Mac n' Cheese Stuffed Burgers with Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions & Weaved Bacon Patties

Mac n' Cheese Stuffed Burgers with Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions & Weaved Bacon Patties

I've been lazy about blogging this week, sorry charlie. But no worries, I finally have a recipe to post today!! And its a doozy, lemme tell you. A couple months ago, we made these All-American Bacon-Crusted Burger with Thousand Island Mayo, and they were delish. I couldn't stop thinking about them and how I wanted to make them even crazier and more over-the-top than it already was. Well, I was thinking maybe I should stuff the burgers with some cheese, so it would get nice & ooey-gooey when you bite into it. But no, that wasn't crazy enough for us. Then bam, I was hit by a bus. No I'm just kidding... no bus incident here, but bam, a great idea had just popped into my head. Why not stuff a burger with a mac n' cheese patty. Holy Paula Deen... I couldn't wait to try it. So, we made some mac n' cheese and pressed inside of two burger patties and grilled them up. When you bite into these burgers (I mean that's if you can because they are so large, you practically have to un-hinge your jaw in order to do so), the mac n' cheese just oozes out and the cheesy-pasta-goodness just comforts your fatty Southern soul. The burgers are also loaded with Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions (um, what the what) that are sweet, soft, and perfectly caramelized. It's practically like a jam when you spread it on the burger buns. But one of our favorite components was the Weaved Bacon Patty. This patty ensures bacon in every bite, which is so genius. And you know what, next time I make a BLT, I making these patties for sure. They would be so perfect. We finished the burgers with my favorite thousand island mayo, tomato, and lettuce. But feel free to add anything else you would like... I mean it's your burger now isn't it? Yes. I also included a bunch of step-by-step pictures to show you how to make these stuffed burgers because it's hard to visualize the process. I hope it helps!! Enjoy :)

Press a portion of the ground beef into a large, round cookie cutter...

Then place a piece of American cheese inside...

Add in the mac n' cheese... 

And top with another slice of cheese and slide it out of the cookie cutter...

Press another portion of ground beef into the same cookie cutter, slide it out of the mold,
and place it on top of the mac n' cheese stuffed burger. Seal the edges to make sure
it's all covered and the mac n' cheese won't spill out.

Here are the cooked & crispy weaved bacon patties... yum 

Place a cooked burger patty on a bun...

Top the burger with a weaved bacon patty...

Load her up with all those delicious toppings & coca-cola caramelized onions... 

See the mac n' cheese stuffing? Heaven. on. earth. yep.  

Just let go & devour it..

For the Mac n’ Cheese Stuffed Burgers:

1lb Ground Chuck (80/20)

4 Slices of American cheese

Your Favorite Mac n’ Cheese Recipe

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions:

4 Vidalia Onions, Sliced

Butter & Olive Oil, For Cooking

Salt, To Taste

12oz Coca Cola

For the Thousand Island Sauce:

2T + 2t Mayo

1T Ketchup

2t Sweet Pickle Relish

½t Sugar & White Vinegar

¼t Paprika & Garlic Powder 

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Mac n’ Cheese Stuffed Burgers:

Prepared Mac n’ Cheese Stuffed Burger Patties, Cooked

Prepared Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions

Crispy Weaved Bacon Patties

2 Gourmet Hamburger Buns, Buttered & Toasted

Prepared Thousand Island Sauce

Homemade Pickle Chips

Heirloom Tomatoes, Sliced & Sprinkled Lightly with Salt and Pepper

Fresh Iceberg Lettuce, Ribs Removed & Torn into Bun-Sized Pieces

Directions:

1. For the Mac n’ Cheese Stuffed Burgers: Prepare your favorite mac n’ cheese recipe, pour it into a baking dish, and then refrigerate until cold and set. Split the ground chuck into 4 equal portions. Spray a large 4inch round cookie cutter with Pam and place it on top of a piece of parchment paper, press 1 of the portions of ground beef into the cutter, pressing it in to compact it and slightly pushing it up the sides, so there’s a deep indentation. Place 1 slices of American cheese on top of the pressed meat. Next, using a 3inch round rookie cutter, cut the chilled mac n’ cheese into small rounds. Place the mac n’ cheese round into the indentation of the beef, on top of the American cheese slice. Gently push the compacted mac n’ cheese-ground meat out of the cookie cutter, making sure it stays together. Repeat the process with another portion of the ground beef, compacting it in and pushing it up the sides (this patty portion will not be filled, but will be used to seal the burger completely). Place this formed patty on top of the other mac n’ cheese filled patty and seal the meat on the sides, so it’s completely formed. Repeat with the other two portions of ground beef. You should have two huge stuffed burger patties. Season all sides with salt & pepper. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and melt some butter in it until very hot. Fry the each burger and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the outsides are brown and crispy. Place them onto a baking sheet and bake them in a preheated 400-degree oven for 5-10 minutes until your preferred doneness. Let them rest slightly before you assemble the burgers.

2. For the Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions: In a large pan on medium heat sauté the onions in half the butter for 10 minutes. Stirring occasionally but not too much. Over stirring will not allow the onions to brown. When the onions have absorbed all the butter, add the remaining butter and sauté another 10 minutes, occasionally stirring. When the onions absorb the second round of butter or oil and they are brown and translucent, start deglazing with the Coke, using enough to cover the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Keep stirring occasionally and repeat the deglazing process until the onions are completely brown and soft, and all of the coke has be absorbed. Keep warm until you are ready to use.

3. For the Thousand Island Sauce: Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt & pepper to your taste.

4. For the Weaved Bacon Patties: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with a Silpat. Cut strips of bacon in half and weave the bacon slices into a square patty. I did this similarly to how you would weave a lattice-topped piecrust. Just alternately overlap the slices of bacon with each other to form a square patty. Bake the weaved patties in the oven for 20 minutes, and then boost the heat up to 400 degrees and cook until the bacon slices are all crisp (this will depend on how thick your bacon is, mine took an extra 10-15 minutes). Set these aside until you are ready to use them.

5. Assembling the Burgers: Top each slice of buttered & toasted bun with a thick layer of Thousand Island Sauce. On the bottom slice of each bun, top the sauce with 1 slice of seasoned heirloom tomato and lettuce. Place one stuffed burger on top of the lettuce, spread with Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions, and then top with the other weaved bacon patty and finish with the top slice of the bun. Repeat the make the other burger.

6. Serve immediately with some French fries.