When you want a bacon cheeseburger, but it's too hot to cook outside OR inside. It tastes exactly like a bacon cheeseburger if you add all the optional ingredients, right down to the sesame seed bun.
Pasta salad ingredients:
- 16 oz short pasta, such as macaroni, rotini, or ditalini
- 16 oz ground beef or ground turkey
- 1/2 red onion
- 8 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled, or 2.5 oz package precooked and crumbled bacon
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup finely diced dill pickle (about 1 large pickle)
- 8 oz (2 cups) diced or shredded Cheddar or American cheese
- Shredded lettuce (optional)
- Croutons (optional)
- Yellow mustard (optional)
- Sesame seeds (optional)
Dressing ingredients:
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp dill pickle juice (optional)
Note: You could also substitute store-bought burger sauce or Thousand Island dressing.
Directions:
- Cook the pasta as directed, then for 1 minute longer. Drain and rinse, then refrigerate until chilled.
- Season the ground beef or turkey as desired and cook until completely done and temperature reaches 165F (or your preference). Drain and rinse.
- Slice or dice the red onion according to your preference. Use raw, or saute over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes or until slightly translucent. Note: if you prefer cooked onions on your burger, you could cook the onion at the same time as the meat - just add the onion when the meat is close to being done.
- Add the cooked ground meat, the red onion, the cooked bacon, the cherry tomatoes, the dill pickle, and the cheese into the pasta.
- Combine all dressing ingredients and combine thoroughly. Add the dressing to the container of pasta salad and combine thoroughly.
- To serve, serve in bowls. If desired, top with shredded lettuce, croutons, additional ketchup or mayonnaise, and/or mustard.
Note: Most of the time when I make this, I cook burger patties and then dice them in to around 1/2" dice. While not every bite will have burger, the ones that do will really taste like a burger.
