Cheeseburger Bites

From the slow cooker!  Well, kind of.

As I may have mentioned, I’m working my way through my massive piles of recipes to see what’s worth keeping and what’s not.  It’s a little overwhelming, but hey, it’s great for blog content.  Not so much for my waistline though.  This recipe comes to us from one of those little tiny books you see in the checkout line of the grocery store.  It’s called Slow Cooker Recipes, from January of 2002 (oh yeah, these are old) and they do have a website listed of http://www.classiccookbooks.com.  The site is still there at the time of writing this, but I have no idea if the book is still available.

This recipe is great for picky people, and most of the items should already be in your kitchen.  I did need to make a few modifications based on what was in my kitchen so I’ll give you that version.  First, cook up a pound of ground beef (although I bought the “big package” at the grocery store and just used the whole thing), drain it and set aside.

Chop up an onion into small pieces.  How much you want to use is based on taste, but you don’t want huge pieces.  Fry the onion and add it to the hamburger.  Mix in 2-3 tablespoons of ketchup and a tablespoon of mustard.

Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray and put the mixture in.  Take 2 cups of cheddar cheese and cut it into 1 inch cubes.  Spread these over the top of the beef, but don’t stir it in.

Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours.  Stir up, put some of the mixture onto a small bun and top with whatever you’d like.  I used tomato, pickles and some lettuce and it was quite good.  One suggestion I do have is to not use a super soft bun for this like I did.  The recipe actually calls for mini buns and I think that would be ideal.  It wouldn’t give the liquid enough time to make the bun soggy.

Yes, I said liquid.  You wouldn’t expect it, but the grease from the cheese actually makes this into a sloppy joe style mixture, although not quite that runny.  It may not look fantastic, but it certainly does the job with minimal work.  Also, with a little prep you can go out and come back to a hot supper.  You could even do the cooking the night before and just throw it in the slow cooker day-of.

If you try this, let me know how it works for you.  I don’t think it’s something I’ll make often, but it will be one of those things I keep in my recipes as something different to throw together.