Copycat Chili's Big Mouth Bites Recipe

Chili's burgers are all called "Big Mouth," perhaps because you practically have to unhinge your jaw to wrap it around some of the larger ones. Big Mouth Bites, though, are for those who prefer to nibble rather than chomp. While these are essentially bacon cheeseburger sliders, developer Patterson Watkins tells us, "What makes them extra special and different from your average burger are those little restaurant-quality touches." In her copycat recipe, she hits on every single one — the chopped-to-fit bacon bits, the buttery sauteed onions, and best of all, the homemade ranch dressing made with Chili's secret ingredient: pickle juice.

Watkins, a fan of this versatile condiment, tells us, "I hardly ever buy store-bought ranch dressing, opting to make my own, when I'm in the mood." Once you find out how easy it is to make this DIY dressing, and more importantly, just how great it tastes, you may adopt a similar policy. In fact, we'd advise making a double batch of this ranch so you'll not only have extra for your burgers, but will also have leftovers for dipping your fries, dunking your carrot sticks, and drizzling on your salads. 

The burgers are made with ground beef seasoned with salt and pepper, while you'll need butter, a yellow onion, bacon, and American cheese to top them as well as slider rolls to keep everything together. As for the ranch dressing, that's made from mayonnaise, sour cream, dill pickle juice, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried parsley.

To make the dressing, place the mayonnaise, sour cream, pickle juice, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and parsley in a medium bowl.

Whisk to combine, cover, and refrigerate until ready to assemble the sliders.

Warm a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Once hot, add the bacon.

Cook the bacon until crispy, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon from the skillet, and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate.

Add the butter to the skillet.

Once the butter has melted, add the onions, and cook until tender and golden, about 10 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the onions, and set aside on the plate with the bacon.

Meanwhile, season the portioned ground beef with salt and pepper.

Add the beef to the skillet and sear for 1 minute.

Using a spatula, firmly press the balls into patties, and continue to cook for 2 minutes.

Flip the patties and cook for 2 minutes more, or until the burgers are cooked through.

Remove the patties from the skillet and set aside on a paper-towel lined plate to drain.

Tear the American cheese slices into quarters, top the burgers with 2 pieces each, and let the residual heat from the patties melt the cheese.

Meanwhile, spoon a tablespoon of ranch dressing onto the bottom buns.

Top the ranch dressing with bacon and onions.

Place the burger patty over the bacon and onions.

Spoon a tablespoon of ranch dressing onto the top bun before capping the burgers and serving.

While these sliders are a pretty close duplicate of Chili's own Big Mouth Bites with their toppings of American cheese, bacon, browned onions, and ranch dressing, the restaurant's menu offers an entire range of full-sized Big Mouth Burgers all waiting to be sliderized. Want Bacon Rancher Bites? Just add pickles to this recipe. Big Smasher Bites? These are made with Thousand Island instead of ranch dressing and topped with onions, lettuce, and tomatoes rather than bacon and sauteed onions.

To make Just Bacon Bites, you'd swap the American cheese in this recipe for cheddar, while for Mushroom Swiss Bites you'd add (no surprise) Swiss cheese and sauteed mushrooms. If you're a fan of spicy foods, you could even make Santa Fe Bites with pepper jack cheese, chopped avocado, cilantro, jalapeños, pickles, and red onion. If you want spicy Santa Fe sauce, too, you can swap out the pickle juice in the ranch dressing for lime juice and replace the parsley with a pinch of paprika and another of chili powder.

If you'll be dining on duplicate Big Mouth Bites, what could be better to pair them with than a few other copycat Chili's recipes? If you plan on eating the sliders as a main meal, then an appetizer wouldn't come amiss, and you can't do much better than Chili's chicken, bean, and cheese-stuffed Southwest Egg Rolls. Be sure to make some extra ranch dressing for this recipe, since you'll mix it with guacamole to make the avocado dipping sauce. For another Tex-Mex-inspired appetizer, try serving beef queso with a side of tortilla chips (make some Chili's-style salsa, too, while you're at it), or go with a bowl of chicken enchilada soup. If you're expecting guests and want to impress, though, you can always try the Awesome Blossom because this whole fried onion really lives up to its name.

If the Big Mouth Bites will be an appetizer, though, we have a few Chili's copycat entrees, as well. The Quesadilla Explosion Salad is pretty much a meal on a plate complete with honey-lime vinaigrette, but the chicken crispers need one extra ingredient to take them over the top — you guessed it, more of Watkin's copycat Chili's ranch!