These cheeseburgers with everything sauce are as classic as they come. Burgers smothered with melted Cheddar and topped with tomato, lettuce, onion, pickles, and a ketchup, mustard, and mayo sauce. All smooshed together between perfectly toasted hamburger buns.

Adapted from Katie Sullivan Morford | Prep | Roost Books, 2019
Learning to cook is an instant mood elevator. It may sound dramatic, but it’s true. If ever I’m a little down, nothing picks me up faster than getting in front of the stove and making something good to eat for myself or someone else. Whether it’s a batch of cupcakes or a pan of mac and cheese, making food for friends is one of the best ways I know to care for the people you like or even love. Yes, you can feed friends with pizza delivery, but consider how much more fun it might be to make your own pizza and maybe a salad to go with it. Invite your pals to pitch in and see for yourself why homemade food is so much better than anything that arrives in a box.–Katie Sullivan Morford
HOW DO I REHEAT LEFTOVER CHEESEBURGERS?
If you have these burgers leftover and they’re already put together, you’ll have to do a little divide and conquer first. The meat and cheese can be reheated but you might want to start fresh with some of the other components, especially anything that’s soggy or wilted. To reheat the patty, you can pop it in the microwave or in the oven with the same method. In a covered dish, with a teaspoon of water at the bottom, cook the patty until warmed through. Toast the fresh bun however you please and enjoy last night’s burger once again.
☞ Contents
Cheeseburgers with Everything Sauce

Ingredients
For the everything sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
For the burgers
- 1 1/3 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 heaping teaspoon Diamond brand kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon Morton’s brand
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Nonstick cooking spray or mild vegetable oil
- 4 thin slices sharp Cheddar cheese
- 4 soft store-bought or homemade hamburger buns
- 8 store-bought or homemade dill pickle slices
- 4 thin slices red onion
- 4 crunchy lettuce leaves such as romaine
Directions
Make the everything sauce
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients until smooth.
☞TESTER TIP: The everything sauce moonlights as an excellent dip for fries (whether classic deep-fried fries or easy oven baked fries).
Make the burgers
- Divide the ground beef into 4 equal portions and gently roll each portion into a ball. Pat each ball into a hamburger patty about 3/4 inch (18-mm) thick and 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. Do your best to make the burgers evenly thick.
- Sprinkle half the salt over the burgers. Grind a little pepper over the burgers. Flip the burgers and sprinkle with the remaining salt and a little more pepper.
- Warm a 12-inch (30-cm) skillet over high heat until it sizzles when you flick a couple drops of water into it, 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly coat the pan with nonstick cooking spray or oil.
- Add the burgers to the skillet and cook for 3 minutes.
- Use a spatula to flip the burgers. Immediately place a slice of cheese on each burger and cook until the desired doneness, 3 to 4 minutes for medium.
- While the burgers cook, split the buns in half and, if desired, lightly toast them.
- Use a spatula to move the burgers to the bottom buns. Top with the pickles, onion, and lettuce. Schmear the sauce on the top bun and plop it on top. Devour immediately.
Show Nutrition
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This cheeseburger recipe was great and I loved the addition of the easy and quick sauce. I found the sauce was the perfect mix of the three condiments. The recipe was easy to follow and execute. I paired the burgers with sweet potato fry wedges and broccoli. Great dinner night option.
I used a 12-inch grill pan which took about 2 minutes to heat up properly over medium-high heat and all 4 burgers fit.
I cooked for 3 minutes, then 5 minutes on the other side which gave me medium-well. I honestly prefer medium, so I would go with a bit shorter next time. Great recipe.
This is a very good homemade version of what you can buy at your local burger franchise. The main advantage is that you have complete control over the quality of the ingredients and you’re creating a superior burger completely customized to your preference.
The everything sauce is a nice change to the plain ketchup that you would ordinarily use on your burger at home. I used store-bought soft hamburger buns but lightly toasted English muffins would also be very good.
I love a good burger! These came together incredibly fast—perfect for a weeknight dinner. The everything sauce was very tasty but not really much different than when all your condiments on the burger mix together. We did enjoy dipping our roasted potatoes in it, though.
I used a large cast-iron griddle pan (flat, not grill) and fit all my burgers on it. The cast iron took about 4 minutes to come up to high heat. We cooked our burgers to medium-well (3 mins on each side as instructed).
These burgers were AWESOME. I do believe it starts with the meat you use. I used lean grass-fed ground chuck in an 85/15 mixture. This ensured an extremely juicy and flavorful burger.
I used a 12-inch cast-iron skillet and all 4 patties fit perfectly with no crowding. We prefer our burgers medium-rare so I cooked them 3 to 3 1/2 minutes on each side. One side note, in an attempt to be a little healthier, I served these on large lettuce leaves, but I do believe to get the full experience this burger really does deserve a bun!
This is the basic black dress of burgers. And everyone needs a basic black dress or the equivalent. Sometimes my body just craves a burger. When the urge calls, I do answer it. However, if fast food or drive-through burgers were the only options, I’d find something else to eat. I haven’t had a fast-food burger in decades. I’ve had moderate success with a few different burger recipes, featuring things to do with the meat, and ingredients to add to the meat. Sometimes they turned out more successful than others. This burger recipe is straightforward, easy to make, and yields a burger that’s delicious to eat.
Forming the meat into balls and then patting the balls into patties was easy to do. It helped assure that the burgers were the same size. I used a large cast-iron skillet that is as nonstick as they come, thanks to years of proper use and cleaning. I did cook my burgers for a shorter period of time, 3 minutes per side, because we like our burgers medium-rare.
I toasted brioche buns to use for these burgers, preferring the pillowy softness of brioche. The toppings helped make for a crunchy (the lettuce leaves and the red onion slices), vinegary (the pickle slices), and a tangy (the sauce) burger. Next time I make this burger, I may add something else, such as Sriracha, to give the special sauce a little heat.
My daughter has been making versions of this sauce since her days in University. We just call it “everything sauce” since we have been using it on almost everything from fries to sandwiches to grilled burgers and other meats.
You do have to be gentle turning them over as the patties are delicate until cooked through and could break apart. We had one split in half whe1n I enthusiastically flipped it over. Nothing a little cheese on top couldn’t hide. I used a sharp-aged Canadian Cheddar, placing the cheese on after I flipped them over. We prefer our burgers a little pink in the middle, so cooking time was really only about 6 or 7 minutes, one patty being a tad thicker than the other 3.
I enjoyed my burger without the pickle (not a big fan of them on a burger) and the rest had the works. We all enjoyed the sauce and with the measurements, we can have a more consistent “awesome sauce” in the future.
While the English muffin made a nice change for this burger I think we all found the texture wasn’t quite what we preferred so next time I will use another type of bun. It’s just a matter of personal taste with that. The only thing I might add in the future is a little bacon because, after all, aren’t most things better with bacon?
This makes a nice beefy burger that is tastier than any take-out patty without much fuss and is perfect for a quick dinner. And the sauce really is awesome.
This is one of the best homemade burgers I ever had. As soon as I saw the picture, I knew that I wanted to try it but I was hesitant as there weren’t as many ingredients in the sauce or toppings as I thought there should be in order to make it awesome. Boy, was I ever wrong. No one said a word while eating the burgers.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
I couldn’t believe how simple it was to make the everything sauce! The three ingredients are staples in my kitchen, so I didn’t have to purchase anything. The taste reminded me of Big Mac sauce. It was a bit sweet for some of the crowd I served it to, but I’m sure that could be fixed with less ketchup, or a different brand of ketchup that is less sweet.
Thanks, April. We’re so pleased that you enjoyed it and found it easy to make. Thanks for taking the time to comment.