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Dinner in the Desert | Burger Bar Party

I’ve lived in Arizona my entire life but it wasn’t until our recent move to a new home that I realized just how much I love the sunset over our mountains sprinkled in saguaros. The gorgeous glow in spring is the perfect setting for an outdoor meal and one I definitely want to share with friends. Inspired by the Morning Star Farms® Burger Bar, I put together a dinner in the desert burger bar party because it’s my most favorite view from home and I’m currently loving everything cactus. I made a quick stop at Walmart to pick up everything I needed for the party and set up the dinner on picnic tables with the stunning Arizona mountain backdrop. We are so fortunate to have this amazing desert in our backyard but this Dinner in the Desert Burger Bar Party can be hosted at a local park with mountain views too.

The Arizona beauty speaks for itself so setting up the dinner in the desert party did not require any decorations. I did bring out a southwest style blanket to use as a tablecloth and a few of my favorite cactus pots recently purchased from Walmart to add to the desert themed party table. I added party details to my dinner in the desert party invitation printable and printed on a 4×6″ photo card from my home printer.

Invitation tips: The invitation can also be sent digitally for spontaneous dinner party plans. Download the printable and fill in your own party details (location, time, rsvp) or simply print and write on the invitation.

Dinner in the Desert shopping list:

• MorningStar Farms® Veggie Lovers Burger
• Oroweat® Country Potato Sandwich Buns
• Great Value^TM Cheese
• Hunt’s® Natural Ketchup
• Gulden’s® Spicy Brown Mustard
• RO*TEL® Original
• Kleenex® Wipes
• Pabst Blue Ribbon®
• Checkers Rally’s Famous Seasoned Fries
• Pringles®: Original, Cheddar, Sour cream and Cheddar
• Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water
• DOLE® Sliced Pineapple in 100% Pineapple Juice
• Cholula® Original Hot Sauce and Cholula® Green Pepper Hot Sauce
• Cupcakes with green frosting from the bakery
• Pretzel Rods
• White Sprinkles
• Green Punch
• Ice

All supplies and ingredients are inspired by the Morning Star Farms® Burger Bar. Check the locator below to determine if a burger bar is visiting in your local area.

Burgers

The flavors of MorningStar Farms® Veggie Lovers Burgers are perfect for everyone, including those that previously thought they would have preferred a meat burger. We got an exclusive first taste of the new product and they are amazing. The veggie cuisine was a nice surprise and gave all our guests options for a delicious burger. MorningStar Farms® products are not only for vegetarians – they are for everyone! New Morningstar Farms® Quarter Pound Veggie Burgers are delicious, perfectly crafted burgers that will fill your bun with MORE and leave you satisfied every time. Each quarter pound burger is perfectly seasoned and packs each bite with plant based protein and tasty veggies. The Veggies Lover Burgers are a better for you burger packed with 12 different veggies, 2 seeds & 2 grains, plus 10 grams of Plant Based Protein. Find the veggie burgers, also a great “as-is” meal and can soon be found in the freezer aisle.

Our burger bar table was full of excellent burger toppings including Hunt’s® Natural Ketchup, Gulden’s® Spicy Brown Mustard, RO*TEL® Original, DOLE Sliced Pineapple in 100% Pineapple Juice and Cholula Hot Sauce. Mustard is a classic and versatile condiment and Gulden’s® Spicy Brown Mustard adds the perfect spice to our desert party. Hunt’s® Natural Ketchup is great on fries, tots, burgers, and more so it’s the best to serve at a dinner party with fries and burgers. RO*TEL® Original is a combination of vine-ripened tomatoes blended with zesty green chilies and savory spices add the bold zest of the Southwest to your favorite recipe. DOLE® Pineapple Slices are all natural fruit, high in Vitamin C, and Non-GMO. Cholula is more than a hot sauce and is bursting with flavor, perfect for a burger bar party!

For burgers, you either love a side of chips or fries – so we served both! Checkers Rally’s Famous Seasoned Fries began at the first double drive-thru restaurant 20 years ago. Checkers Rally’s have served over a billion orders of these fries to guests and now you can enjoy them at home too. 

Pringles® crisps are the irresistible snack that pops open the fun! They can be stacked for endless flavor options, added to a burger, or eaten on the side – the best party snack.

Burger Recipes

The MorningStar Farms® Veggie Lover Burgers are the hero at our party but Oroweat® Country Potato Sandwich Buns and Great Value™ Cheese compliment the flavor. The country potato buns have a slightly sweet flavor that help balance the spice in our southwest burgers. 

The memory of visiting the DOLE plantation in Hawaii during our family vacation is a great reminder to use sliced pineapple in 100% pineapple juice. A pineapple swiss burger can only be better when it’s loaded with 27 grams of vegan protein. We do eat meat often but having a few close family members that do not, our burger bar is elevated by using MorningStar Farms® Veggie Lovers Burger and it’s a dinner party everyone can enjoy.

Pineapple Swiss Veggie Burger

Ingredients:

• MorningStar Farms® Veggie Lovers Burger
• Oroweat® Country Potato Sandwich Buns
• Great Value^TM Swiss Cheese
• DOLE® Sliced Pineapple in 100% Pineapple Juice

Stack burger, swiss cheese and pineapple in country potato bun. The juicy pineapple and flavorful veggie burger make this a yummy pairing without additional condiments and a much better for you choice than a burger loaded with all the extras. 

A dinner in the desert party definitely needs a southwest style burger on the menu. The MorningStar Farms® Spicy Black Bean Burger is the perfect beginning to a southwest dinner.

Southwest Black Bean Burger

Ingredients:

• MorningStar Farms® Spicy Black Bean Burger
• Oroweat® Country Potato Sandwich Buns
• Great Value^TM Cheddar Cheese
• RO*TEL® Original

Stack burger, cheddar cheese and RO*TEL® Original in country potato bun. The burger is spicy but for guests that want even more, consider adding Cholula Hot Sauce.

Drinks

Pabst Blue Ribbon®, Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water and Green Cactus Punch give options for all your guests. A party in the desert requires water for hydration! Every drop in every bottle of Nestle® Pure Life® Purified Water is filtered through a 12-step quality process. Beer and punch add variety to the drink station too. Save on your Pabst Blue Ribbon® purchase with this coupon: Pick A Pair And Share: Save $15 Off Two 24pks or 30pks of Pabst Blue Ribbon. 

Party drinks tip: create a water fill station so guests can refill their water bottles during the party.

Green Cactus Punch

Beyond the green color there’s nothing special about this punch, but it’s more fun to call it “green cactus punch” for your dinner in the desert party. I purchased green punch from Walmart, added ice and served in decorated mason jars with paper straws. To decorate your jars use twine to attach a cactus cut from the dinner in the desert cactus printable.

Dessert

The dessert table featured a saguaro cactus watermelon bowl, cactus cupcakes, and cactus pretzel rods.

Saguaro Cactus Watermelon Bowl

Carve a saguaro cactus into the front of a tall upright watermelon then carve a bowl on the back to serve freshly cut watermelon. Follow the easy instructions to carve the saguaro cactus watermelon bowl in just 10 minutes.

Cactus Cupcakes

I’m all about making a party quick and easy so baking cupcakes is usually not where I spend my prep time. Instead I picked up baked cupcakes with green frosting from the Walmart bakery and added my own white sprinkles. 

Cupcake tip: the Walmart bakery has unfrosted cupcakes available for purchase. If you don’t find cupcakes in the frosting color you desire, simply ask at the bakery counter for your specific color or purchase a dozen unfrosted cupcakes and frost them yourself.

Cactus Pretzel Rods

Dip pretzel rods in melted green chocolate melts then top with white sprinkles. Place dipped pretzel rods on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until party.

Clean up

Keep clean up simple with Kleenex® Wipes. The new wipes are a gentle clean for hands and face. You can find the new product in the facial tissue aisle. 

Clean up tip: set up two separate garbage and recycle cans for guests to responsibly dispose of plastic water bottles.

Copy my dinner in the desert burger bar party shopping list from above and pick up everything you need at your local Walmart.

Head over to check BurgerBarTruck.com to see if it’s traveling to a Walmart near you and find even more delicious recipe inspiration from renowned Chef Capon, a 6-Time Burger Bash NYC Champion. Be sure to save with these coupons when you shop at Walmart for supplies to host your own Dinner in the Desert Burger Bar Party. Where would you love to host an over the top burger bar party?