I think TGI Friday’s is a restaurant we all have memories of as young adults. You probably had a date there, or watched games at the bar there. I went off to college and my friends introduced me to the world of TGI Friday’s, the only restaurant that would serve us alcoholic Cookies and Cream shakes when we were freshman. Looking back it is hard to believe I got all the way to college before discovering it, especially since it became a second home for our group of friends in pretty short order. Every time we went I would order something from the Jack Daniel’s menu. The sauce is sticky and sweet, but still a bit spicy. It works so well on ribs, chicken and shrimp but as a broke college kid, you have to go with the burger. Ten dollars instead of the twenty dollar ribs, it still had many of the same flavors. That sauce was addicting, we would dip everything in it. So as summer rolled around, and as many parents of small children can relate to, I wanted to recreate that meal at home instead of going out to get it.
Turns out the sauce is a huge hit on the internet and many copycat recipes exist. I tried 3 of them before deciding this one was the way to go. The sauce couldn’t really be any easier. Put the ingredients in a saucepan for 20 minutes on medium heat and you’re ready to go.
It all happens as we are making the burger anyway. I always use fresh ground chuck from my butcher and season liberally on both sides with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Then I cook it in a cast iron skillet. To be honest, I cook anything and everything I can in my cast iron cookware I love it so much.
Next cook up some bacon.
I made the burgers with homemade Hawaiian buns (recipe coming soon) then added the burger and some sharp cheddar cheese (I’m a sucker for a sharp cheddar).
Then I topped it with the glorious sauce. That dippy, sticky, spicy and sweet sauce.
Not sure there is anything left to say. Talking pretty much stopped once our mouths were full of burgers.
TGIFridays Inspired Jack Daniel's Bacon Cheeseburger
Ingredients
- 1/3 pound thick bacon
- 4 thick slices of sharp cheddar cheese
- 4 Hawaiian Buns (white or wheat are fine too)
- 1 1/3 pound fresh ground chuck
- kosher salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup Jack Daniels
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 tsp Better than Bouillon Beef Base (you can also use two beef bouillon cubes)
- 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
Put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sauce coats the back of a spoon and stays in place if you run your finger through it, about 20 minutes.
- Shape the ground beef into patties weighing about 1/3 of a pound each.
- Season liberally with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Cook in a cast iron skillet, on high, 4 minutes on each side.
- Assemble burger and eat!
Recipe Notes
Recipe from Food.com
Wow – that sauce is amazing!! My son raves about TGI’s JD sauce, can’t wait to find out what he thinks of it. Its delicious!! I did adapt it slightly and used less garlic and onion powder, I also used a famous yeast extract spread instead of beef as my guests don’t eat beef.
Thanks for the suggestion. So glad you enjoyed it!
I can not wait to try this! I’m still using your recipe for the Copycat Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp, so I know this one will be a hit too! You do not disappoint, so glad I’m an email subscriber. Thanks for sharing can’t wait to see what’s next.
So glad you love the site and all of the recipes!
Way too much Jack Daniel’s. Didnt taste like the Restauran’ts version at all in my opinion. Myself and 3 other people only liked it after the taste was diluted from putting it on the burger (and only in a small amount). But tasting it separately, all 4 of us agreed, it was very over powering and strong. There was also a bit of grittiness. My guess it had too much brown sugar and not enough liquids to dissolve in. Looks great in picture but this nothing like the original in my opinion.
Great!
How much Jack Daniels? My screen says “1?2 cup.” What does that mean?
It’s 1/2 cup. Thanks for catching the error, it’s been fixed!
Looks so yummy! But I’m wondering, can you use Jack Daniel’s Honey Whiskey with the same recipe or would I need to tweak it?
Thanks! You should be able to use the honey whiskey without any other changes to the recipe. The whiskey cooks down enough that the flavor difference should be minimal.
This recipe has been chosen to be part of our Burgers, Sliders, and Dogs Recipe Roundup – we hope you will help us spread the word by sharing, pinning, and tweeting! All links go directly to your recipes and we hope you get lots of traffic! Kelli and Holli at Yum Goggle
Thanks so much Kelli and Holli! I will promote it on social media this weekend!
So that sauce dripping off the side isn’t even fair. Mouth watering goodness!
Thanks!
Definitely pinning this to make this summer. It looks SOOOO good, I kinda want one right now!
I know, it is so wrong for bathing suit season but so right anyway!
Oh, wow. That looks amazing. That crispy bacon just seals the deal!
Thanks!
YUM! This looks so delicious. Love all your recipes!
Oh my, this looks amazing! Is it bad my mouth is watering just looking at it?
Haha I wholeheartedly support that!
That one sounds good. I am excited to try that.
This looks so delicious! I love a good burger recipe. I will have to try this on the weekend for my BBQ.
Wonderful!!
Everything is better with bacon, right? I love this time of year. It’s the perfect time for grilling and serving up burgers with family and friends.
Yes! Everything!
Oh man. This looks amazing. I haven’t had a nice juicy burger in so long. This makes me need one asap! It looks amazing!
Thanks!
My husband is a huge fan of bacon cheddar cheeseburgers. We don’t eat at TGIFridays often because its a bit of a drive from home. This would solve that!
Awesome! We have a Friday’s close to our house, I just can’t muster the energy to go out to it with the young kids!
I haven’t been to TGI Fridays in ages but I always loved that jack daniels sauce! I totally want to try this!