Smash Burger Salad
This Smash Burger Salad is loaded with butter lettuce, ground beef, pickles, tomatoes, cheese, and dressed with a special Carmalized Shallot Dressing drizzled all over the greens! Let’s just say, it’s not your usual burger sauce. Smash the ground beef into butter (oh, my), and cook until caramelized with craggy edges. Instead of a burger on a bun, the smash burger is turned into a gorgeous savory salad.
A Smash Burger Salad is anything from boring since it tastes exactly like your favorite burger! If you’re craving a smash burger but also a lighter meal, then combine a juicy and delicious hamburger (make it a cheeseburger) with your favorite salad ingredients. Oh, and don’t forget the amazing Carmalized Shallot Dressing. We created this burger salad from Jessica Merchant’s new cookbook, Easy Everyday. You can read more info below!
What is a Smash Burger?
Smash burgers are easy to make. You can grill them or even cook them on a stovetop. The ground beef is formed into a patty, then pressed down firmly onto a grill or skillet, using a spatula or burger press. This process results in a thin, crispy patty with caramelized and craggy edges. Even the inside of the burger becomes crispy. We also love our popular Blackstone Smash Burgers recipe!
Smash Burger Salad also known as Cheeseburger Salad
At my house, we have a few summer meals in rotation that we turn to when we want something delicious. Burger salads are one of those no-fail favorites. Since burgers are so adaptable, take your favorite flavor of a burger, and turn it into a salad. We’ve done this many times with pizza salad, taco salad, and Big Mac Salad.
A Smash Burger Salad is a bun-less burger, low-carb salad! Make it with cheese or without cheese.
What goes on a hamburger salad?
Burger salads are adaptable — but we start with the burger, and the all of the salad condiments!
- Make the smash burger: Butter, lean ground beef, Kosher salt and black pepper, and Sharp white Cheddar Cheese slices.
- Salad ingredients: Butter lettue leaves, cherry tomatoes, chopped dill pickles, chopped chives (just a little bit for garnish).
- Make carmalized shallots: Extra virgin olive, shallots, Kosher salt, baking soda.
- Make the vinaigrette: Apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic, Kosher salt, pepper, crushed pepper flakes, olive oil.
How do you make a smash burger salad?
Make the carmalized shallot dressing:
- Saute the shallots in olive oil with a pinch of salt, and baking soda, until softened and browned. Turn the heat down and cook on low for 16 minutes until golden in color and caramelized (not burnt).
- Whisk together the vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, and then stream in the olive oil. Add in the carmelized onions and stir.
Make the smash burger:
- Season the meat with salt and pepper and divided into 4 pieces.
- In a very hot skillet with melted butter, press each beef patty into the skillet. Use the botton of a glass or back of spatula to press down hard and smash it into the skillet. Cook and flip until the edges are golden and crisp.
- Place a piece of cheese over each smash burger. Let it melt and then remove the 4 patties from the skillet and set aside.
Prepare the salad:
- Place the lettuce pieces in a large salad bowl and toss with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, pickles, and then tear the smash burger into pieces and scatter over the salad.
- Drizzle with the room temp carmelized onion vinaigrette, sprinkle with fresh chopped herbs (tiny tiny bit!) and serve.
Sandy’s tips and substitutions:
- What does caramelizing shallots mean? Cooking the shallots on low heat, until they become golden in color, and they develop a sweet carmalized (buttery) sweet flavor. The sugar is broken own in the shallots, creating a rich, complex flavor.
- How do you get carmelized edges on a smash burger? We recommend a cast iron skillet heated up to at least 400–500, but even higher is good. You can use a grill or any skillet, just make sure it’s hot. Smashing the burger (with something flat, or a “tool”) like you would spack or drywall mud, causes the edges to be super thin and crispy! Combined with butter–the flavor is amazing!
- We recommend a smash burger press.
- Lettuce: You can use romaine or whatever your favorite greens are!
- Cheese: Use your favorite cheese, or you can leave off the cheese.
- Pickles: Optional to use sweet pickles.
- Leftovers: Store any burger leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you have the full salad leftovers, they may be soggy if you added the dressing. But don’t worry, it’s still a great leftover snack to enjoy. Store in the fridge for up to 48 hours if dressed.
Easy Everyday Cookbook
This recipe comes from Easy Everyday cookbook by Jessica Merchant. It’s a great cookbook with 100 recipes (and mealprep ideas) that you’d enjoy every day, and good enough for company, too. Jessica is a busy mom of 3, so she’s always creating simple recipes, like this Smashburger Salad. Her cookbook was released (April 2025), and all the photography is shot by Jessica.
Included in the cookbook is a list of everyday essentials–dressings, sauces, and other quick recipes she keeps in her fridge. The cornerstone of the book is her 10-minute Meal Prep method. This is where we grabbed the amazing Carmalized Shallot Dressing for this salad. Check our her cookbook for amazing recipes and plus easy prep for every single recipe!
How to customize your salad:
Burger salads are adaptable —just think ingredients outside of the typical burger (lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions).
- Bacon (we love a good bacon cheeseburger!)
- Sautéed onions
- Pickled onions
- Sliced avocado
- Jalapenos (we also love a good jalapeno burger!)
- Fried eggs
- Sautéed mushrooms – these are the best!
- Pineapple (and a slice of ham?)
- Make your own croutons!
Dressing or burger sauce?
Here’s the big debate. Do you love a shallot dressing or are you a hard-core burger sauce lover? Either one is amazing for this salad. A quick tip if you are short on time is to add Thousand Island Dressing or even Blue Cheese Dressing.
TIP: The carmalized shallot dressing keeps for up to 5 days. Use at room temp when adding to salads.
More cheeseburger recipes you may want to try:
Get the Recipe:
Smash Burger Salad
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 4 slices sharp white Cheddar Cheese
- 10 ounces butter lettue leaves, cut into large pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup chopped dill pickles
- Fresh chopped chives, just a little bit for garnish
Carmalized Shallot Dressing
Making the Caramelized Shallots
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 6 medium shallots, peeled and thinkly sliced horizontally
- Kosher salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
Caramelized Shallot Vinaigrette:
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Equipment
Instructions
Make the dressing:
- In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt, and baking soda, and cook for 5 minutes, until softened and browned.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for another 15 minutes. Stir often, and cook until golden in color and caramelized (not burnt).
- Whisk together the vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, and then stream in the olive oil. Add in the carmelized onions and stir.
Make the burgers:
- Melt the butter in large skillet over medium heat.
- Season the meat with salt and pepper and divided into 4 pieces.
- Once the skillet is hot and the butter is melted, press each piece of ground beef into the skillet. Use the botton of a glass or back of spatula (or BURGER PRESS) to press down hard and smash it into the skillet. Cooke for 5-6 minutes, then flip and cook on the other side for 2-3 minutes. It will have golden crisp edges.
- Place a piece of cheese over each smash burger. Let it melt and then remove the 4 patties from the skillet and set aside.
Assemble the salad:
- Place the lettuce pieces in a large salad bowl and toss with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, pickles, and then tear the smash burger into pieces and scatter over the salad.
- Drizzle with the room temp carmelized onion vinaigrette, sprinkle with fresh chopped herbs (tiny tiny bit!) and serve.
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
