What is Tsukimi Burger?
The Tsukimi Burger was created by McDonald’s Japan in 1991. It was inspired by the Autumn custom of “Otsukimi,” also known in English as “moon viewing” or the Japanese mid-Autumn festival. Since then, the burger has been offered every year around September / October and is one of McDonald’s most anticipated and well-loved seasonal items.
In fact, it is so popular that McDonald’s restaurants in Japan have people lining up to get their hands on it every Autumn!
The ingredient that makes this burger relevant to otsukimi is the fact that it features a round egg that resembles the moon. Other than that, it’s a pretty simple burger made with a beef patty topped with bacon and a punchy sauce. There’s also a cheese Tsukimi burger, which is the one that inspired my recipe.
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Streaky Bacon: Choose thin, fatty bacon for its rich flavor and texture. Lean bacon is not recommended for this recipe.
- Burger Buns: Any standard burger buns that you usually use are suitable.
- Egg: Medium-sized eggs are used in this recipe, but small or large eggs can be substituted as needed.
- Cheddar Cheese: A classic choice, though Gouda or other cheeses can be substituted for different flavors.
- Patty Ingredients: Combine beef end cuts, panko breadcrumbs soaked in milk, ground beef, ground pork, a hint of nutmeg, salt, pepper, and a bit of olive oil for cooking.
- Tsukimi Burger Sauce: Mix Japanese mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, a pinch of salt, lemon juice, white pepper, and paprika powder to create a flavorful and tangy sauce.
Visual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Tsukimi Burger at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
Finely chop the beef end cuts.
While McDonald’s Tsukimi burger is made with 100% ground beef patties, I like adding a small amount of pork mince. Pork tends to be juicier than beef, which helps keep the patties moist and adds umami from the pork fat!
I personally recommend buying the beef and pork separately so you can control the ratio, you don’t want to add too much pork otherwise the flavor of the beef will be lost.
In addition to this, I also add some beef end cuts that have been finely diced by hand. This addition improves the texture of the patty and makes it feel more meaty. It’s optional, but I highly recommend it!
Mix panko breadcrumbs with milk.
Soak panko breadcrumbs in milk and add them to the patty mixture for juicier patties that are easier to shape!
Combine beef cuts, ground beef and pork, panko mixture, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt in a bowl. Knead lightly and refrigerate.
You can make the patty mixture ahead of time and store it in the fridge until it’s time to cook. I usually keep it in the fridge for about 15 minutes while preparing the other ingredients.
Sprinkle sugar in a pan, add halved bacon slices, and fry until crispy on both sides, using sugar to caramelize.
To make the bacon perfectly crispy and sweet, I add a sprinkle of sugar to a cold frying pan and lay the bacon on top (trying to prevent overlapping if possible). Turn the heat on a low setting to prevent the sugar from burning.
The sugar melts as the pan slowly heats up, making a caramel layer on the bacon! Once cooked on one side, sprinkle another pinch of sugar over the top, flip them over, and fry the other side.
Once they’re cooked, transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.
The most essential part of making this burger a “Tsukimi burger” is the egg fried in a round shape to resemble the full moon. There are no secret tips or tricks to this, I simply use a round mold (also known as an egg ring) in the frying pan.
If you have any large round cookie cutters, these work, too, as long as you oil them well.
Start by heating a pan on low. Once it’s hot, crack the eggs into the rings, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and break the yolks. Not only does this create a moon surface effect, but it also mixes the salt into the egg rather than having it sitting on the surface.
Don’t worry if a little bit of egg white leaks out from underneath. You can cut it off later. (My pan isn’t perfectly flat, so a little bit leaked out.)
Place a lid on top and cook the eggs on low heat until it becomes firm. This takes about 5 minutes, although it could be longer or shorter depending on the height and width of the egg ring.
By using a lid, the steam gets trapped and cooks the top of the egg, so there’s no need to flip it.
My recipe makes 4 Tsukimi burgers, so I divide the patty mixture into quarters and roll them into balls using the palm of my hand. Next, I toss them from one hand to the other to remove any air that might be trapped in there like this:
McDonald’s patties are usually quite thin so I press them gently in the palm of my hand and then flatten them a bit more when I add them to the frying pan.
Once the patties are cooked on one side, flip them over and add a slice of cheese to each one. This is to melt the cheese before you assemble the Tsukimi burger.
The sauce doesn’t require any cooking. Simply mix Japanese mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice, white pepper, salt and paprika powder in a small bowl.
The order of the burger from bottom to top should go bun > patty (with cheese) > egg > bacon > sauce > bun.
And the Tsukimi burger is complete!
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsI hope you enjoy this McDonald’s Style Tsukimi Burger recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Copycat Recipes
Homemade Tsukimi Burger (Moon Gazing Burger)
Ingredients
Tsukimi Burger Patty
- 50 g beef end cuts
- 4 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp milk
- 250 g ground beef
- 50 g ground pork
- 1 pinch nutmeg powder
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Tsukimi Burger Sauce
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise kewpie
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch ground white pepper
- ¼ tsp paprika powder
Tsukimi Burger
- 1 pinch sugar
- 4 rashers bacon streaky, halved
- 4 egg
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
- 4 burger buns
My recommended brands of ingredients and seasonings can be found in my Japanese pantry guide.
Can’t find certain Japanese ingredients? See my substitution guide here.
Instructions
- Finely cut 50 g beef end cuts with a knife.
- In a small bowl, mix 4 tbsp panko breadcrumbs and 3 tbsp milk together.
- Add the beef cuts, 250 g ground beef, 50 g ground pork, panko mixture, 1 pinch nutmeg powder, ¼ tsp ground black pepper and ¼ tsp salt to a large mixing bowl and lightly knead until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Be careful not to over-knead. Cover the bowl and store it in the fridge for later.
- Take a large frying pan and sprinkle the surface with 1 pinch sugar.
- Lay 4 rashers bacon over the sugar (try not to overlap) and turn the heat on low. Fry until crispy underneath, then sprinkle sugar over the top and flip them over. Fry on the other side until crispy.
- Place the cooked bacon on a sheet of kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.
- Heat a frying pan on low and crack 4 egg into egg rings. (I only have 2 molds but you can do them all at the same time.)
- Sprinkle 1 pinch salt over the top of the eggs and break the yolks to create the "moon surface" effect.
- Place a lid on top and continue to cook the eggs until firm. The top of the eggs will cook in the steam so no need to flip them.
- Take the patty mixture from the fridge and divide it into even quarters. Roll each patty into a ball and toss them from one hand to the other to remove the air.
- Press the patties flat and place them in a cold frying pan drizzled with 1 tbsp olive oil. Place the pan on the stove and set the heat to medium. Fry until browned on one side.
- Flip the patties and top each one with a slice of 4 slices cheddar cheese. Continue to fry until cooked through and the cheese is melted.
- Mix the sauce ingredients (2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise, 1 tbsp tomato ketchup, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp lemon juice, 1 pinch ground white pepper and ¼ tsp paprika powder) in a small bowl and toast the buns.
- To assemble the Tsukimi burger, place the patties on the bottom halves of 4 burger buns with the cheese on top.
- Next add the egg.
- Then the bacon.
- Add about 1 tbsp of the sauce per burger.
- Add the top half of the bun.
- And enjoy!
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