Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger Copycat Recipe

This Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger copycat recipe makes two burgers at home. Each one has two thin, pressed patties of plain 80/20 beef cooked well done to 160°F (71°C) on a dry griddle, two slices of American cheese, crispy smoked bacon and a dry-toasted sesame bun, all wrapped in foil for 60 seconds. Five Guys does not publish its recipe, so this is my reconstruction. Below, I mark which details come from the chain, which come from the food press and which are my own choices. My verdict up front: at home, the two-patty version is the one to make. With a single 100 g patty, the bacon takes over. With two, the beef crust holds its own.

What comes on a Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger?

A Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger is two fresh beef patties with American-style cheese and crispy Applewood smoked bacon on a toasted sesame seed bun, plus any of 15 free toppings you choose. That is how the official US burger menu describes it: “Fresh patties hot off the grill with American-style cheese and crispy Applewood smoked bacon. Placed on a soft, toasted sesame seed bun. Add as many toppings as you want.” The US menu lists it at 1,060 calories before toppings.

The menu also says where the cheese goes. Five Guys describes its Cheeseburger as “American-style cheese melted between fresh patties”, so the cheese sits between the two patties. Where the bacon goes is not published anywhere. In my recipe, its position is my own call.

The bacon is not one of the free toppings. It costs extra, which is why the Bacon Cheeseburger has its own line on the menu. Five Guys’ US site calls it “strips of crispy Applewood smoked bacon from one of America’s last smokehouses”, without naming the smokehouse (source).

Bacon Cheeseburger vs Little Bacon Cheeseburger

The Bacon Cheeseburger has two patties and the Little Bacon Cheeseburger has one. Everything else is identical: cheese, bacon, bun and free toppings. This page covers the full two-patty burger. For the one-patty version, see my Five Guys Little Bacon Cheeseburger copycat recipe. The Little is the burger Tasting Table ranked the best fast-food bacon cheeseburger out of eight chains in December 2025, praising its “perfectly crispy and crackly” bacon. I see why. At the counter, the Little is the more balanced bite. At home, where the bacon tends to come out thicker and saltier than the chain’s, the second patty brings the balance back.

Here is how the four regular Five Guys burgers compare on the US menu, before toppings:

Source: Five Guys US burger menu, checked October 19, 2026. Subtract one line from another and the bacon adds about 80 calories to the Hamburger’s 840, the cheese about 140. To make the same burger without bacon, use my Five Guys Cheeseburger copycat.

Bar chart: calories of the four regular two-patty Five Guys burgers before toppings, US menu checked October 19, 2026. Hamburger 840 Cal, Bacon Burger 920 Cal, Cheeseburger 980 Cal, Bacon Cheeseburger 1,060 Cal. Bacon adds 80 calories and cheese 140. (Chart: Burger Breton (original chart), data from Five Guys US burger menu, https://www.fiveguys.com/menu/burgers/)

What Five Guys confirms and what this recipe reconstructs

Five Guys confirms the main components, not the quantities. Patty weight, the number of cheese slices and bacon strips, and the stacking order all come from press reports or from my own kitchen choices. Here is where each detail comes from:

Ingredients for 2 Five Guys bacon cheeseburgers

These quantities make two double-patty burgers. The benchmarks are the same as in my Little Bacon Cheeseburger recipe, with the beef doubled.

• 400 g (14 oz) cold 80/20 ground beef, unsalted, divided into 4 balls of 100 g (3.5 oz)
• 4 slices American cheese, deli style (2 per burger)
• 4 to 6 slices regular-cut smoked bacon (applewood smoked if you can find it)
• 2 soft sesame seed buns
• Toppings of your choice: mayo, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, raw onions, grilled mushrooms, jalapeños, green peppers, ketchup, mustard, relish, barbecue sauce, hot sauce or A1 sauce
• Aluminum foil, 2 sheets

I settled on 100 g (3.5 oz) per ball because it sits between the two press figures: 94 g from Mashed, 99 to 105 g from Food Republic. Do not salt the beef. Five Guys France states that its beef contains no spices, and Mashed reports that nothing at all goes on the patties.

To bake the buns yourself, start from my colleague Clara’s homemade burger buns recipe and sprinkle sesame seeds on top before baking.

Equipment, times and temperatures

You need a flat griddle or a large cast-iron skillet, a stiff metal spatula or burger press, parchment squares, an instant-read thermometer and foil.

Total cooking time is about 15 minutes if the bacon cooks while the griddle heats. The griddle temperature, bacon timing and foil time are my own kitchen benchmarks, not Five Guys data.

How to make a Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger at home, step by step

Cook the bacon first, then smash the patties and cook them hard and well done, and assemble fast so the burger goes into the foil hot.

1. Portion and chill the beef

Divide 400 g (14 oz) of cold, unsalted 80/20 beef into four 100 g (3.5 oz) balls and keep them in the fridge until the griddle is hot. Cold fat holds the patty together when you smash it. According to Food Republic, Five Guys restaurants have no freezers, so the beef is never frozen.

2. Cook the bacon from a cold pan

Lay 4 to 6 bacon slices in a cold skillet, then turn the heat to medium. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, turning now and then, until they are crisp and crackly. Drain on paper towels. Cooking the bacon in its own pan keeps the griddle clean for the beef.

Six strips of regular-cut smoked bacon browning in their own rendered fat in a skillet, seen from above: cook the bacon separately from a cold pan for 8 to 10 minutes until crisp, before the patties go on the dry griddle (2177×2180). (Photo: Joy, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bacon\_in\_a\_pan\_(cooked).jpg)

3. Heat a dry griddle

Heat the griddle or cast-iron skillet to about 400°F (205°C) at the surface, with no oil. Chowhound reports that the Five Guys griddle is greased only by the juices from the meat. Plenty of copycats add olive oil. Skip it: 80/20 beef releases enough fat within seconds, and oil gives the crust a fried taste that the original does not have.

4. Toast the buns dry

Split the buns and toast the cut sides on a dry surface over medium-low heat until golden. A second pan helps here: the buns toast gently while the griddle stays hot and clear for the beef. Set them aside cut side up.

5. Smash and cook the patties

Place each ball between two squares of parchment, press it flat with a metal press or spatula, then put it on the hot griddle. When the edges turn grey, flip and press again. Keep flipping over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes in total, until the center reaches 160°F (71°C). Food Republic describes the same sequence in Five Guys kitchens: flattened between paper, pressed, then pressed once more after the flip. Tasting Table reports about one minute on the griddle before the first flip. Press harder than feels right. In my tests, the thinner patties came out with a crust much closer to the one at the counter.

6. Melt the cheese between the patties

After the last flip, lay one slice of American cheese on each patty and let it melt for a few seconds. Then stack two patties cheese to cheese, the stacking Mashed describes. The cheese ends up melted between the patties, as on the official Cheeseburger.

7. Add the bacon and assemble

Put the patty stack on the bottom bun, lay 2 to 3 strips of bacon on top, then add your toppings and the top bun. I put the bacon above the patties for a practical reason: there it stays crisp, while under the beef it steams and slides out at the first bite.

8. Wrap in foil for 60 seconds

Wrap each burger tightly in foil and wait 60 seconds before opening it. The steam softens the toasted bun and finishes melting the cheese. Don’t skip it. Unwrapped, my burger had a crisp, dry bun that felt like a diner burger. After a minute in foil, it had the soft, slightly squashed bun you get at the counter.

A Five Guys bacon cheeseburger just unwrapped, cheese oozing between the patties, sitting on its crumpled aluminum foil next to fresh-cut fries. The 60-second foil wrap at the end of the recipe steams the sesame bun soft like this (1024×768). (Photo: Martin Bowling (martinbowling), CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/22333927@N06/6332366133)

Original vs homemade: how the copycat compares

The homemade version copies the method closely. The differences come from what you can buy at the supermarket.

Why this recipe tastes like the original

This copycat tastes like Five Guys because it sticks to what every source agrees on: unseasoned beef, heavy pressing, well-done cooking. A thin patty pressed on a dry, hot surface builds a wide browned crust. With no salt or spices, the beef, cheese and bacon carry all the flavor, and the bacon brings the salt.

Most copycats online salt and pepper the beef, cook it in oil, caramelize onions for 25 to 30 minutes or leave the patties thick. Each of those makes a good burger. None of them makes a Five Guys burger. I tried salting the beef once out of habit, and with the bacon on top, the burger turned salty and lost the clean beef taste of the original. For onions, use the grilled onions from the free toppings list, cooked for a few minutes on the griddle.

Why 160°F? My colleague Clara’s burger patty internal temperature guide explains the USDA threshold for ground beef, which is also the temperature Five Guys cooks to.

Five Guys bacon in other countries

The bacon changes from country to country, so a copycat can only match one market. The US and Spanish menus both describe it as applewood smoked: Five Guys España calls the burger “Hamburguesa con queso y beicon” with “crujiente beicon ahumado con madera de manzano”. The Belgian ingredient list (September 2025) describes pork cured with salt, sugar and sodium nitrite, with no mention of smoking, and a cheddar-based processed cheese. Five Guys France keeps the English name “Bacon Cheeseburger”. I could not confirm what bacon the French restaurants use, so I leave France out.

Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger FAQ

How many calories are in a Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger?

The US menu lists 1,060 calories before toppings. Each topping adds to that. The figure is for the US and may differ in other countries.

How many slices of bacon and cheese does Five Guys use?

Five Guys does not say. Its menu only mentions “strips” of bacon and “American-style cheese”. Delivery listings and older descriptions mention two slices of Kraft American and two strips of bacon, but Five Guys has not confirmed this.

Does Five Guys season its burgers?

No. Mashed reports “no salt, no pepper, no onion powder — nothing”, and Five Guys France states that its beef contains no spices.

How much does a Five Guys patty weigh?

Five Guys does not publish an official weight. Mashed reports 3.3 oz (94 g) per ball of raw beef, and Food Republic reports 3.5 to 3.7 oz (99 to 105 g).

Can you order a Five Guys burger medium-rare?

No. According to Tasting Table, Five Guys cooks every patty well done, to an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C).

What does “All the Way” mean at Five Guys?

The phrase is commonly used for mayo, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup and mustard. Five Guys’ official toppings page does not define it, and other lists, such as Tasting Table’s, vary slightly. All 15 toppings are free.

Can I get extra bacon for free?

Sometimes. Chowhound reports that US customers can get extra bacon or cheese at no charge by asking at the counter. It does not work for online or delivery orders.

Why does Five Guys wrap burgers in foil?

The foil traps steam for about a minute, which softens the toasted bun and finishes melting the cheese. Mashed reports a wrap time of about 60 seconds.

Is Five Guys bacon pork, and is there a halal version?

The Belgian ingredient list describes the bacon as pork. None of the sources I used mentions a halal bacon. If you need halal, leave the bacon off and order a Cheeseburger.

Is this the official Five Guys recipe?

No. This is a homemade reproduction based on Five Guys’ menu descriptions, its published ingredient information and press reports about its kitchens. The bun recipe and the exact specifications are not public.

More bacon burgers and where to try the original

For another bacon double, my colleague Alice has a Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger copycat and a Son of Baconator copycat recipe, and Clara has a Bacon King copycat recipe. To taste the real thing before you cook, see our guides to Five Guys in Pittsburgh, Five Guys London Covent Garden and Five Guys Leeds. Every copycat is in the recipes section.