21 Inspired Burger Bar Ideas

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Butter Burgers, butter on the bun — The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Although the standard ground beef patty, tomato, lettuce, and ketchup burger is a classic for a reason, there are plenty more ways to build a burger. In fact, its mixable, matchable nature makes it the perfect choice for a DIY burger bar, where you and your guests can have a smörgåsbord of buns, condiments, and toppings. Getting hungry yet? Start by browsing the recipes below for some inspiration.

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Versatile Sandwich Buns

Diana Rattray

While you do need to allow some time for the dough to set and rise, these sandwich buns are easy to throw together. Because this recipe is so versatile, it’s a great option for cookouts that include not just burgers, but an array of sandwich meats and fillings.
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Buttery Brioche Hamburger Buns

The Spruce / Teena Agnel

If you want a gourmet style burger, brioche buns are a great bet. The extra butter and egg in the dough sets it apart, resulting in a rich flavor and tender crumb.
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Homemade Potato Buns

The Spruce/Christine Ma

Homemade potato buns are so much better than store bought, so whipping up your own is well worth it. What’s more, potato buns typically keep longer than regular buns, so you can take advantage and make extra to save or freeze for later.
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American Style Doughnuts

Nataliia Sirobaba/Getty Images

If you like to combine the sweet and savory, try using a doughnut as a bun for your burger. This recipe for an American style doughnut will yield a flavorful, but not overly dense, doughnut.

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Southern Pimento Cheese

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Few foods invoke the American South more than pimento cheese. Made from cheese, mayo, hot sauce, and jarred pimento peppers, pimento cheese is traditionally spread on crackers or used as a dip, but why not top your burger with it, too?
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Quick Fresh Tomato Chutney

The Spruce Eats / Preethi Venkatram

For something new and different, try spreading tomato chutney on your burger instead of ketchup. This recipe combines sweet, sour, and spicy for a perfectly balanced, yet complex, flavor.
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Sweet and Savory Bacon Jam

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

Meat lovers know that burgers and bacon are thick as thieves, which makes this sweet and savory bacon jam a perfect condiment to top your burger. Since bacon is the backbone of this recipe don’t skimp and choose good quality bacon.
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Shortcut Garlic Aioli

The Spruce/Bahareh Niati

If you like the traditional burger fixings and don’t want to mess too much with a good thing, try whipping up a little aioli to spread on your burger. Essentially just mayo and garlic, aioli is a great way to keep things simple, yet tasty.

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Homemade Harissa

The Spruce / Sonia Bozzo

Harissa is a red chili paste commonly used in North African cuisine. Apart from chilies, it contains olive oil, garlic, and a blend of spices like caraway and cumin. It’s a great condiment for burgers, blending savory and spicy flavors.
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Best Guacamole

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Adding a scoop of guacamole is a popular twist on the classic burger, and it’s a great choice for those who don’t tolerate cheese very well. If you don't want to go to the trouble of making guacamole, you can just set out some avocado slices sprinkled with lime juice to prevent browning.
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Tzatziki

The Spruce / Julia Estrada

Typically used as a dipping sauce for meats, tzatziki makes perfect sense to pair with your burger. Tzatziki is easy to throw together, but you will want to give the sauce some time to sit so that all the flavors can mature.
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Malaysian Sambal Sauce

The Spruce / Stephanie Goldfinger

There are many types of sambal sauce, but this recipe for Malaysian sambal is spicy, sweet, and has an aromatic kick from galangal and turmeric. Spooning a little bit of this onto your burger just may be the move.

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Hoisin Sauce

The Spruce / Kristina Vanni

Sweet, spicy, and toasty from sesame oil, you can bet this hoisin dipping sauce is good on a burger. Make sure you use dark soy sauce for this recipe, which has less of a salty bite than light soy sauce.
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Homemade Banana Ketchup

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

Banana ketchup has been a staple in the Philippines since World War II. It’s similar enough to tomato ketchup to feel right at home on a burger, but it does have a kick of banana flavor to set it apart.
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Quick Pickled Onions

The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

Quick pickling takes plain ingredients and ratchets up their flavor in minutes. This recipe for quick pickled onions will give you that savory, pungent bite you’re looking for to complete your burger.
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Sandwich Slaw

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Sandwich slaw is an underrated crunchy topper for a burger. This is a basic recipe, so it gives you room to get creative and add other shredded veggies or even swap some of the mayo for blue cheese if you want.

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Sauteed Steakhouse Mushrooms

The Spruce / Chosen Posture

The rich flavor of red meat pairs perfectly with the earthiness of sauteed mushrooms. If you want to go full-on gourmet, opt for a medley of wild mushrooms, like oysters, maitakes, and chanterelles.
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Crockpot Caramelized Onions

Chris Ted/Photodisc/Getty Images

If you’re looking for a burger topping you can “set and forget”, these crockpot caramelized onions are for you. That said, if you don’t have a crockpot but still want the caramelized onions, we have a recipe for that too.
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Fried Onions Rings

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

If you’re going to eat a burger, why not really go for it? Whip up these fried onion rings plain and simple or throw some Cajun seasoning into the flour for an extra kick.
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Pickled Jalapeños

The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi

If you like sweet and spicy, pickled jalapeños might be your new obsession. Toss them onto burgers, nachos, or tacos with equal success and if you need to sweat a little bit, add a habanero or two into the mix.

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Crockpot Baked Beans

The Spruce Eats / Anastasiia Tretiak

Baked beans are a common side to burgers, though it’s rare to see them as a topping. But if you’re not afraid of making a delicious mess, putting baked beans on your burger is highly recommended.

Creative Burger Recipes

Got all your bun, condiment, and topping ideas but feel lost on how to put them together? For further creative inspiration, check out these anything-but-basic burger recipes: