridge. I love German curry-spiced ketchup. It adds so much flavor!

Fresh salad greens in a bowl with pieces of leftover burgers, cheese, chips, and onions with a small bowl of homemade dressing.

🔪Step by Step Instructions

This salad is for two people. Feel free to double the recipe as necessary.

*Keep scrolling to get the full (printable) recipe with detailed instructions and more tips, or click the “Skip to Recipe” button at the top of the page.

Divide the lettuce, chopped burgers, tomatoes, cheese, and onions among two salad bowls.
Wisk together the mayo, ketchup, and water in a small bowl. Drizzle evenly over salads.
Sprinkle with crushed potato chips.

💡Top Tips

You can add crumbled bacon and chopped pickles or your favorite cheeseburger toppings.
For more protein and fat in this salad, add some leftover chicken pieces and top it with sliced avocado.
Read additional tips in the post above.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Variations

When you're left with an abundance of burgers (always true after the Fourth of July celebration), you can either freeze them or eat them for days.

Besides this cheeseburger salad, here are 10 more uses for leftover cooked hamburgers:

Crumble and use in tacos or quesadilla.
Put them on a baguette with grilled onions, pepperoncini, and top with marinara and melted provolone cheese - like a meatball sub.
Crumble the hamburger up and heat it in spaghetti sauce. Serve over spaghetti.
Mix crumbled hamburger with sautéed onion, green pepper, cooked rice, and tomato sauce and use to stuff green peppers. Top with shredded cheese, cover and bake until peppers are tender.
Crumble up and mix with sloppy joe sauce.
Crumble and use as a topping on homemade pizza.
Turn them into Salisbury steak: top leftover beef patties with a gravy made from 3 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 cup beef broth, 1 sliced onion, 1 package fresh sliced mushrooms, and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce.
Crumble the burgers and add to chili.
Use it to make a Shepherd's pie.
Make a cheeseburger omelet.

Do you have any recipes for using leftover burgers?

Other Amazing Recipes to Try

An overhead shot of salad with leftover beef burgers on a white tablecloth.

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