Bacon Jalapeño Burger with Tequila Jam

This Bacon Jalapeño Burger with Tequila Jam is sweet, spicy, smoky, cheesy, and wildly irresistible. Loaded with crispy bacon and bold flavor, it’s the ultimate gourmet burger recipe for grilling season.

Some burgers are meant to be sensible. This is not one of them.

This Bacon Jalapeño Tequila Jam Burger is sweet, smoky, spicy, cheesy, sticky, messy, and honestly a little outrageous in the best possible way. The tequila jam melts into the burger, the jalapeños bring just enough heat, and the bacon, y’all. The bacon is so good a country music singer literally wrote a song about it.

And because this glorious bacon is made right here in Alabama, it felt only appropriate to turn it into the kind of burger that requires extra napkins and absolutely zero calorie counting. The bacon was sent to me by a company right here in Alabama called Bill-E’s Small Batch Bacon. This is artisanal bacon that is not your average grocery store stuff. This is not bacon you waste.

Because this bacon is so superior I had to make something superior.

This burger exceeded my expectations.

One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was making a jalapeno bacon jam burger. But with tequila. I also made a homemade pretzel bun for this burger and melted lovely fontina cheese on top. Fresh tomato and fresh Italian parsley rounded this burger out.

Why You’ll Love This Burger

• Sweet + spicy flavor that actually balances perfectly
• Crispy smoky bacon in every bite
• The tequila bacon jam takes it completely over the top
• Feels restaurant-worthy but totally doable at home
• Ideal for cookouts, game day, or “I’ve had a week” dinners
• Makes people aggressively ask for the recipe

What Is Bacon Jalapeño Tequila Jam?

This jam is very close to typical bacon jam, but with *tequila*. Onions, garlic, chopped bacon and pickled jalapeños are caramelized with a little brown sugar and simmered with a little tequila until it’s thick. It’s my new favorite thing to put on everything that doesn’t move. The tequila adds depth of flavor, not booziness. 

Tips for the Best Burgers

• Don’t overwork the meat – It will become tough
• Indent center of patties – This ultimately makes a uniform flat surface
• Toast buns
• Let burgers rest
• Cook bacon fully crisp because jam softens it slightly

Variations

• Swap tequila for bourbon
• Pepper jack instead of cheddar
• Add crispy onions
• Use slider buns
• Add fried egg if you want to completely lose control of the situation

What To Serve with Bacon Jalapeño Burger with Tequila Jam

• Crispy fries
• Fried pickles
• Baked beans
• Brussels sprouts slaw 

Make sure to go here to check out Bill-E’s Bacon and get your own song-worthy bacon.

Here’s your printable –

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Bacon Jalapeno Tequila Jam Burger with Fontina

Yield: 4 burgers

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

This Bacon Jalapeño Tequila Jam Burger is sweet, spicy, smoky, cheesy, and wildly irresistible. Loaded with crispy bacon and bold flavor, it’s the ultimate gourmet burger recipe for grilling season.

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Ingredients

• This pretzel dough recipe
• ½ pound Bill-E's Bacon, chopped
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• ¼ cup pickled jalapeños, diced
• 2 ounces quality tequila
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound ground round
• 2 tbsp mayo
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1 ripe tomato, sliced
• Fresh Italian leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Fontina cheese, sliced

Instructions

1. Make pretzel buns according to directions; but add chopped bacon to half of the dough* (you won't use all of this dough for the burger recipe)
2. Make bacon jam by adding bacon to a pan over medium heat and saute until bacon is crispy.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, salt, onion, jalapeños and saute until onions are caramelized, about 15-20 min, add tequila.
4. Add butter and stir, turn heat down to low and cover.
5. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until slightly thickened, and turn heat off.
6. Combine ground round, mayo and Worcestershire, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. Form into 4 burgers.
8. Grill or pan fry to desired doneness, add cheese and leave over heat until it melts; remove.
9. Build burger by adding parsley and a tomato slice on the bottom of a sliced pretzel bun, add burger, and top with bacon jam and pretzel bun top.
   

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Notes

*If you want a quick version, you can find burger buns in the bakery section of your grocery store or Target, and feel free to use any burger bun for these; it will still be delicious!

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 Amounts Per Serving: Calories: 1139Total Fat: 78gSaturated Fat: 29gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 42gCholesterol: 199mgSodium: 3433mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 56g

The provided nutrition calculated may not always be accurate.

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