Copycat Killer Burger Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe (Inspired by the PBPB)

Killer Burger Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe made at home with a creamy, savory-sweet taste for burgers, fries, sandwiches, and easy dipping.

Grilled onions, crispy bacon, and warm peanut butter sauce dripping down the side of a burger — that combo sounds strange until you actually taste it. Then it just makes sense.

I started making this Killer Burger Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe at home after a trip to Portland left me thinking about that burger for weeks. My kitchen doesn’t have a flat-top grill or a professional fryer, but a small saucepan and a whisk turned out to be all I needed to get close.

This sauce comes together in about ten minutes with ingredients most people already keep in the pantry. It’s salty, a little sweet, a little tangy, and it works on way more than burgers.

What Is Killer Burger’s PBPB — and Why This Sauce Went Viral

Portland has a lot of good burger spots, but this one keeps coming up in conversation, and now I understand why after making the sauce myself.

Killer Burger got its start in Portland, Oregon, back in 2010, when founder TJ Southard opened a small restaurant that he mainly built with his own hands during a rough economy.

He wasn’t trying to launch a chain — he just wanted a place for him and his friends to grab a burger and a beer.

That one-off restaurant eventually grew into a regional chain with locations across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Texas.

Somewhere along the way, the menu grew a burger called the PBPB, short for Peanut Butter Pickle Bacon. Killer Burger’s own menu describes it as “sweet, salty, tangy, and weird in all the best ways,” built with bacon, peanut butter sauce, house sauce, mayo, grilled onion, and pickles stacked on a beef patty.

Southard has talked about building every burger for full coverage of sauce and toppings in every bite, and that philosophy is exactly why the peanut butter sauce doesn’t get lost under everything else.

It’s not a garnish. It’s a real part of the flavor, and that odd-sounding combination is what got people talking, posting, and driving across town just to try it.

Creamy vs. Chunky Peanut Butter: Which Works Better?

Texture changes this sauce more than you might expect. A smooth version spreads easily and gives the burger a more even layer. That is the style I prefer for the main recipe because it melts and loosens with less effort.

Chunky peanut butter can work too. It adds little bits of peanut and gives the sauce more texture, which some people may enjoy. A former employee also mentioned chunky peanut butter in a public discussion about the sauce, although that detail is not confirmed by Killer Burger.

Natural peanut butter can be harder to work with because the oil may separate. If that is what you have, stir it very well before measuring. For the closest smooth, spreadable result, I recommend regular creamy peanut butter. Use chunky if you want more texture and a stronger peanut bite.

Ingredients for Killer Burger Peanut Butter Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter — This forms the base of the whole sauce and gives it that thick, rich texture that clings to a warm bun instead of sliding right off.

2 tablespoons honey — Adds sweetness without making the sauce taste like dessert, and helps balance the salt from the soy sauce. Warmer honey blends in faster, so let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes if it came straight from the pantry.

2 tablespoons mayonnaise — Loosens up the texture and adds a slight tang that keeps the sauce from tasting too heavy. It also gives the finished sauce a lighter color and a smoother mouthfeel.

1 tablespoon soy sauce — Brings in a savory, salty note that keeps the whole thing from tasting one-dimensional. A little goes a long way here, so measure carefully instead of pouring by eye.

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar — Cuts through the richness and gives the sauce a little brightness so it doesn’t sit flat on your tongue. This is the ingredient most people forget, and skipping it is usually why a copycat sauce tastes flat.

1/2 teaspoon chili powder — Adds warmth in the background rather than sharp heat, which fits the sweet-savory theme. Look for a basic blend rather than a single ground chili, since the milder mix works better here.

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder — Rounds out the flavor and gives the sauce a little depth without turning it into a garlic sauce.

2 to 4 tablespoons warm water — Thins everything out to a pourable, drizzle-friendly consistency. Using warm rather than cold water helps it blend in without seizing up the peanut butter.

Substitutions

Soy sauce — Swap in coconut aminos for a close match that keeps the sauce gluten-free too.

Apple cider vinegar — Fresh lemon juice works fine if that’s what’s sitting in your fridge.

Chili powder — A small pinch of smoked paprika mixed with a tiny bit of cayenne gets you a similar warm background flavor.

Step-by-Step: How to Make the Peanut Butter Sauce

1. Melt the Peanut Butter and Honey Together

Add the peanut butter and honey to a small saucepan over low heat. Stir them together slowly with a whisk, just enough to loosen the peanut butter and let it blend smoothly with the honey.

This takes about two minutes for me, and you’ll know it’s ready once the mixture looks glossy instead of stiff, with no streaks of honey left sitting on top. Pull it off the heat right at that point, since leaving it too long can make it start to separate.

2. Whisk In the Rest of the Sauce

While the mixture is still warm, whisk in the mayonnaise, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, chili powder, and garlic powder. Keep whisking steadily until everything blends into one smooth sauce, with no separate streaks of mayo or peanut butter showing through.

Taste it at this stage — it should hit sweet, salty, and a little tangy all at once. If one flavor feels louder than the others, this is the easiest point to fix it, before the water goes in.

3. Loosen It Up with Water

Add warm water one tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition, until the sauce drips slowly off a spoon instead of clumping together. Most batches need somewhere between two and four tablespoons, depending on how thick the peanut butter was to start.

I always add water slowly here, since it’s easy to thin the sauce past the point you want and much harder to thicken it back up. Give it one last taste, then pour it into a small dish — it’s ready to drizzle over a burger, spoon onto a bun, or use as a dip.

Even a well-tested recipe needs some flexibility, since peanut butter brands and personal taste buds don’t always line up the same way.

Killer Burger Peanut Butter Sauce Nutrition Information (Per Serving)

This recipe makes about 4 servings of 2 tablespoons each. Here’s roughly what you’re looking at per serving:

Nutrient	Amount
Calories	~270 kcal
Total Fat	21g
Saturated Fat	4g
Carbohydrates	16g
Sugars	11g
Fiber	2g
Protein	7g
Sodium	~410mg

How to Adjust the Flavor

Sauce too thick: Add a small splash of milk or warm water and whisk it in slowly until it loosens up. This keeps the sauce pourable without watering down the flavor too much.

Tastes too sweet: Stir in a small splash of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. It cuts through the sweetness and brings the sauce back into balance.

Tastes flat: Add a pinch of salt or a small splash of soy sauce. Flat-tasting sauce usually just needs a little more salt to wake up the other flavors.

Peanut flavor too strong: Balance it out with a bit more vinegar or soy sauce. This pulls focus away from the peanut butter and rounds out the overall taste.

Want more heat: Add a small pinch of your favorite mild chili seasoning or a few drops of hot sauce. Start small, since it’s much easier to add more heat than to take it away.

How I Like to Use This Sauce on a Burger

The sauce works best when the burger has enough contrast around it. A plain burger can taste a little too peanut-heavy, while bacon and pickles give it the salty and sour notes it needs.

For a PBPB-inspired burger, I like a toasted bun, a hot beef patty, crisp bacon, grilled onions, pickles, mayo, and a spoonful of this peanut sauce. Killer Burger’s current menu uses those same broad topping ideas on its PBPB.

I spread the peanut sauce on the bun rather than dropping a thick pile in the middle. A thin, even layer gives you peanut flavor in more bites.

Pickles are especially useful here. Their sharp, sour taste cuts through the rich peanut butter and bacon. Grilled onions add a soft sweetness that connects the flavors.

You can also use the sauce with fries, chicken sandwiches, roasted vegetables, or as a dip for apple slices. I would keep the amount modest at first. It is a rich sauce, so a little can go a long way.

How to Store and Reheat Peanut Butter Sauce

This sauce holds up well in the fridge, which means you can make a batch ahead of time and use it across a few meals without starting from scratch each time. A double batch on a Sunday can easily carry you through burger nights for most of the week, as long as you store it the right way.

Refrigeration: Store the sauce in the refrigerator for up to one week. The cold temperature keeps the mayonnaise and other ingredients safe to eat during that window.

Airtight container: Keep it in a sealed jar or container with a tight lid. This stops the sauce from picking up smells from other food in your fridge and keeps it from drying out on top.

Stirring before reuse: The sauce may separate slightly as it sits, with a thin layer forming on top. Give it a good stir before using it again to bring it back to its original smooth texture.

Gentle reheating if it thickens: Cold sauce straight from the fridge will be much thicker than when you first made it. Warm it gently in the microwave for ten to fifteen seconds, or let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes, then stir well before drizzling it on your burger.

FAQs About Killer Burger Peanut Butter Sauce Recipe

People ask me some version of these same questions almost every time this recipe comes up, so here are honest answers based on what I’ve learned making it.

1. Does Killer Burger still have the Peanut Butter Pickle Bacon burger?

Yes, the PBPB is still one of their most popular items and shows up at nearly every location across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Texas. It’s often called their signature burger, and the combination of bacon, peanut butter sauce, mayo, house sauce, grilled onion, and pickles has stayed the same since it first caught on.

2. Why does peanut butter taste good on a burger?

It comes down to balance. Beef brings a rich, savory flavor, and peanut butter adds sweetness and a creamy texture that cheese or regular sauce doesn’t give you. Add bacon and pickles, and you get salty, tangy, sweet, and savory all working together. That contrast is exactly what makes it work.

3. Is the sauce sweet or savory?

It sits right in the middle, leaning slightly sweet from the honey but balanced by soy sauce and a touch of vinegar on the savory side. Bacon and pickles on the finished burger pull it further toward savory too. Want it sweeter or saltier? Just adjust the honey or soy sauce to taste.

4. Do I need to cook the sauce?

Not really. Warming the peanut butter and honey together just makes them blend smoothly and faster. You could mix everything cold if your peanut butter is already soft, but cold peanut butter tends to clump instead of blending evenly with the other ingredients.

5. Can I make the sauce ahead of time?

Yes, and it might taste even better after sitting a few hours, since the flavors have more time to blend. Store it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week, and give it a good stir before using it again since it can separate slightly.

6. How spicy is this sauce?

Not spicy at all in its original form. The chili powder is there for warmth, not heat, so it comes out sweet and savory rather than spicy. Want a kick? The flavor adjustment section above covers exactly how to add more heat without throwing off the balance.