Shake Shack Avocado Bacon Burger Copycat Recipe

To make a Shake Shack Avocado Bacon Burger copycat at home, smash a cold 4 oz (113 g) ball of beef on a hot griddle and top it with American cheese. Then add crisp applewood-smoked bacon, fanned avocado and ShackSauce on a buttered, toasted potato roll. This is my homemade reproduction, not Shake Shack’s official recipe. The chain has published the burger’s components plus home versions of its patty method and sauce. It keeps the portion weights, the beef blend formula and the restaurant sauce to itself.

What is in the Shake Shack Avocado Bacon Burger?

The Shake Shack Avocado Bacon Burger is a cheeseburger topped with freshly sliced avocado, applewood-smoked bacon and ShackSauce. That is how Shake Shack described it at its US launch in April 2021, when it named Niman Ranch as the bacon supplier (Hypebeast, ABC News). At the time, Fox Business described Niman Ranch as a network of more than 740 small family farms (Fox Business).

Underneath, it is a ShackBurger. The patty is a cold 4 oz ball of a Pat LaFrieda beef blend, smashed on a very hot flat-top. The bun is a Martin’s Potato Roll, buttered and toasted on the cut side only. The cheese is American, and it is done when its corners melt and droop (Fox News, Tasting Table). I already rebuilt that base in my ShackBurger copycat recipe. This page is about what changes: avocado, bacon and the order you stack them.

Is the Avocado Bacon Burger still on the Shake Shack menu?

In the US, the Avocado Bacon Burger has only ever run as a limited-time item, and I could not confirm on an official source that it is on the menu in October 2026. It launched in every US Shack on April 7, 2021, from $7.89, and ran until June 30, 2021. It came back briefly from March 17 to April 7, 2025. During that window Shake Shack gave it away free with any purchase of $10 or more using the code SHOWDOWN, and put its regular price at $10 to $11 depending on the location (Nation’s Restaurant News).

Avocado itself stayed. In 2021, Shake Shack made it a permanent add-on for every burger and sandwich at $1.25, calling it one of its most requested ingredients (ABC News). No Avocado Bacon Burger on your local board? Ask for avocado and bacon as extras on a ShackBurger. It is the same burger in all but name.

Avocado Bacon Burger versions by market

Shake Shack sells this burger differently in each market, and the Malaysian version swaps the pork bacon for smoked beef.

Hong Kong figures come from Hypebeast and The Mil Source; the Malaysian version from Hype Malaysia. All sources were checked on October 29, 2026.

Shake Shack at IFC Mall, Hong Kong: the city where the Shake Shack Avocado Bacon Burger has been on the permanent menu since March 28, 2024 (HK$74 single, HK$99 double). Photo taken in October 2018, before the burger launched there. (Photo: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shake\_Shack\_at\_IFC\_Mall\_Hong\_Kong\_(20181005113904).jpg)

Avocado bacon burger recipe: ingredients for 2 burgers

This avocado bacon burger recipe makes two single burgers and a full batch of ShackSauce, with every quantity in ounces and grams. The beef and butter follow Shake Shack’s published home method, halved for two. The sauce is the full published batch, because halving a 1/4 teaspoon of brine is pointless. The bacon and avocado amounts are my own choices, since Shake Shack has never published them.

For the burgers

• 8 oz (227 g) ground beef, 80/20, very cold
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 slices American cheese
• 2 potato rolls (Martin’s if you can find them)
• 2 tbsp (28 g) butter, melted
• 4 strips applewood-smoked bacon
• 1 ripe Hass avocado

For the ShackSauce (published home version)

• 1/2 cup (about 110 g / 3.9 oz) Hellmann’s mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3/4 to 1 tsp Heinz ketchup
• 1/4 tsp kosher dill pickle brine
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

The 80/20 beef is a common copycat choice, not official data. Pat LaFrieda’s fat ratio has never been published; Tasting Table only reports that the blend has no added trimmings. The ketchup range comes from the sources themselves: Tasting Table’s printing of the 2017 cookbook gives 3/4 tsp, Time Out New York’s 2020 version gives 1 tsp (Tasting Table, Time Out New York). I use 3/4 tsp. Any more and the ketchup starts to cover the Dijon, which is the whole point of the sauce.

No Martin’s in your store? My colleague Clara’s homemade burger buns recipe gives a soft bun that toasts the same way.

Step by step: how to make the copycat

Make the sauce, cook the bacon, toast the buns, then slice the avocado last. Smash and assemble while the cheese is still molten.

1. Mix the ShackSauce

Whisk the mayonnaise, Dijon, ketchup, pickle brine and cayenne in a small bowl and refrigerate it while you cook. Shake Shack itself says this published sauce is a close home version, not its secret formula. You will have more than two burgers need; it keeps for a few days in a sealed jar in the fridge.

2. Cook the bacon until crisp

Lay the bacon in a cold skillet, set it over medium heat and cook, turning a few times, until crisp and flat. Starting cold lets the fat render slowly, so the strips stay straight. That matters here: they have to lie flat on a patty, not curl off it. Drain on paper towels and pour off most of the fat, leaving a thin film in the pan.

3. Shape cold beef pucks

Divide the beef into two 4 oz (113 g) portions and pack each into a loose puck about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Keep them in the fridge until the second they hit the pan. Shake Shack’s book insists on very cold beef because it holds together when smashed and stays juicy.

4. Toast the buns

Brush the cut sides of the rolls with the melted butter and toast them cut side down in a cast-iron skillet for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden. Only the inside gets toasted, as in the published method, so the outside stays soft.

5. Slice the avocado

Halve the avocado, remove the pit and cut each half into slices about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick, then fan one half per burger. I slice it last, right before the beef goes in, so it has no time to brown. Pick an avocado that yields to gentle pressure. An overripe one turns to mush and slides straight off the bacon.

6. Smash the patties

Season the pucks with salt and pepper, set them in the cast iron over medium heat and press each one firmly to about 1/3 inch (8 mm) with a stiff metal spatula. Then leave them alone for 2 minutes 30 seconds. No nudging, no peeking: that undisturbed contact is what builds the brown crust.

7. Flip and melt the cheese

Scrape under each patty so the crust comes with it, flip, lay a slice of American cheese on top and cook 1 more minute for medium. The cheese is ready when its corners melt and droop over the edge. For doneness and safe internal temperatures of a smashed patty, see my colleague Clara’s burger patty internal temperature guide.

8. Assemble the burger

Build from the bottom: bottom bun, cheeseburger patty, two strips of bacon broken in half, fanned avocado, then the top bun spread with a generous tablespoon of ShackSauce. Shake Shack has not published its stacking order, so this one is mine. The melted cheese glues the bacon down, and the sauce on the top bun holds the avocado instead of letting it skate off.

Avocado burger at home: keeping avocado green and in place

Browning and sliding are the two problems with any avocado burger at home, and timing and placement solve both. Slice the avocado after the bacon and buns are done so it reaches the burger within minutes of being cut. Fan thin slices instead of stacking a thick wedge, because overlapping slices grip each other and the sauce. And keep the avocado off the hot cheese. Between the bacon and the sauced top bun it stays cool and stays put.

An avocado bacon cheeseburger with avocado slices, melted cheese, a grilled beef patty, tomato and lettuce on a toasted bun, served with pineapple smoothies at Kuti’s for ¥650. Illustrative photo: not a Shake Shack burger and not the copycat in this recipe. (Photo: Kyle T. Ramirez, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avocado\_bacon\_cheeseburger\_and\_pineapple\_smoothie.jpg)

Original vs. homemade: how the copycat compares

My copycat matches the original on every published component and fills the unpublished gaps with stated choices.

Why this copycat stays close to the original

This copycat stays close because its core is Shake Shack’s own published method, not guesswork. Randy Garutti and Mark Rosati printed the patty weight, the smash thickness, the timing (2½ minutes before the flip, 1 minute after) and the buttered, toasted bun in Shake Shack: Recipes & Stories (2017). The sauce is the version the chain shared for home cooks. The guesswork is limited to bacon count, avocado thickness and build order, and I have flagged each one.

My opinion: the bacon decides whether this works, not the avocado. Floppy bacon tears out in the first bite and drags the avocado with it. Cook it until it snaps, keep the avocado thin, and the burger holds together to the last bite.

If you like bacon on a smashed patty, compare it with my Five Guys bacon burger copycat and Alice’s Sonic All-American Bacon Smasher copycat. More copycats and techniques live in the recipes section.

Shake Shack Avocado Bacon Burger FAQ

What exactly is on the Shake Shack Avocado Bacon Burger?

A beef cheeseburger topped with freshly sliced avocado, applewood-smoked bacon and ShackSauce on a potato bun. In the US, the 2021 launch named Niman Ranch as the bacon supplier. In Malaysia, the Avocado Burger uses applewood-smoked streaky beef instead.

Is the Avocado Bacon Burger still available, and where?

Hong Kong added it to its permanent menu on March 28, 2024, at HK$74 for a single and HK$99 for a double. In the US, it ran as a limited-time item in 2021 and again in a March–April 2025 promotion. I could not confirm on an official source that it is on US or UK menus in October 2026. Malaysia rolled out a beef-bacon Avocado Burger nationwide from January 2, 2025.

Did Shake Shack publish the ShackSauce recipe?

Yes, a home version. The 2017 cookbook Shake Shack: Recipes & Stories gives mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, ketchup, dill pickle brine and cayenne, and Shake Shack shared it again in April 2020. The chain says it is close to, but not the same as, the sauce used in its restaurants.

What patty weight and fat ratio should I use?

Use a 4 oz (113 g) cold ball of beef, Shake Shack’s published patty size. The fat ratio of the Pat LaFrieda blend is not published. 80/20 is the usual copycat choice because it stays juicy when smashed thin.

Can I make it without pork?

Yes. Shake Shack Malaysia does exactly that, with applewood-smoked streaky beef in place of pork bacon. Use a smoked beef bacon and cook it the same way, until crisp.

How many calories are in the Avocado Bacon Burger?

I could not find an official, dated nutrition figure for it. Unofficial calorie sites disagree with each other by dozens of calories, so I am not quoting any of them.

What allergens does it contain?

Shake Shack’s official allergen chart (April 2024) lists milk, egg, wheat, soy and sesame for the single Avocado Bacon Burger. My copycat contains the same families through the cheese, mayonnaise, bun and butter; check your own bun’s label for sesame and soy.

Where can I eat a real Shake Shack burger?

Shake Shack operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, among other markets. Our guides cover Shake Shack in Shanghai and the Covent Garden Shack in our best burgers in London guide. For the chain’s history and figures, see the Shake Shack brand profile.

Map of the countries with Shake Shack restaurants, shown in green, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong (China), Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. The map may not show the latest openings. (Map: Daniel.9, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shake\_Shack\_world\_map.svg)