Toppings are perhaps the most important part of the burger eating experience: They can make or break it. Too many toppings, and the burger is unwieldy to eat, not enough and the burger, can be, well, boring. There's a certain standard array of toppings that dominate the burger world: A slice of tomato, iceberg or romaine lettuces, onions, cheese (typically American or cheddar), and maybe a couple of pickle slices if you're feeling fancy. Plus, many opt for basic condiments like ketchup, mayonnaise, and sometimes, mustard.
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Next read: The 21 Essential Burgers of America
While American chains will most likely always offer classic burgers with classic toppings, many are adding more out-of-the-box burgers with trendier toppings, like jalapeños, fancy mayos, and meats that go beyond the beef patty. Eater analyzed 37 burgers introduced in the last 18 months at 10 different major chain restaurants. Below, the five things people want on their burgers, according to giant food companies.
Bacon &#; the trend that refuses to die &#; has become so commonplace on restaurant menus that it's almost standard. Almost. Just under half of the burgers analyzed featured bacon, and chains are getting pickier with the type of bacon they use: Most often menus denote if bacon is hickory- or applewood-smoked. Chains are also particular about thickness: Both Wendy's and McDonald's have advertised thick-cut bacon on new burgers. In the "weird bacon" category, Red Robin added both candied bacon and brown-sugar bacon to its menu, with the Southern Charm Burger and the Brown Sugar Bar-B-Que Burger. And finally, if strips of bacon weren't enough, many chains feature a second bacon component in the form of a sauce: Bacon mayo can be found on burgers at Jack In the Box, while Burger King is offering a mysterious "spicy bacon sauce."
The 10 fast-food restaurants analyzed here are: McDonald's, Burger King, Sonic, Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Wendy's, Jack in the Box, Red Robin, A&W, White Castle.
The burger with the weirdest topping combination: Carl's Jr. Mashers Burger (featuring garlic mashed potatoes, brown gravy, crispy onion straws).
The burger with the cheesiest name: Jack in the Box's Hella-Peno Burger (come on).
The burger with the most jalapeño components: Jack in the Box'sHella-Peno Burger, once again: It features sliced jalapeños, cheese-filled jalapeño poppers, cheese sauce, and taco sauce.
The burger with the most spicy components: Carl's Jr. El Diablo Thickburger, at four: Sliced jalapeños, jalapeño poppers, pepper jack cheese, habanero bacon sauce.
The burger with the most varieties of cheese: Burger King's Four Cheese Whopper, featuring American cheese; a three-cheese blend of cheddar, Monterey Jack, and mozzarella; and cheddar sauce.
The chain burger world was not inoculated from the world's obsession with Sriracha: Jack in the Box went so far as to create a Spicy Sriracha Burger featuring hickory-smoked bacon, swiss cheese, and creamy Sriracha sauce. It also contains jalapeño slices, another popular ingredient on burgers as of late. McDonald's has gotten in on the action by adding pickled jalapeño slices and deep-fried crispy jalapeños to its aptly named Jalapeño Double Burger. Carl's Jr.'s El Diablo Thick Burger is topped with not only fresh jalapeños, but jalapeño poppers, a habanero bacon sauce, and spicy pepper jack cheese. Jack in the Box also has a spicy burger &#; dubbed the Hella-Peno Burger&#; that also features jalapeño poppers and sliced jalapeños along with taco sauce. Beyond Sriracha and jalapeños, chains have turned to hot sauces in general: Sonic launched a spicy burger called the Island Fire SuperSonic Cheeseburger featuring pepper jack cheese and a habanero pepper sauce, while Carl's Jr. serves a burger loaded with Franks RedHot Buffalo Sauce.
One of the most common toppings found among the 37 burgers analyzed were items that could easily be considered side dishes. There's the aforementioned use of jalapeño poppers as toppings by Carl's Jr. and Jack in the Box. Other common sides masquerading as burger toppings include onion rings (Burger King, Jack in the Box), guacamole (McDonald's), coleslaw (Wendy's), and French fries (Burger King). Carl's Jr.'s really embraced the ideas of sides-as-topping by testing a line of Mashers burgers that came stacked with garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, and crispy onion straws. Meanwhile, Red Robin's the Cure Burger, created specifically to fight off hangovers, is topped with chili.
Kicked-Up Condiments
Regular old ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise will no longer do. Carl's Jr. is now slathering burgers with creamy horseradish sauce and habanero bacon sauce; Jack in the Box's Black Pepper Cheeseburger enlists the help of a creamy black pepper sauce; while others make use of bacon-spiked mayonnaise. Wendy's eschews flavored mayos for a more elegant range of aiolis flavored with items like blue cheese, herbs, and roasted garlic, as well as melted seasoned butters. Red Robin on the other hand opts for a range of barbecue sauces, including those gussied up with honey and chipotle.
While burgers are at their very core a meat-heavy dish, chains are piling on additional proteins. A&W recently launched a Deli Burger loaded with pastrami, and White Castle is topping a slider with pepperoni. Carl's Jr. is serving a play on an French Dip sandwich, topping a burger with thin-sliced roast beef. The Philly Cheesesteak is another iconic sandwich-turned-burger by Carl's Jr., which tops a beef patty with more beef in the form of thinly sliced steak. Other chains like Wendy's, Hardee's, and Red Robin are fusing barbecue with their beef burgers by adding on layers of smoked brisket and pulled pork.
Are you serving the best burgers in town? Then you need the best burger packaging too! It&#;s not just about having the best burger boxes, either. There are plenty of other considerations to make, like what packaging you&#;ll use for fries, sides, sauces and drinks.
This guide will help you find the best, most sustainable packaging for your restaurant, burger van, street food stall or dark kitchen. Let&#;s go!
Burgers come in all shapes and sizes, from sandwiches and sliders to double or triple-deckers. This can make packaging your patties a challenge, and that&#;s before you&#;ve factored in the other things you&#;ll need to give your customers an unforgettable experience, like greaseproof paper and paper bags.
No matter what your menu looks like, you need the right packaging to ensure your customers enjoy their burgers while they&#;re hot and fresh, not cold or &#; even worse &#; soggy.
Here&#;s a guide to burger boxes and the materials and sizes for different food products:
Each of these burger boxes has unique benefits thanks to implementing various eco-friendly materials and design configurations.
Check out our entire range of sustainable hot food packaging.
Once you know which burger boxes you need for your items, you must consider the materials and design that best suit your brand and budget.
Below, we&#;ve outlined the most popular styles of burger boxes, including our most cost-effective packaging and our premium packaging:
Bagasse Burger Boxes
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These boxes are made using bagasse, a naturally renewable material from sugarcane pulp. Simple, effective and affordable, this kind of packaging is popular with eco-conscious businesses looking to replace polystyrene burger boxes, and is 100% biodegradable and compostable.
Made from fluted Kraft board, this packaging is resistant to oil, grease and moisture. These heavy-duty boxes have a rustic aesthetic that complements their contents while protecting food from the elements, thanks to the lock-in tabs on the lid. These boxes are 100% recyclable, biodegradable and compostable.
Cardboard Burger Boxes
This premium burger box design features a collapsible design for ease of storage. The vents in the lid allow hot air to escape, so your burgers don&#;t go soggy, but the fluted cardboard design insulates your food products, keeping them hot and fresh for longer. These boxes are 100% recyclable, biodegradable and compostable.
You can customise these burger boxes! Get in touch for a free design quote.
Most burger boxes are recyclable, but only if they&#;re unspoilt. Boxes stained with grease or oil won&#;t be accepted by local authorities for recycling. If the material has been contaminated, you should dispose of this kind of packaging in general waste.
This creates a pretty clear problem &#; the best burgers are dripping with cheese and saturated with sauce, making it almost impossible to preserve the packaging. That&#;s why it&#;s a good idea to use greaseproof paper to wrap your burgers or line burger boxes. This will help maximise recyclability and keep your planet-positive packaging intact.
If you opt for bagasse burger boxes, it&#;s important to note that they aren&#;t recyclable. This packaging material degrades naturally in as little as 90 days under the right conditions. As such, the material cannot be recycled or repurposed.
Instead, bagasse packaging can be composted domestically or commercially, even when spoilt. If all else fails, they can be thrown in general waste without leaving your customers feeling guilty. This packaging will degrade naturally into totally organic, non-toxic elements.
While the number of retail outlets is falling, there are significantly more fast-food restaurants on the high street. With more rivals to contend with, it&#;s harder to make your brand stand out. One of the ways to differentiate yourself from the competition on a budget is through sustainable packaging.
There are numerous advantages to using cardboard food packaging for burgers and other hot food products:
Cardboard is made from paper, and since the paper is derived from trees, it&#;s naturally renewable since trees can be replanted. Our packaging &#; including our Kraft burger boxes &#; is crafted using materials from responsibly managed forests. Opting for cardboard packaging is much greener than using plastic packaging like polystyrene clamshell boxes, like those banned by Scotland in .
Our food-grade cardboard is 100% safe for use with all kinds of food items. The fluted cardboard and Kraft board we use can easily withstand the weight of even the heftiest burgers without tearing or collapsing. Thanks to some neat design additions like lock-in tabs and foldable lids, our burger packaging is excellent for speedy over-the-counter service.
Portability is essential for takeaway packaging. Your burgers need to be easy to transport, either via over-the-counter service or delivery. This makes cardboard an obvious choice for all burger boxes, pizza boxes and takeaway food carriers. Cardboard might be lightweight, but it will effectively insulate its contents, keeping food hot and fresh until it&#;s ready to eat.
Cardboard is easily recyclable at home, but if spoiled, it&#;s also easy to dispose of responsibly. Cardboard can be composted at home or an industrial facility and decompose naturally, hundreds of years faster than any plastic packaging.
Moreover, cardboard is easy to print, giving you a range of branded packaging options for a whole host of packaging products and accessories. If you&#;re not ready for printed packaging, the natural finish of our stock packaging is an excellent choice for eco-conscious brands.
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We helped Smash &#;n&#; Slide create packaging that packs a punch! The custom printed greaseproof paper we produced features a vibrant repeating pattern on a deep black background, complementing their indulgent burgers with bold branding.
Greaseproof paper is highly versatile and can be used for various applications. This is handy if you&#;re selling more than just burgers &#; you can use it to line Kraft food trays for things like loaded nachos and fries.
The best part is that our greaseproof paper is eco-friendly. It&#;s not like traditional papers that have a silicone coating. Instead, our product is created using 100% virgin pulp and is manufactured with a specialised oil protection system of tightly compacted fibres. This makes it impervious to oil, grease, fat and moisture without needing a silica-based coating &#; a win-win for your customers and the environment.
Interested in branded packaging? Get in touch for a free design quote.
Now that more single-use plastics are set to be banned in the UK, including plastic plates, cups and cutlery, businesses in the food service sector need to find alternatives for all sorts of everyday products, and fast.
Here are a few eco-friendly essentials that can help you get ahead of the game before more single-use plastic items are banned:
Want to give your burger packaging a boost? Branded food boxes and custom printed greaseproof paper give you a cost-effective way to promote your business locally and via social media. Our custom printed paper bags are also an excellent choice if you want to maximise brand exposure in your local area.
At Takeaway Packaging, we create fully customised packaging that protects the planet. We use water and vegetable-based inks to print vibrant designs and organic, eco-friendly materials that won&#;t compromise your brand&#;s environmental values.
Check out our hot food packaging for burgers, hot dogs, pizzas and much more. Interested in branded packaging? Get in touch via or for a free design quote today.
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