The Tsukimi burger is an iconic seasonal item on the Japanese McDonald’s menu. Made up of a juicy beef patty topped with crispy bacon, creamy sauce and a perfectly cooked egg all stacked inside a soft white bun, many Japanese people wait all year to finally enjoy the beloved Tsukimi burger! And with my delicious homemade recipe you can make your own from scratch all year round!

Japanese tsukimi burger on a brown rectangular plate with fries

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What is a 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.

Tsukimi (moon gazing) in Japan

Otsukimi (お月見) was introduced to Japan from China around 859-877 during the Heian period (794-1185) and became popular among the nobility. At that time, it was a fashionable event to drink sake while watching the moon, and to enjoy poetry and orchestral music on a boat. It is said that the nobles did not look up at the sky to gaze at the moon, but rather admired the moon reflected on the water and in the sake cups.

It is said that it was not until the Edo period (1603-1867) that the common people began to widely enjoy the custom, and it seems that it had a greater significance as a harvest festival or first harvest festival, rather than a moon-viewing festival like the nobles.

Although the custom of moon-viewing has taken root throughout Japan in modern times, the content of the event and offerings differ slightly from region to region.

Tsukimi burger at McDonald’s

The tsukimi burger is, after all, a McDonald’s product. Back in 1991, a survey was conducted on popular ingredients that people would be happy to have in a burger, and the results showed that eggs were the most popular. From there, the development of burgers with eggs began.

According to the person in charge of the development at that time, he “ate countless eggs” before completing the Tsukimi Burger, which was made with those iconic eggs shaped to resemble the moon.

These days, the Tsukimi special is not only limited to burgers, there’s a whole Tsukimi menu available! In 2022, the following Tsukimi related products were released at McDonald’s Japan:

Tsukimi burger
Tsukimi cheese burger
Sukiyaki tsukimi
Tsukimi muffin (Breakfast menu)
Chestnut and Mont Blanc McFlurry
Anko (red bean paste) and mochi (rice cake) Tsukimi pie
Yuzu and shichimi sauce for Chicken McNuggets

For the research purpose (or not), I went to get tsukimi burger set this year, but the drive thru was literally packed! That was my re-realisation of how popular tsukimi burger is!

Japanese cheese tsukimi burger on a white plate next to yellow packaging — The cheese Tsukimi burger available at McDonald’s Japan in 2022.

Because McDonald’s tsukimi burger is so popular, other fast food chains such as KFC, Mos Burger, and Lotteria have recently started selling their own Tsukimi burgers.

What is tsukimi burger made of?

Okay, I’m not aiming to create an exact copy of McDonald’s Tsukimi burger, but I still kept the main elements of it. To do that, I used following ingredients:

Beef mince
Pork mince
Finely diced beef end cuts
Panko breadcrumbs
Cheddar cheese
Streaky bacon
Burger buns (store bought)

And these are the ingredients I use for the sauce:

Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie)
Ketchup
Salt
Lemon juice
White pepper
Paprika powder

Tips for making homemade Tsukimi burger

Here are the methods I use to make the most delicious Tsukimi Burger!

Use a mixture of meats

While McDonald’s Tsukimi burger is made with 100% ground beef patties, I like to add a small amount of pork mince to the mix. Pork tends to be juicier than beef so it helps keep the patties moist, it also 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 flavour of the beef will be lost.

finely chopped beef on a wooden chopping board

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!

Add softened panko

milk and panko breadcrumbs mixed in a small glass bowl

Soak panko breadcrumbs in milk and add them to the patty mixture for juicier patties that are easier to shape!

Chill the patty mixture in the fridge

beef mince, pork mince and finely chopped beef cuts kneaded together with panko, salt, pepper and nutmeg

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 or so while I prepare the other ingredients.

Caramelize the bacon

In order 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 on the heat on a low setting to prevent the sugar from burning. As the pan slowly heats up, the sugar melts and makes a caramel layer on the bacon! Once it’s 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.

How to fry the egg

The most essential part to making this burger a “Tsukimi burger” is the egg fried in a round shape to resemble the full moon. There’s no secret tips or tricks to this, I simply use a round mold (also known as an egg ring) in the frying pan. You can purchase them here on Amazon. Alternatively, if you have any large round cookie cutters, these work too as long as you oil them well.

two eggs with broken yolks in molds in a frying pan

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 a 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.

Shape the patties

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.

Melt the cheese

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.