Stand back! It’s big time messy burger time! Messy means good, and this copycat Freddy’s burger sauce makes for some mighty messy good burgers! This isn’t the time to be shy saucing up some buns. Lesser is not better. More is! So spread it on thick and enjoy some lightly-spicy delicious creaminess. This perfectly seasoned sauce is destined to quickly become a favorite in your house too!
Burgers And Fries For The Win
I recommend that you make a batch of fries to go with burgers served with copycat Freddy’s burger sauce. You’ve already got the best fry seasoning, since the sauce calls for it in the recipe. Make some sauce, then sprinkle them fries, slap some burgers together and get to eatin’! And enjoyin’!
I made smash burgers because I knew they’d really shine with this sauce. Any burger will do, of course. I’m just partial to smash burgers because they’re easy and open to just about any toppings you can conjure up. I like to use a burger press when I make burgers. It, in combination with some patty papers, enables me to crank out a whole bunch of equally-sized burger patties in no time at all with little cleanup.
These grilled bacon and cheese stuffed mushrooms are the perfect grilled appetizer. Tender mushrooms that still have a little ‘bite’ to them. The cheese mixture is fantastic. Three different cheeses and a little seasoning combine with bacon and bell pepper for bite after bite of deliciousness. I say ‘bite’, but if you use small mushrooms you can pop these little treats into your mouth like popcorn. I did.
Easy Cleanup
These disposable Dutch oven pans are perfect for making these grilled bacon and cheese stuffed mushrooms. They’re the perfect size for this recipe. They’re sturdy so you don’t have to worry about them collapsing. I use them for a lot of my grilled dishes.
You can pre-make these mushrooms by doing steps 1-8 then refrigerating the mushrooms for later. Then, when you’re ready to finish them, remove them from the fridge and let come to room temperature for 30 minutes before transferring to a hot grill to cook and heat thoroughly.
I highly recommend that you shred or grate your own cheese at home. Don’t buy the pre-shredded or pre-grated stuff. It has stuff added to it to keep it from sticking together. That ‘stuff’ affects how the cheese melts. Shred it yourself and use the good stuff.
Grilled butterflied chicken legs aren’t new to the grilling scene but they have really grown in popularity since the price of wings has skyrocketed over the last few years. Even though wing prices are starting to come back down, I’ve found these legs to be a great (dare I say better?) main dish no matter what. They cook quickly and very evenly. They eat like thighs but are usually much cheaper. I sauced mine with an OG BBQ sauce. The sauce and skin got a nice little char on them, making this some of the best chicken I’ve had. Over charcoal or gas, this is a winner.
It’s Really Easy. And Delicious.
Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of making grilled butterflied chicken legs. Butterflying the legs is super-easy, especially after you finish the first one. Just cut down the bone first, then alongside the bone, pulling the meat flat around it. I thought they looked a little odd at first, kind of ‘bat-like’ but the (minimal) amount of time it takes to do is worth it in the end. Butterflying also gives you a ‘peak inside’ as it were, allowing you to trim out any tough pieces before cooking. That’s a win.
I don’t mess around when it comes time to sauce my legs. I like a good bit of sauce and that means I need a good brush. And one with a long handle. The grill gets hot and saucing (in particular, heavy saucing) takes a bit of time. No reason to sacrifice some arm hair saucing dinner, I’ve always said.
Set up your grill for cooking at 400 F. I prefer to use a charcoal grill set up for indirect and direct cooking, but you can use any grill you want. You can also cook the chicken over direct heat entirely but the cook time will be shorter and you'll have to watch out that you don't burn them.
Place the legs onto a cutting board. Working one at a time, hold the legs so that the least-meaty part of the drumstick (known as the shallow side) is on top. Using a sharp knife (I prefer to use a paring knife), make a cut down from the top of each leg down to the bottom, cutting all the way to the bone right down the center.
Push the meat down and away from the bone while cutting along the sides of the bone from top to bottom. I use my thumb to slide between the meat and bone, pushing the meat down and away from the bone. Make sure you don't cut all the way through the meat. You'll end up with a relatively flat piece of meat on each side of the bone, with the mostly detached bone in the middle. I take this opportunity to trim out and tough bits, like tendons, that might be present on the legs so they are more tender.
Season both sides of the butterflied legs. Don't be shy. For extra flavor, refrigerate the wings for 1 hour before grilling.
Place legs onto the grill bone-side down.
Grill for 25-30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145 F.
Flip the legs and cook until they reach 165 F, another 5-10 minutes. The legs are now bone-side up.
Sauce the butterflied legs liberally with BBQ sauce, flip and with move to direct heat.
Cook for 5 more minutes.
Sauce the tops of the legs and flip.
Cook another 5 minutes over direct heat to get the meat-side of the legs a little char.
Notes
I like my chicken to have a nice little char to it. Not burned, but just a little crunch here and there.Â
Salad week was coming. Every few weeks we switch to making salads for a while. Our favorite protein for salad is sous vide grilled chicken breast. My worst fear is that the chicken will not impress. That it’ll be chewy and as dry as the desert. Well, no tough, dry chicken here. This chicken comes out crazy juicy, super tender and big-time packed with flavor. Perfect for salads, thanks to a slow cooking process using an immersion circulator. It’s also got a lightly smoky flavor with a great light char. That’s thanks to a few minutes on a hot grill.
The Best Chicken For Salads
I used fresh thyme sprigs when I made this sous vide grilled chicken breast. The thyme flavor isn’t overpowering (I used 2 sprigs per breast). If you want a pronounced herb flavor, add more. You can also use any other fresh herb that you like. You can also leave it out and still have wonderfully tasty chicken. Just don’t be shy with the salt and pepper. This is the time to add flavor, before it’s cooked.
I use an Anova sous vide cooker. It’s my immersion circulator workhorse!
non-stick sprayolive oil or vegetable oil-based, or use duck fat spray for even more flavor
Instructions
Fill a container with water. Add your immersion circulator and get the temperature to 146.5 F.
Brush the chicken breasts with the oil.
Season well with salt and pepper. Get the seasoning on all sides and don't be shy with it.
Transfer the chicken to a sealable vacuum bag. Add the sprigs of thyme on top.
Seal the bag using a vacuum sealer.
Transfer the bag to the heated water and cook for 1 hour.
Remove the bag from the water.
Remove the chicken. Discard the thyme and pat the chicken dry with a paper towel.
Fire up your grill for direct cooking over high heat. We're not looking to cook the chicken (it's already fully cooked). We just want to get some grill marks on it and add some texture.
Lightly spray the chicken with non-stick spray (you could also use more olive oil if desired) and transfer to the grill. Grill for just a minute or two and rotate 90 degrees and cook another minute or two.
Flip and repeat on the other sides to get grill marks.
Remove and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Great anywhere you need cooked chicken, like chicken salad or on top of greens for a great garden salad.
I am a big chicken wing fan. I’m always trying out new sauces and seasonings. When I tried Parmesan garlic from Croix Valley on wings, I loved it. And I also knew it’d be great on some quick fix potato chips. And, oh me, was it ever! No lightly-flavored lame-o chips here. Each and every chip is PACKED with flavor. As much flavor as you ever wanted and dreamed of! You own this! Herby. Cheesy. Garlicky. Goodness. Quick fix Parmesan garlic potato chips are a big winner.
Don’t Be Shy With The Seasoning
There’s nothing complicated going on here. The ‘hardest’ part of making quick fix Parmesan garlic potato chips is being sure that you are nice and gentle with the chips when you toss them to coat them. Don’t be shy with the seasoning. You aren’t making store-bought, lightly seasoned, barely-tasty chips. Go big.
Not that I mean to over-stress it, but I will mention you don’t need any fancy fru-fru chips for this recipe. In fact, I’d stay away from them. You want wavy chips, preferably. And frankly, you want chips that are a bit oily. Yep. Once heated, the chips will release that oil and that’s what you need to get the seasonings stuck on there good!
Yep, you’re right. It’s nothing fancy. Nothing fru-fru. But boy, can I put a hurt on a batch of these spicy bacon cheese fries. Crispy fries. Spicy peppers, Smoky bacon. Ooey-gooey cheese. I really don’t need anything else. Heck, serve it to me as dinner and I’m happy! Specially in my younger days, where I might have found myself at a sports bar or two, I’d call these fries dinner and then some!
Get Creative With It
Oh sure, you can make these spicy bacon cheese fries a hundred different other ways. You can add chili. Throw on some cheese curds. Squirt on some sour cream. Or you can keep them OG and just enjoy the heck out of a simple plate of fantastic fries!
I do strongly recommend that you hand grate or shred your cheeses in this and any other recipes. The difference is noticeable. There are no ingredients in there that keep the shredded cheeses from sticking. Those same ingredients also make it hard for the cheeses to melt.
I prefer to deep-fry my pre-made frozen fries. Yeah, you can bake them. But that takes longer and let’s face it, the fries never, ever come out quite as good as they do deep-fried. I don’t do it every day, mind you, but sometimes you gotta treat yourself!
Oh me. This is why today was a happy day. A very happy day. I made smash burgers with zesty sauce. Nothing could make me happier. Perfectly cooked patties with that awesome smash burger crust. Lettuce. Onion. And then there’s the sauce. The amazing sauce. Everything good is in the sauce. Including soy sauce. That’s where this sauce went from fantastic to amazing.
The Best Burger Sauce?
I can’t say enough how great these smash burgers with zesty sauce were. And they checked one of my required boxes for burgers: messy. The messier, the better. If it isn’t messy it doesn’t have enough ‘stuff’ on it. These burgers have stuff and then some.
Making these burgers isn’t difficult. You don’t need a bunch of fancy equipment or a lot of time. Just a hot griddle and a burger press. Any griddle will do, whether it’s on a grill (I use my Weber), cooktop, stove or even a standalone outdoor flattop. Just get those patties nice and thin and use quality fresh toppings. And a great sauce.
I’m always up for a quick side dish that lacks in effort but does not lack in taste. These herb roasted potatoes are a great go-to recipe. The potatoes have a wonderful light herb flavor. They’re creamy buttery inside (you can also use fingerling potatoes for even more buttery creaminess!). And they have one of my favorite things: crunchy skin.
Consistency Means Better
Make sure your potatoes are pretty much all equal in size when you make these herb roasted potatoes. You don’t want a bunch of big pieces mixed in with small ones or the cook times will vary. You’ll end up with big not-quite-done-potatoes and little over-done ones. You don’t want that. So if you have to, halve them or even quarter them to get them all the same sizes. You can also make this dish with either baby red potatoes or fingerlings.
Grab A Grill Basket
I also like to make these potatoes on my grills, either gas or charcoal or even electric. I use a grill basket like this one. It makes cooking them super easy, and I don’t have to worry about anything falling between the grill grates. Clean-up is also super easy. Grill baskets are a win and a must-have for grilling!
Oh man did these steakhouse smash burgers ever hit the spot. Juicy patties. Crisp fresh toppings. All with a wonderful creamy sauce that has a little tang that’s not so strong it hides all the great burger flavors. These burgers are proof that even the simplest sauce can make a ‘plain’ burger something special. I love smash burgers and this right here is exactly why. You can’t beat them, from ease-of-cooking to fantastic flavor, they’re always a winner.
The Perfect Smash Burgers
Making steakhouse smash burgers isn’t difficult. You don’t need a bunch of fancy equipment or a lot of time. Just a hot griddle and a burger press. Any griddle will do, whether it’s on a grill (I use my Weber), cooktop, stove or even a standalone outdoor flattop. Just get those patties nice and thin and use quality fresh toppings. And a great sauce. Once you have the steps down you’ll be cranking out smash burgers all day long with ease.
Of course you can use any toppings you want. Sometimes I just go with cheese. These burgers don’t have to be all fancy fru-fru. They just have to be great (and they are!).
It’s happened to all of us. You buy a big ole bag of BBQ potato chips at the store. You open the bag and dive in and find… sadness. Half the chips aren’t seasoned. And the other half barely taste like BBQ. My quick fix barbecue potato chips solve this problem and will rid you of chip sadness in just 5 minutes. And it really can’t get any easier. Chips. Seasoning (which I picked up from Croix Valley Foods!) . Done. BBQ flavor on every chip. Not in hiding, either. Out front, up front and delicious!
The More Seasoning, The Better
Any time I make quick fix barbecue potato chips I have only one rule about the seasoning step: don’t be shy. Heck, we’re here for BBQ-flavor. Do it. And then add some more. Just be real gently tossing the chips because you don’t want to break them. And you don’t want to shake off the seasoning!
Not that I mean to over-stress it, but I will mention you don’t need any fancy fru-fru chips for this recipe. In fact, I’d stay away from them. You want wavy chips, preferably. Also, and frankly, you want chips that are a bit oily. Yep. Once heated, the chips will release that oil and that’s what you need to get the seasonings stuck on there good!
