Vegan McDonald’s Cheeseburgers – Thee Burger Dude

The classic little burger from McDonald’s, only we are making these VEGAN Cheeseburgers, identical (and better) than the original!

McDonald’s has been making these little cheeseburgers since the 1940s, and I started eating them 40 years later! In fact in the 90s, they would go on special for 39¢ every Wednesday and me and my pals would go gorge ourselves on them. I would typically eat about 7 – 10 of ’em and then feel awful of course.

Well, since we are making these Vegan Cheeseburgers, you won’t feel nearly as awful (though I don’t suggest you eat 10 of them either!)

why you’ll dig vegan mcdonald’s cheeseburgers

If like me, you grew up eating these and have a nostalgic soft spot for them, you’re sure to love these! I don’t know what it is, but something about the specific combination of pickles, onions, ketchup and mustard just take me back!

And since they are such simple little burgers, they are easy to make!

ingredients for a vegan mcDonald’s Cheeseburger

the buns

For the buns, you’re gonna wanna get some squishy white buns. Most commercially available buns in the US are accidentally plant-based, but some are specifically marked vegan.

Go for the smaller buns at the store, they should be about 3.5 inches. Bigger buns will go around 4.5 inches. I have a Vegan McDonald’s video where I go into more detail too!

Burger Patties

The burger patties at McDonald’s are quite small at 1.6 oz. So we are gonna want to make 2 ounce patties for our burgers. You can use something like Impossible or Beyond Meat, or whatever plant-based meat you like.

And if you don’t wanna use store-bought plant-based meat, check out my TVP BURGER RECIPE for a homemade burger patty.

Ketchup & Mustard

I normally don’t like ketchup on a burger, but paired with the mustard, onions and pickles, it’s a winner!

onions

I used to make these with fresh onions, but recently tried them out with the dehydrated and I gotta say, I think I prefer them! It’s what McDonald’s uses and to my tongue, it helps make it taste just like I remember!

Pickles

I’ve recently preferred cheap crappy pickles over something like Grillo’s when making these fast food copycat burgers. It just really nails the whole vibe of the burger, so just get some good ol’ neon green dill pickles!

Cheese

I highly recommend using Vegan American cheese if you can! I like the stuff by Follow Your Heart or Violife.

how to make a vegan mcDonald’s Cheeseburger

First, rehydrate the onions. I usually do a 1:2 ratio (so 1 Tbsp of onions to 2 Tbsp of water). Let them hydrate for about 10 minutes. You can drain any excess water too.

For the patties, I recommend weighing out 2 oz of plant-based meat and then rolling into a ball. Then form a patty with a cookie cutter that’s the size of your buns.

Or for something faster, use a burger iron or spatula to smash the balls into patties in between 2 pieces of burger paper.

You can toast your buns however you like, but I prefer a dry toast as I find this keeps the buns from getting soggy.

Add your burger patties to the pan / griddle and season with salt and pepper. Cook them for about 3 minutes. Then flip them, add a slice of American cheese, squirt a little water, cover to steam and melt the cheese.

Then add a piece of vegan american cheese, squirt some water in the pan, cover and melt the cheese for about a minute.

Assemble burger as follows from bottom to top: bun, burger patty, pickles, onions, ketchup and mustard!

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