
If you haven’t heard of a Juicy Lucy yet, get ready for them to start dominating your foodie Pinterest feeds. This life-changing burger starts with a high-quality ground beef — including at least 15 percent fat for good measure (and tastiness). The meat is seasoned well and a crater is formed to hold cheesy goodness. Is your mouth watering yet? Yeah, we thought so! If you can’t make it to the fast food chain, there are plenty of fast food hacks out there that might just be better than the real thing. Think: unique cheese options, meat (and non-meat) alternatives and plenty of other delicious stuffings to top it all off. We’ve rounded up 14 of the tastiest stuffed burgers to up your next BBQ and maybe even your epic Memorial Day part-ay this weekend. Happy grilling!
1. Pepper Jack Stuffed Burger With Jalapeno Cream Sauce: What could be better than a juicy burger oozing with cheese that’s smothered in a smoky jalapeno cream cheese sauce and then and then and THENNNN topped with fried onions? Is anyone else drooling? Once you taste this spicy south-of-the-border take, you may never go back. (via Show Me the Yummy)
2. Roasted Garlic & Feta Chicken Burgers: This burger has just the right combination of sweet roasted garlic and salty feta cheese. Bonus: You’re getting a dose of hidden veggies — the spinach actually keeps this lean chicken burger juicy and nutritious. (via Haute & Healthy Living)
3. Classic Juicy Lucy: This is the original cheese-stuffed burger from Minneapolis, oozing pungent American cheese with every gloppy bite. Tip: Aim your cheese drips right over the French fries so you won’t stain your shirt and you’ll have some souped-up fries for noshing at the end. You’re welcome. (via Chowhound)
4. Sriracha and Cheddar “Juicy Lucy” Burger: If you thought burger nirvana could get no more heavenly, check out this baby. Spiked with sriracha and topped with a runny egg, it will put you on cloud nine. The sriracha provides just the right amount of heat. (via Baker by Nature)
5. Double-Stuffed Turkey Burger: Just when you’re wondering “Can this work with turkey?” — oh, yes, it can! Especially when the turkey is paired with a super creamy cheese. You can’t get any better than Velveeta to strike exactly the right *queso* chord. (via Baker by Nature)
6. Pepperjack Stuffed Doritos Burger: Did someone say queso? You can’t think queso without next thinking of nachos. Here, ground beef is mixed with crushed Nacho Cheese Doritos and stuffed with pepper jack cheese. One bite, and this burger oozes cheese like hot molten lava. (via Heather Likes Food)
7. Mac ‘n’ Cheese Stuffed Burger: If you were thinking about what other tempting concoctions we can stuff these burgers with, you won’t have to *noodle* on that one too long. Grilled burgers and mac ‘n’ cheese all rolled into one? We’ve just died and gone to heaven. Hope they meet us at the pearly gates with some napkins. (via Hey Grill, Heeeeey!!)
8. Goat Cheese Guac Burger With Cheddar and Caramelized Onions: This burger has double cheese. The creamy goat cheese bubbles away inside, while hot cheddar pours down from above. Then a slather of guacamole on the bun tops it off, and caramelized onions add just the right note of sweetness. (via How Sweet Eats)
9. Garden Salad Stuffed Burgers: More hidden veggies coming your way! Ground beef and pork are mixed in with a *salad* of diced tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh green peppers and onions that have been tossed in olive oil and vinegar. The burgers are then stuffed with salty, creamy feta cheese. Go on and sprinkle some leftover feta crumbles on your fries too, because why not? (via Diethood)
10. Sweet and Spicy Cowboy Burger: This turkey burger is going rogue with spicy jack cheese, bacon and fried onions. Lettuce, tomato and BBQ sauce are optional, because we rogues like to keep our options open ;) (via Quirky Inspired)
11. Brie and Caramelized Onion Bunless Stuffed Burger: If you’re following a keto or LCHF eating plan, this is just the burger you’ve been dreaming of. Oozing triple-cream brie, it’s topped with butter-sautéd mushrooms. Be sure to cut yourself some thick slices of beefsteak tomato and some hardy lettuce leaves. You’re gonna need two hands to tackle this baby. (via All Day I Dream About Food)
12. Avocado Stuffed Burger: Here’s one for the Paleo peeps. Start with locally sourced, grass-fed fatty ground beef, or as close as you can get. Mix in some sun-dried tomato, lemon juice and lemon zest. Then hit up your green market for two ripe avocados. Need we say more? If pan-frying, a bit of bacon fat or goose fat would not be out of bounds. (via Civilized Caveman Cooking)
13. Spinach and Havarti Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Burger: Is there anything as tasty as a portobello on the grill? This mushroom is stuffed with velvety havarti cheese. Olive oil and vinegar-drenched chopped spinach provide just the right zing. Make a bunch, ’cause they’ll go fast — even the meat eaters will love ’em. (via Natasha’s Kitchen)
14. Portobello Mushroom Cashew Cheese Burger: This one is vegan, raw and Paleo-friendly, and cashew *cheese* is the star of the show. It should be topped with fresh chopped chives, spinach and parsley. Who knew raw could be this satisfying? (via This Rawsome Vegan Life)
Lovin’ these Juicy Lucy hacks? There’s more. Follow us on Pinterest.
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
You X Ventures for Unsplash
Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
Kobu Agency for Unsplash
You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures