This cheeseburger focaccia is made with a no-knead, bubbly focaccia dough that gets topped with strained canned tomatoes, diced pickles, shredded cheddar, and spiced ground beef that's browned on the stove first. It turns classic savory focaccia into a hearty weeknight dinner, no mixer required!
Crispy, Fluffy Cheeseburger Focaccia with Homemade Burger Sauce
I've been on a serious sweet-and-savory focaccia kick lately, and I wanted to create a version hearty enough to actually be dinner, not just a side. Cheeseburgers (homemade, or let's be honest, from the drive-thru) are one of my family's favorite meals, so I crammed all that craveable comfort into a loaf of focaccia! It stars with my foolproof classic focaccia dough, which gets loaded with tomatoes, pickles, ground beef, and melty cheddar. Then a five-minute homemade burger sauce goes on top, inspired by our all-time favorite, In-N-Out.
I brown and season the beef on the stove first, so it finishes in the oven & the edges get genuinely crispy, giving the same effect as a hot griddle. My sauce recipe makes a little extra on purpose, because we always want extra for dipping or drizzling after slicing. And the toppings are fully customizable to your family's go-to order. Skip the tomatoes and pickles if they're not your thing, or do what my husband does and add finely diced white onion (or caramelized onions, if we're feeling fancy). The result is a loaf that's pillowy soft inside with crisp, golden edges underneath all those classic toppings. It's just as good as a game-day appetizer as it is mixed together mid-morning and pulled from the oven by dinner.
I tested this several times, to make sure the dough could actually bake through under that much topping. It's important to use lean ground beef here (85/15 or leaner), or else you'll need to drain off excess grease so your cheeseburger focaccia isn't too oily. And strained canned tomatoes beat fresh in testing every time, since fresh tomatoes released way too much liquid and tasted kind of bland. For the cheese, I landed on thick-cut shredded medium or sharp cheddar over American. While American cheese is more traditional, it only comes in big squares that didn't allow everything to bake through. Finally, unlike almost every other focaccia I've shared, I don't finish this one with a butter or olive oil drizzle before baking. The toppings bring enough moisture and fat on their own, and extra oil pushes it into greasy territory.
If you love the idea of focaccia doing double duty as dinner, my deep dish pizza focaccia is another fam-fave mashup worth making. And if your loyalties lean sweet, this same dough base gets swirled with a gooey filling and finished with vanilla glaze in my cinnamon roll focaccia.
Step-by-Step: Let's Make Cheeseburger Focaccia!
Tips from My Kitchen for Thick Focaccia
- This dough is no-knead, so it's never dense because there's no need to add extra flour. Just wet your hands with cold water before each stretch-and-fold so the dough doesn't stick.
- I tried adding the cheese halfway through baking for a softer melt. While it works, I prefer dumping it all on at once. It melts early enough to crisp up around the edges without burning by the time the bake is done.
- Four tablespoons of olive oil in the pan looks like a lot when you pour it in, but that's the magic number for those golden, crisp, glossy edges focaccia is known for.
- All the toppings go on right before the oven, so the dough can finish its second rise unweighted. Then those toppings plus the dimpling intentionally deflate any uneven gas bubbles, so the final oven rise comes out even, not lopsided.
Cheeseburger Focaccia
developed & tested by:
Equipment
Ingredients
FOCACCIA DOUGH
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1¾ cups warm water (between 105-115°F or 40-46°C)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons salt (use fine sea salt or table salt)
TOPPINGS
- 5 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 15 ounces canned diced tomatoes (1 can)
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ cup pickles, diced
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (2 cups)
BURGER SAUCE
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons pickles, diced
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
Instructions
Mix the Dough and Let it Rise
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes, until it's foamy on top. (If it's not foamy, check your yeast packet, as it might be expired.)
- Add the olive oil and stir it into the foamy yeast mixture.
- Add the flour & salt and mix for a minute with a large wooden spoon or silicone spatula until it forms a soft, sticky dough.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Fold 1: Use your hand to scoop a handful of dough from underneath, up one side, up out of the bowl as far as you can stretch it without tearing, then fold it over itself on top. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat another stretching of the dough up and folding over itself. Repeat rotating the bowl and stretching & folding the dough twice more, until you've completed four stretch-and-folds.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Fold 2: Repeat the process for four stretch-and-folds. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Fold 3: Repeat the process for four stretch-and-folds. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Fold 4: Repeat the process for four stretch-and-folds. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel for 1 hour until it doubles in size and looks bubbly on top.
Shape and Proof the Dough
- Spread four tablespoons of the olive oil on the bottom and up the sides of a 9x13 baking dish.
- Dump the dough from your mixing bowl onto the center of the baking dish and press it down into all the edges and corners.
- Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 2 hours, or until the dough has really puffed up and jiggles when you shake the baking dish.
Prepare the Toppings
- Strain the canned diced tomatoes through a fine mesh sieve. Leave it over a bowl to continue straining out the juice for at least 20 minutes.
- Add one tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Cook, breaking apart the beef into small pieces, until it's browned. Set aside to cool for a bit.
Add the Toppings and Bake
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).
- Spread the strained tomatoes and diced pickles over the dough. Spoon the cooked ground beef evenly on top, then top with shredded cheddar.
- Generously coat your fingers in olive oil (don't skip this, or else the dough will stick all over your fingers.) Use your fingers to press dimples into the dough, pressing all the way to the bottom of the baking dish.
- Bake for 22-26 minutes, or until the focaccia is puffed up and golden brown. (You should be able to see some parts of the bread under the toppings. Otherwise a toothpick or knife inserted into center should come out clean.)
Top with Burger Sauce
- In a bowl, combine the burger sauce ingredients until it's creamy. Drizzle over the focaccia, then let it cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Rise: The real secret to a good rise under all these toppings is a full second proof in the baking dish. I proof mine in the oven (turned off, light on) for a warm, draft-free spot that speeds up fermentation. It's ready when the dough reaches the top of the dish, bubbles start forming on top, and it jiggles when you gently shake the pan.
- Serving: Slice it right in the pan with a serrated knife into big squares, then run a fork or small spatula along the sides and underneath to release each piece without tearing before transferring to a plate.
- Overnight: I usually make this same-day with the stretch-and-folds, but an overnight fridge rise works great too. Just skip the stretch-and-folds entirely, pop it in the fridge right after mixing the dough, then proof it longer the next day (closer to 3-4 hours).
Nutrition
This website uses affiliate links which may earn commission for purchases made at no additional cost to you.
I'm eggcited to hear from you :)