50-Calorie Cheeseburger Bites (Oven Baked Burger Cups)

I don’t know about you, but I could eat cheeseburgers all day, every day. Unfortunately, that’s frowned upon, for whatever reason. This bright side of this calamity, however, is that I’ve been forced to get creative with my cheeseburger love. And in this case, I’ve created healthy burger bites that have all the delicious qualities of a cheeseburger in a finger food shell.

Since the world healthy means something different to every person, I’ll clarify that these cheeseburger bites are healthy in my book because of their low calorie and high protein content. This is a protein-focused food blog, after all.

Each cheeseburger cup is the size of a mini muffin and contains 48 Calories, 6.8 grams of protein, 2.3 grams of carbs, and 1.3 grams of fat. So, I guess these would qualify as low carb cheeseburger bites as well. You can see where naming my recipes gets tricky.

Ingredients for Healthy Cheeseburger Bites

You won’t need much for these cheeseburger bites. I’ll touch on the breadcrumbs and how you can substitute them below but first, I’d like to touch on the condiments and beef that will make up your cheeseburger bites.

The recipe calls for the standard ketchup, mustard, and pickle. If you want to leave pickles out, you can do so without needing to tweak anything else since they’re in limited quantity. On the other hand, if you want to remove the ketchup or mustard, you may need to add a bit more liquid or add some of the remaining condiments.

As far as the meat goes for your cheeseburger bites, you can swap beef for ground chicken or turkey if you’d like.

The only note I have here is if you’re going to use a fattier cut of meat, you may want to reduce the egg whites in the recipe since you’ll have some fat run-off during cooking. If you go with a meat below the 85/15 mark, you’ll want to keep an eye to ensure no fat is at risk of dripping off the muffin tin. Now that I say it, it’s probably best to stick to a leaner cut of meat for this recipe.

Related: 30 Macro Friendly Ground Beef Recipes and 25 Healthy Ground Chicken Recipes

Breadcrumb Substitutes

If you need a gluten free option, others have successfully used gluten free breadcrumbs as well as crushed tortillas chips or chicharrones (pork rinds).

How to Make These Healthy Cheeseburger Cups (Video)

Check out the video below for a look at how easy these cheeseburger bites are to make.

What to Serve with Your Burger Bites

I’ll mention a few higher protein side dishes or appetizers below, but my Wingstop Fries recipe, Air Fryer Carrot Fries, and Five Guys Cajun Fries recipes were the first that came to mind. If you’re unfamiliar with Wingstop fries, that’s okay. All you need to know is that they’re sweet, salty, and some of the tastiest fries you’ll find. And my version is a much lower calorie version that can be baked or air fried.

More recipes to pair with your cheeseburger bites: 

• Balsamic Roasted Air Fryer Carrots
• Crispy Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
• Ninja Foodi Sweet Potato Fries
• Air Fryer Roasted Carrots and Potatoes
• Homemade Crinkle Cut Fries
• The Best Air Fried Green Beans

And if you need a burger sauce, check out my spin on ShackSauce in my copycat Shake Shack burgers or the sauce from my low carb bacon cheeseburger skillet.

Final Notes

All righty, that’s all ya need to know. When you try these healthy cheeseburger bites, I want to hear about it. Take a picture of your creation and tag me on Instagram and I’ll be sure to share it with the world! I also appreciate feedback (good or bad) in the form of recipe reviews. Let me know how I can make this recipe or future recipes better.