Who doesn’t like a nice cheese burger with bacon? And adding a lot of bacon and sausages don’t hurt either. When you use your imagination with all these ingredients something magical can happen.

If you are looking for a festive burger for a nice holiday celebration there is nothing like this Bacon Cheese Turtle burger. It is tasty, filling and cute! An best of all: no turtles are hurt making this dish!

The burgers I made are very large but you have to make them this big for everything to fit nicely together.

Makes 4 large turtle burgers

Ingredients

4 lbs of ground chuck (80% lean)
10 hot dog sausages of your choice
4 slices of American Cheese
2 lbs of bacon (I prefer center cut)

Instructions

• Form 4 patties and make them oval like a turtle body. Using a finger make 4 holes at the bottom in each corner of the patty for the legs. Make one hole in the center front from the top for the head.
• Cut sausages in half and insert each half in the holes of the burgers. It will require quite a lot of handling the meat and reforming it, but give yourself a little time and they will eventually look good.
• Cut the sausages at the end to simulate the “toes” on each foot
• Place a slice of cheese on the top of each turtle.
• Now form a small blanket of bacon like in the pictures to a size that will cover the back of the turtle. Once formed place the bacon blanket on the back of the turtle. You may also just make the blanket directly on the back of the turtle.
• Heat an oven to 400F and place turtles in the oven for 30-40 minutes until bacon is nice browned and crispy. You may want to use a meat thermometer to check the doneness of the meat (130F for medium).

Voila, a beautiful turtle burger that will make heads turn. Serve them in a bun with you favorite toppings or eat as a steak. It is all up to you.