Hesburger Cheeseburger Copycat with Cucumber Mayo

The Hesburger cheeseburger (Juustohampurilainen in Finnish) is a soft bun with a 100% beef patty, cheddar, fresh yellow onion and spiced pickled cucumber slices, dressed with ketchup, mustard and Hesburger’s own cucumber mayonnaise, according to the official Hesburger product page (checked October 17, 2026). The cucumber mayo is the whole point. Without it you have an ordinary cheeseburger. With it you get something sweet, sharp and faintly spiced that I haven’t found on any American chain’s cheeseburger. My copycat below makes 4 burgers in about an hour, and most of that hour is the sauce resting in the fridge.

What’s in the Hesburger cheeseburger

The official Hesburger cheeseburger has 7 components on a soft bun: beef patty, cheddar, onion, spiced cucumber, ketchup, mustard and cucumber mayonnaise. Hesburger’s Finnish product page lists them as follows:

• Bun: soft burger bun
• Patty: 100% beef
• Cheese: 1 slice of cheddar
• Onion: fresh yellow onion
• Pickles: spiced cucumber slices (maustekurkku)
• Sauces: ketchup, mustard and cucumber mayonnaise (kurkkumajoneesi)

Hesburger doesn’t publish the weight of the patty or the bun, so every weight in my recipe below is my own estimate.

Hesburger cheeseburger allergens

The Hesburger cheeseburger contains wheat, egg (in the mayonnaise), mustard and milk, and may contain sesame, according to the official product page. Recipes can vary by country, so check your local menu if you have an allergy.

Hesburger cheeseburger nutrition facts

One Hesburger cheeseburger in Finland has 385 kcal and 17.1 g of protein. These are Hesburger’s official figures for its own burger. They don’t apply to my homemade version.

Hesburger cheeseburger calories in Finland: 385 kcal for the single Juustohampurilainen and 527 kcal for the double Tuplajuustohampurilainen (official Hesburger figures). (Chart: Burger Breton, data from hesburger.fi product pages (checked 2026-10-17), rendered with QuickChart, 800×400)

How much does a Hesburger cheeseburger cost?

A Hesburger cheeseburger costs around €3.50 in Finland, €8.10 as a meal (ateria) and €9.70 as a large meal. These figures come from an unofficial menu aggregator updated on August 25, 2026 (fastfoodsmenu.com). Prices vary from 1 restaurant to the next, so treat them as a guide, not a menu board.

Hesburger cheeseburger prices in Finland: about €3.50 on its own, €6.40 for the double, €8.10 as a meal and €9.70 as a large meal (unofficial aggregator, August 2026; prices vary by restaurant). (Chart: Burger Breton, data from fastfoodsmenu.com (updated 2026-08-25), rendered with QuickChart, 800×400; rebuild with localized labels per locale)

What is Hesburger’s cucumber mayo?

Hesburger’s cucumber mayonnaise is a rapeseed-oil mayo with about 10% preserved cucumber, sweetened and seasoned with onion, mustard seed, garlic, turmeric and red chili. It is the chain’s signature sauce. A 2017 profile in Food Chain Magazine reports that Hesburger makes its own mayonnaise, ketchup and dressings in a factory in Finland, and names cucumber and red pepper as its 2 flagship mayos.

The full ingredient list, as published by the Romanian consumer site Infocons, reads: rapeseed oil, water, preserved cucumber (10%), sugar, vinegar, onion, modified starch, spices (mustard seed, garlic, turmeric, red chili), thickener E415, preservative E202, red bell pepper, salt and flavoring.

The Finnish product page for the double cheeseburger lists rapeseed oil, pasteurized egg and 10% cucumber, so the formula probably differs a little from country to country. The exact recipe isn’t public. My version below is an interpretation built from those 2 ingredient lists, not the official sauce.

Hesburger cheeseburger vs McDonald’s cheeseburger: the ingredients

The Hesburger cheeseburger differs from the McDonald’s cheeseburger in 2 ways: it uses cheddar instead of American-style processed cheese, and it adds cucumber mayonnaise to the ketchup and mustard.

On paper they are cousins. The sauce is what separates them: the cucumber mayo brings fat and sweetness to soften the mustard, and a plain ketchup-and-mustard build has nothing like it. If you’re going to cook one of the 2 at home, cook this one. The McDonald’s version has nothing worth making from scratch.

Sources: Hesburger Finland and the McDonald’s UAE product page, both checked October 17, 2026. For what the American giant is launching this year, see our roundup of new McDonald’s burgers in 2026.

What is Hesburger? The Finnish burger chain’s story

Hesburger is a family-owned Finnish burger chain based in Turku, and the market leader in the Baltic states by number of restaurants. It began as a single grill kiosk. In 2025 the group made €569 million in revenue.

A Hesburger burger on a sesame bun with lettuce, cheese and pinkish mayonnaise, served on the chain’s red-and-blue branded wrapper. This is a real Hesburger burger photographed in 2008, not the plain cheeseburger in the recipe below. (Photo: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3997137)

From a Naantali kiosk to Turku in 1980

Hesburger was founded by Heikki Salmela, who opened the Kievarin grilli kiosk in Naantali in 1966, at the age of 20. The first restaurant under the Hesburger name opened in 1980 in Turku, in the Hansakortteli center on Kristiinankatu (Wikipedia, Yrittäjät). It is still a family business: Heikki Salmela is chairman and his son Kari Salmela is CEO.

The Hesburger restaurant at Tullikatu 8 in Naantali, Finland, the town where Heikki Salmela opened his Kievarin grilli kiosk in 1966, photographed in winter 2012. (Photo: Stefan Flöper, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18918277)

Hesburger in numbers

Hesburger made €327 million in revenue in Finland and €242 million abroad in 2025, for a total of €569 million. It employs about 6,000 people in Finland and 3,500 abroad, according to a company press release dated September 22, 2026. The same release counts 240 restaurants outside Finland, in 9 countries.

Is Hesburger bigger than McDonald’s in Finland?

Hesburger is the largest burger chain in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, with a bigger market share than McDonald’s, according to Wikipedia. That market-share figure dates from 2008, and I found no recent number to confirm it. The 2026 company release makes a narrower claim: Hesburger leads the Baltic states by number of restaurants.

Where can you eat Hesburger?

Outside Finland, Hesburger operates in countries including Lithuania (70 restaurants), Latvia (55) and Estonia (54), as listed in the September 2026 release. The same release gives these international milestones:

• 1995: Germany, its first market abroad
• 1996: Estonia
• 2016: Bulgaria
• 2024: Poland and Romania

Hesburger at Šķūņu iela 3 in Riga’s old town, Latvia, in June 2025: one of the chain’s 55 Latvian restaurants, with a guacamole burger advertised at €4.40 in the window. (Photo: Bdx, CC0 1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=169400065)

In Romania, the first restaurant was announced in March 2024 as a drive-thru at Crevedia Retail Park, near Bucharest (Bugetul). The chain has also pulled out of markets. It was in Syria from 2004 to 2006. In Iran, it opened in Tehran in April 2018 and was gone by October 2018 (Yle). Its withdrawal from Russia and Belarus was announced on March 29, 2022.

Hesburger adapts its menu to each market: kebab burgers in the Baltic states, ayran in Bulgaria and Romania, and different best-selling burgers and sauces from country to country. As far as I know, there is no Hesburger in the United States or the United Kingdom.

Is the cheeseburger the same in Finland, Estonia and Romania?

The Estonian Juustuburger has the same base as the Finnish one: beef patty, onion, cheddar, pickled cucumber, ketchup, mustard and cucumber mayonnaise, according to its listing on Wolt in Tallinn. I couldn’t check the cheeseburger on Hesburger’s local sites in Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland or Germany, so I won’t claim it is identical everywhere.

Heading to Finland? Our Helsinki burger page covers the city’s late-night grilli kiosks and the Kallio burger bars that compete with the chain.

Map of Hesburger’s markets: Finland, where it was founded (Naantali kiosk 1966, first Hesburger in Turku 1980), plus Lithuania (70 restaurants), Latvia (55), Estonia (54, since 1996), Germany (1995), Bulgaria (2016), Poland and Romania (2024). The marker shows Turku. (Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (iframe embed, 800×450; download a local static poster and overlay the country counts per locale))

Hesburger cheeseburger copycat recipe: ingredients

This copycat Hesburger cheeseburger recipe makes 4 burgers and takes about 1 hour, including 30 minutes of resting time for the cucumber mayo. Hesburger publishes no weights, so every quantity here is my own estimate, built to match the official ingredient list. If you can, make the sauce the night before.

Prep time: 20 minutes · Cook time: 10 minutes · Total time: 1 hour · Yield: 4 cheeseburgers

Cucumber mayo (about 200 g / 7 oz)

• 150 g (5.3 oz) mayonnaise made with rapeseed (canola) oil
• 20 g (0.7 oz) spiced pickled cucumber, finely chopped and squeezed dry (about 10% of the sauce, like the original)
• 10 g (0.35 oz) red bell pepper, very finely diced
• 1 tsp yellow onion, finely grated
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 pinch ground mustard seed
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 1 pinch ground turmeric
• 1 pinch red chili flakes
• 1 pinch salt

Cheeseburgers

• 4 soft burger buns, store-bought or homemade burger buns
• 400 g (14 oz) ground beef, 100% beef
• 4 slices mild cheddar
• ½ yellow onion, finely diced
• 12 slices spiced pickled cucumber (sweet-spiced pickles work best)
• Ketchup
• Yellow mustard
• Salt and pepper, for the patties (my choice; Hesburger doesn’t list seasoning)

Step by step: how to make a Hesburger cheeseburger at home

Make the cucumber mayo first so it can rest, then cook thin beef patties hot and fast, and assemble right away. The recipe has 6 steps.

1. Make the cucumber mayo

Mix the mayonnaise, chopped pickle, red pepper, grated onion, vinegar, sugar and spices in a bowl. Cover and chill for 30 minutes so the flavors blend. Squeeze the pickle hard in a clean towel before it goes in: in my tests, wet pickle turned the sauce runny by the next day. Taste, then add a pinch more sugar or chili if you like.

2. Prep the toppings

Finely dice the yellow onion and drain the pickle slices on paper towel. Have the cheddar, ketchup and mustard ready by the stove, because once the patties are cooked, assembly takes under a minute.

3. Shape the patties

Divide the beef into 4 portions of 100 g (3.5 oz) and press each into a thin patty about 1 cm (⅜ in) wider than the bun. Patties shrink as they cook. Season both sides with salt and pepper just before cooking.

4. Toast the buns

Toast the cut sides of the buns in a dry pan over medium heat for 30 to 60 seconds, until lightly golden. A toasted crumb keeps the sauces from soaking through.

5. Sear the patties and melt the cheddar

Heat a cast-iron pan to about 230 °C (450 °F) and sear the patties for 2 minutes without moving them. Flip, lay a slice of cheddar on each and cook for 1 more minute, until the cheese melts. Don’t press them with the spatula: a thin patty cooks through in 3 minutes anyway, and pressing only pushes the juice into the pan.

6. Assemble the cheeseburger

Spread cucumber mayo on the bottom bun, then add the patty with its cheddar, 3 pickle slices and a spoonful of diced onion. Add a line of ketchup and a line of mustard, then close with the top bun. The stacking order is my own, because Hesburger doesn’t publish its build.

My tips for a closer Hesburger match

The 2 things that matter most are the pickle and the cheese. Look for Finnish maustekurkku in Nordic or Baltic grocery shops. In a US or UK supermarket, bread-and-butter pickles are the closest substitute; plain dill pickles are too sour. Choose a mild cheddar sliced thin: an aged one fights the sauce.

For a double, cook 2 patties per bun and put cheddar on both. That’s Hesburger’s Tuplajuustohampurilainen, listed at 527 kcal, 29.3 g protein and 2.4 g salt on the official page. The same unofficial aggregator prices it at around €6.40 in Finland. If you like rebuilding chain burgers from outside the US, try our Burger King cheeseburger copycat recipe or the Japanese MOS Burger teriyaki burger recipe. You’ll find more chain copycats in our recipes section.

A double cheeseburger with melted cheddar and pickles on a sesame bun, served with fries. Illustrative photo taken at Free Rein in Chicago, not a Hesburger Tuplajuustohampurilainen. (Photo: Lou Stejskal, CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/63311602@N08/43024848775)

FAQ: Hesburger cheeseburger

What’s in a Hesburger cheeseburger?

A soft bun, a 100% beef patty, cheddar, fresh yellow onion and spiced pickled cucumber slices, with ketchup, mustard and cucumber mayonnaise, according to Hesburger Finland’s official product page.

What does Hesburger cucumber mayo taste like, and can I make it at home?

It’s a creamy rapeseed-oil mayo with about 10% preserved cucumber, a little sugar and vinegar, plus onion, mustard seed, garlic, turmeric and chili. The official recipe isn’t public, but you can get close by mixing mayonnaise with finely chopped spiced pickles, red pepper and those spices, as in the recipe above.

How many calories are in a Hesburger cheeseburger?

385 kcal (1,609 kJ) per burger in Finland, with 21.1 g fat, 30.5 g carbohydrates and 17.1 g protein, according to Hesburger’s official figures.

How much is a cheeseburger at Hesburger?

Around €3.50 in Finland, or €8.10 as a meal, according to an unofficial menu aggregator updated in August 2026. Prices vary by restaurant.

Who founded Hesburger and when?

Heikki Salmela opened his first grill kiosk, Kievarin grilli, in Naantali in 1966. The first Hesburger restaurant opened in Turku in 1980.

What’s the difference between the Hesburger and McDonald’s cheeseburgers?

Hesburger uses cheddar and adds cucumber mayonnaise. McDonald’s uses American-style processed cheese and no mayonnaise. Both use a 100% beef patty, onion, pickles, ketchup and mustard.

Is there a Hesburger in the US or the UK?

Not to my knowledge. Hesburger’s main markets are Finland and the Baltic states, and it also operates in countries including Germany, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.