Alex Guarnaschelli’s Triple Decker Burgers Have ‘a Fancy Diner Vibe’

Food Network star Alex Guarnaschelli’s three-layered burgers are a fun, messy, indulgent cookout item. Each one is packed with caramelized vegetables, a creamy cheese sauce, and of course, three juicy burger patties.

What better way to kick off grilling season than with the chef’s triple-meaty sensation?

The Food Network star’s Triple Decker Burgers are made for grilling season

Guarnaschelli’s triple decker burgers aren’t just a mere meal. They’re an experience, thanks to the caramelized vegetables that cascade all over each layer of beefy goodness, as the chef explained on the recipe’s Food Network page (link provided below).

“This vegetable ‘condiment’ was introduced to me by one of [my] colleagues, Ian Halbwachs,” she wrote. “He roasted the vegetables until they became like what you would find at the bottom of a roasting pan with a large cut of meat, almost candied.”

The co-host of The Kitchen added that the roasted vegetables “give the burger a slight roast beef quality.” Along with “some chopped pickles, pickle juice and ketchup stirred in” plus a cheese sauce, this three-layer burger takes on “a fancy diner vibe.”

Guarnaschelli’s burger is gloriously cheesy, meaty — and messy

With the mirepoix ingredients of chopped onions, celery, and red onion roasted in a 375-degree F oven for about 15 minutes, the vegetables will eventually add “a little crunch and a roasted taste” to the burgers. Once they’re out of the oven, the Chopped judge adds in ketchup and chopped pickles to the veggies.

The cheese sauce for this dish is mouthwateringly good: six slices of American cheese, cream, mustard, low-sodium soy sauce, hot sauce, grated garlic, and shredded Cheddar cheese are all cooked in a saucepan over low heat.

Guarnaschelli lightly seasons the beef, barely handling it, as she explains in the Food Network video, above, for this recipe: “I literally don’t work [the meat] a lot … the meat appreciates you.”

The result is a diner-style, flatter burger patty. “We’re going to smash them down a little bit with a spatula as they cook … once you put them down, don’t touch them.” Once they’re flipped, they show off a gorgeous crust.

After the burgers are done, the first one is placed on a toasted bun with the vegetable condiment and cheese sauce.

“This gets messy,” she jokes. “You’ve got to lean into the fact that you’re going to wear a bib or a smock, or like maybe a raincoat.”

Repeat twice more, top the towering burger off with thinly sliced red onions and you are ready to take an enormous bite.

Get the complete recipe, video, and reviews on Food Network’s site.

Reviewers praised Alex Guarnaschelli’s triple-layered burgers

What’s not to love about gooey, juicy, messy layers of beef, cheese sauce, and succulent vegetables? Home cooks checking in on Food Network’s site couldn’t think of anything, either.

“The cheese sauce is my new go-to, so creamy and flavorful-Alex love your recipes!!!,” said one reviewer.

Another wrote, “Winner! The veggie and cheese sauce combination is magic,” while still another added, “Amazing my families [sic] most requested dinner. It is easy and cheese sauce makes great cheese fries.”