i am trying to find a copycat recipe for the bell burger that taco bell had years ago,
i have found a couple, but they say just to add tomato sauce and the taco bell spice packet to the hamburger.
thats not it.
any ideas?
thanks
thank you, Kitchen Witch. i was looking or that recipe as well!
Before the Bell Beefer back in the mid-1960’s Taco Bell made a loose meat burger on a steamed bun called a “Bell Burger”. It want away and came back as the Bell Beefer. Don’t ask me how I know, but they were good. 
As I remember, they did have a brown sauce painted on the bun (I guess to make the meat stick and not fall out) and the flavor of the meat were both similar in flavor to the mild sauce.
Also in the mid-1960’s Kentucky Fried Chicken sold hamburgers. They had lettuce (a leaf of lettuce, not chopped), a slice of tomato, some chopped onion and a thousand island dressing. They were good and I was sorry when they stopped making them (being a kid at the time).
Taco Bell “Bell Burger” & “Bell Beefer” from 1960’s & 1980’s
[i]From about the mid-1960’s through the mid-1970’s Taco Bell made a Sloppy Joe like sandwich called the “Bell Burger”. It used the same flavored ground beef mixture as a crunchy taco, along with a sauce similar to Mild Border Sauce and shredded mild cheddar cheese. This was served on a hamburger bun that had been steamed slightly to soften and warm it.
This is not the “Bell Beefer”, which came a few years later from the mid-1970’s through the mid -1990’s.
The regular “Bell Beefer” had seasoned loose meat, sauce, onions and lettuce on a bun; the “Bell Beefer Supreme” also had tomatoes and cheese. The “Bell Burger” was just seasoned loose meat, sauce and shredded cheese on a steamed bun. [/i]
-To make a “Bell Burger” add loose meat, grated cheese and mild border sauce.
-To make a “Bell Beefer” add loose meat, diced onions, shredded lettuce and mild border sauce.
-To make a “Bell Beefer Supreme” add loose meat, diced onions, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese and mild border sauce.
Beef Filling:
1 pound lean ground beef, uncooked
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp mild chili powder
1 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp dried minced onion flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp onion powder
dash garlic powder
1/2 cup cold water
6 hamburger buns (steamed slightly to soften and warm them)
6 to 12 packets (or 1/3 to 2/3 cup) of Taco Bell Mild Border Sauce (recipe below)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Combine in a mixing bowl raw ground beef, flour, chili powder, salt, minced onion flakes, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder. Mix thoroughly like you would mix a meatloaf.
In a skillet on the stove top, add 1/2 cup of cold water and the seasoned ground meat mixture. Mix well. Cook over medium heat, mash and stir ground meat as it cooks, breaking it up. Cook until meat is no longer pink and slightly browned. The meat mixture should be loose, without any large pieces. Drain off any grease or liquid.
Steam the burger buns slightly to warm and soften them.
Build a “Bell Burger” like this:
Spread a tablespoon of Mild Border Sauce on the bottom bun.
Place several tablespoons of the meat mixture on the bottom bun like making a sloppy joe.
Add 1 or 2 packets (or 2 Tbsp) of Taco Bell Mild Border Sauce evenly over the meat on bun.
Sprinkle 1 or 2 Tbsp of shredded mild cheddar cheese over meat mixture on bun. Add the top bun.
Repeat 5 more times. Serve warm.
Makes 6 “Bell Burgers”
Taco Bell Mild Border Sauce
1/2 cup cold water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 oz tomato paste (half of a 6 oz can)
1 1/2 Tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Dissolve cornstarch in cold water. Add to saucepan.
Add rest of ingredients and stir well. Over medium heat
bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook 5-minutes.
Turn off heat, cover pan and allow sauce to cool.
Store in the fridge.
Makes about 1 cup.
Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Beef Hamburger from the 1960’s
In the mid to late 1960’s The Colonel sold beef hamburgers.
I remember buying them at KFC’s in northern and southern California.
It was a single patty burger between griddle toasted hamburger buns.
Condiments included slices of fresh tomato, white onions sliced into thin rings,
a leaf of iceberg lettuce and Thousand Island dressing. You could order french
fries on the side.
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
6 plain hamburger buns - toasted on the griddle
1/3 to 1/2 cup of Thousand Island Dressing (recipe below)
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
6 leaves of iceberg lettuce, large pieces torn to fit bun (not chopped)
1 medium white onion, sliced into thin separated rings
Directions:
Preheat a frying pan over medium heat on stove top.
Divide the 1 pound of ground beef into six even portions. Form into patties the size of the bun.
Lightly salt and pepper each patty and cook for 2 or 3 minutes on the first side.
Flip the patties over and cook for an additional 2 or 3 minutes until a meat
thermometer reads 165 degrees F in the center of each hamburger patty.
After cooking the hamburgers, remove excess fat from pan and lightly toast the top and bottom buns on the skillet.
Here’s how to assemble a KFC Burger:
-Spread a tablespoon or two of Thousand Island dressing on bottom toasted bun.
-Place a tomato slice or two on bottom bun.
-Add iceberg lettuce leaves on top of tomato slices.
-Place cooked hamburger patty on lettuce leaves.
-Top with a couple of rings of sliced white onions.
-Cover with toasted top bun.
Repeat 5 more times.
Makes 6 KFC Hamburgers.
Thousand Island Dressing
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar
2 tsp Confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp Sweet Pickle Relish
1 tsp finely minced white onion
dash of salt and black pepper to taste
Stir all ingrediants together. Mix well.
Makes about 1/3 cup of Thousand Island Dressing.
wrong, read the bottom comment there right 1960 recipe ,the new taco bell mix in supermarket is really bad
wrong they said a taco burger from the 1960’s your way off!!!
this one is the right recipe from the 1960,that new stuff is vary bad to eat.