Bacon King Copycat Recipe: How to Make Burger King's Bacon King

This Bacon King copycat recipe makes two burgers. Each one has two 4 oz (113 g) 80/20 beef patties grilled over open flame, six slices of crisp thick-cut smoked bacon, two slices of American cheese, ketchup and mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun. That follows the build Burger King announced when it launched the Bacon King in the United States on October 11, 2016. It is my homemade reproduction, not Burger King’s official recipe: the chain has never published its seasoning, sauces or cooking settings.

I’m Clara, and I cook the recipes on this site at home, with a kitchen scale, before they run. On this one, two things mattered more than I expected. Thin breakfast bacon went limp under the hot patties within a minute. And the eight-slice UK count buried the beef. Six thick-cut slices per burger is my pick, and the rest of this page explains why.

What’s on the Bacon King at Burger King?

The Bacon King is two flame-grilled quarter-pound beef patties, a heavy layer of crispy bacon, American cheese, ketchup and mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun. That is the build in Burger King’s US launch release of 2016, relayed by La Opinion and Meat+Poultry.

• Beef: two 100% beef quarter-pound patties (about 113 g raw each), flame-grilled.
• Bacon: six strips at the 2016 US launch.
• Cheese: American cheese, four slices according to the 2016 release.
• Sauces: ketchup and mayonnaise.
• Bun: soft sesame seed bun.
• No pickles, no lettuce, no onion, no mustard.

Alex Macedo, then president of Burger King North America, summed it up at launch: “Six strips of bacon, four slices of cheese and two big beefy flame-grilled patties.” The patties are the Whopper’s quarter-pounders, according to The Impulsive Buy. The old BK Stacker used smaller ones.

The US launch price was $5.99 for the sandwich and $7.99 as a small meal, per the 2016 release. In the UK, the March 2018 launch priced it at £5.89 on its own and £7.69 as a meal, according to The Star. Today’s prices vary by restaurant. I found no official current figure, so I’m not quoting one.

Official Bacon King vs this homemade version

Bacon and cheese counts change with the market and the year. My copycat picks a middle ground, and the table shows where each number comes from.

Element	US launch (Oct 2016)	UK launch (Mar 2018)	BK Estonia menu (checked Oct 2026)	My homemade version
Patties	2 × ¼ lb, flame-grilled	2 × ¼ lb	2 flame-grilled 100% beef	2 × 113 g (4 oz) 80/20 beef, charcoal or gas grill
Bacon	6 strips	8 thick-cut rashers	thick-cut smoked bacon (no count)	6 thick-cut smoked slices (8 for UK style)
Cheese	4 slices American (release); 2 per The Impulsive Buy	American cheese	melted American cheese	2 slices American (house choice)
Sauces	ketchup, mayo	ketchup, mayo	ketchup, mayo	15 g ketchup, 15 g mayo
Bun	sesame seed	sesame seed	sesame seed	sesame seed bun, toasted
Energy	1,040 kcal	about 1,000 kcal	1,087 kcal, 335 g burger	not measured

Sources: La Opinion and The Impulsive Buy for the US, The Star for the UK, and Burger King Estonia for the current European menu card.

Bacon slices per burger by market: 6 strips at the Bacon King’s US launch (2016), 8 rashers at the UK launch (2018), 8 on Spain’s limited The King Bacon (2017), 2 on France’s single-patty King Bacon, and 6 in this homemade version. (Chart: Burger Breton, CC BY 4.0; data from La Opinion/PR Newswire (2016), The Star (2018), Reason Why (2017), burgerking.fr (checked Oct 2026))

Cheese is where the sources disagree: the US release says four slices, The Impulsive Buy says two, and no official menu card I checked gives a number. I use two per burger. The bacon and beef already bring plenty of fat and salt, and with four slices the cheese started to drown out the smoke. Want the launch-day version? Go to four.

Bacon King copycat recipe: ingredients for 2 burgers

You need 452 g (just under 1 lb) of 80/20 ground beef, 12 slices of thick-cut smoked bacon, 4 slices of American cheese, 2 sesame seed buns, ketchup and mayonnaise. The quantities are my homemade choices built on the official composition.

• 452 g (just under 1 lb) ground beef, 20% fat, divided into four 113 g (4 oz) patties
• 12 slices thick-cut smoked bacon (6 per burger; 16 for the 2018 UK count)
• 4 slices American cheese (2 per burger; 8 for the 2016 US release count)
• 2 sesame seed hamburger buns
• 30 g (2 tbsp) ketchup, 15 g per burger
• 30 g (2 tbsp) mayonnaise, 15 g per burger
• Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper

Time: about 15 minutes of prep and 25 minutes of cooking, bacon included. Equipment: a charcoal or gas grill, a sheet pan with a wire rack, an instant-read thermometer.

Which bacon to buy for a Bacon King copycat

Buy thick-cut smoked bacon from the meat case, not thin breakfast strips. Burger King’s current menu cards say “thick-cut smoked bacon”, and thickness is what keeps the slices crisp rather than brittle under two hot patties. Burger King has never published the cut or the smoking method. Any good hickory- or applewood-smoked thick-cut bacon works.

Thick-cut smoked bacon rendering until crisp: cook it separately before the patties so the slices stay flat and crunchy under two hot quarter-pounders. (Photo: Lucas (Unsplash, https://unsplash.com/photos/crispy-bacon-strips-frying-in-a-pan-with-hot-oil-7oBtznwaP6o), Unsplash License, 5456×2885)

How to make a Bacon King at home, step by step

Cook the bacon first, grill the patties hot and fast, melt the cheese on the grill, then build the burger in under a minute so everything stays hot. The patty numbers match my homemade Whopper recipe, since both burgers use the same quarter-pound patty.

1. Bake the bacon until crisp

Lay the 12 slices on a wire rack set over a sheet pan and bake at 200 °C (400 °F) for 15 to 20 minutes, until deep brown and crisp. The fat drips through the rack, so the slices stay flat and stack neatly. Drain on paper towels. Keep warm.

A dozen bacon slices for two Bacon King copycats: crisp strips drained on the left, the next batch rendering in a cast-iron skillet on the right. (Photo: Dano (Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/36101697408@N01/234576052), CC BY 2.0, 1024×768)

2. Shape four quarter-pound patties

Divide the beef into four 113 g (4 oz) portions and press each into a patty about 1 cm (3/8 in) thick and slightly wider than the bun. It shrinks on the grill. A wide patty gives you the flat, edge-to-edge look of the original. Keep the patties in the fridge until the grill is ready.

3. Heat the grill to 230–260 °C (450–500 °F)

Set the grill for direct high heat, between 230 and 260 °C (450 and 500 °F), then clean and oil the grates. Direct flame gives the patties their charred, smoky edge, and that edge is what makes a Burger King burger taste like Burger King.

4. Grill the patties

Season both sides with salt and pepper just before they go on. Grill 2 to 3 minutes per side, flipping once, until an instant-read thermometer reads 71 °C (160 °F) in the center. Don’t press them. You lose juice, and the dripping fat makes the flames flare.

Flame-grilled beef patties over direct high heat (450–500 °F): open flame gives the charred, smoky edge that defines a Burger King burger. Flip once and pull at 160 °F in the center. (Photo: Andy Melton (trekkyandy, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/87054972@N00/250688866), CC BY-SA 2.0, 768×1024)

5. Melt the American cheese

Lay one slice of American cheese on each patty for the last 30 to 60 seconds and close the lid. American cheese melts smooth without splitting into oil and curd, which is why I don’t swap it here.

6. Toast the sesame buns

Put the buns cut side down on the edge of the grill for 30 to 60 seconds, until lightly golden. A toasted crumb holds up to the meat juices, the mayonnaise and the weight of two patties.

7. Assemble the Bacon King

Spread 15 g of ketchup on the bottom bun, add a cheese-topped patty and 3 slices of bacon, then the second patty and the last 3 slices. Spread 15 g of mayonnaise on the crown and close. Burger King doesn’t publish its stacking order. I settled on this one because it keeps the top bacon crisp and stops the stack from sliding. Eat right away.

Why this recipe tastes like the original Bacon King

This copycat stays close to the Bacon King because it keeps the four things every official description agrees on: quarter-pound flame-grilled patties, a lot of smoked bacon, American cheese, and ketchup plus mayonnaise with no pickles.

• Quarter-pound patties on direct flame. Same patty weight as the Whopper, and the grill char is the Burger King signature.
• Six slices of crisp bacon per burger. That is the 2016 US count, and in my tests it was the sweet spot: bacon becomes a main ingredient without hiding the beef.
• Ketchup and mayo only. Tasting Table notes the Bacon King swaps the mustard of BK’s Bacon Double Cheeseburger for mayonnaise and drops the pickles. Nothing sharp cuts the richness. That’s the point of this burger.
• American cheese. It melts into a creamy layer that binds the patties and bacon.

Plenty of copycats online get this wrong. The Just a Pinch version adds lettuce, onion and pickles with a French dressing sauce and no ketchup. None of that appears in Burger King’s own descriptions.

Tips for the best homemade bacon cheeseburger

The best homemade bacon cheeseburger comes from cold beef, a very hot grill and bacon cooked separately.

• Weigh the patties. Equal 113 g patties cook in the same time, so both reach 71 °C (160 °F) together.
• Cook the bacon in the oven, not on the grill. Bacon fat over open flame causes flare-ups. For another way to handle bacon on a burger, see my Whataburger Sweet and Spicy Bacon Burger copycat.
• Want more? For a double patty with bacon in the Whopper family, try my Ultimate Double Whopper copycat, or go bigger with the Triple Whopper with Cheese copycat.

Bacon King FAQ

How many slices of bacon are on a Bacon King?

Six strips at the US launch in October 2016, and eight thick-cut rashers at the UK launch in March 2018. Current menu cards, like Burger King Estonia’s, only say “thick-cut smoked bacon” with no count.

How many calories are in a Bacon King?

Burger King Estonia’s official menu card lists 1,087 kcal for a 335 g burger, with 71.3 g of fat and 59.6 g of protein (checked October 2026). The 2016 US figures were 1,040 kcal and 69 g of fat, per The Impulsive Buy, and the 2018 UK launch announced about 1,000 kcal. I could not confirm a current official US figure.

Bacon King calories by market: 1,040 kcal in the US in 2016, about 1,000 kcal at the 2018 UK launch, and 1,087 kcal for a 335 g burger on Burger King Estonia’s current menu card. No current official US figure is published. (Chart: Burger Breton, CC BY 4.0; data from The Impulsive Buy (2016), The Star (2018), burgerking.ee (checked Oct 2026))

What is the difference between the Bacon King and the Baconator?

The Bacon King is Burger King’s answer to Wendy’s Baconator: Burger King launched it in October 2016 to go after the same bacon-heavy double cheeseburger crowd. What sets Burger King’s version apart is the patty. It uses two flame-grilled quarter-pounders, the same ones as the Whopper, so it carries the char and smoke that BK builds its menu around.

How is the Bacon King different from Burger King’s Bacon Double Cheeseburger?

The Bacon King has bigger patties, much more bacon, mayonnaise instead of mustard, and no pickles, according to Tasting Table.

Burger King’s Bacon Double Cheeseburger, the smaller sibling: thinner patties, a single strip of bacon, mustard and pickles. The Bacon King swaps in quarter-pound patties, a stack of bacon and mayo. (Photo: Willis Lam (Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burger\_King\_Double\_Bacon\_Cheeseburger\_close\_up\_(30596371153).jpg), CC BY-SA 2.0, 1600×1200)

Is the Bacon King the same as the King Bacon in France or Spain?

No. Burger King France sells the “King Bacon”, a different burger with one patty, an herb sauce, two slices of smoked bacon, one slice of cheddar-style cheese and pickles, per burgerking.fr. In Spain, “The King Bacon” was a limited edition sold from March 30 to June 5, 2017, with eight slices of bacon, according to Reason Why.

What patty weight should I use for a Bacon King copycat?

Use two 113 g (4 oz) patties of 80/20 ground beef per burger. That is the quarter-pound size of the original, which uses the Whopper’s patties.

Does the 2026 Whopper update change the Bacon King?

Burger King hasn’t said. On February 26, 2026, Burger King US announced a new Whopper bun, a creamier mayonnaise and a hinged box, with the patty unchanged (see our Burger King Whopper 2026 news). Whether the new bun and mayo reach the Bacon King is still unconfirmed.

How do I get the flame-grilled taste without a grill?

A cast-iron skillet or grill pan heated until very hot gives you a dark sear, but not the smoky char of open flame. If you can, use a charcoal or gas grill at 230–260 °C (450–500 °F). It’s the one step I wouldn’t skip.

Find more fast-food copycats and burger techniques in the Burger Breton recipes section.