Photo: Carl's Jr.El Diablo
Carl’s Jr.’s hot burger, and it means it. Jalapeño poppers, sliced jalapeños, pepper-jack and bacon sit on the charbroiled patty with a habanero sauce that builds as you go. The poppers add crunch and a little creamy relief. It is one of the heavier burgers on the menu and not one to order if you have a meeting afterwards.
The story
Heat has been measured since 1912, when the pharmacist Wilbur Scoville worked out a test for it: dilute a chilli extract in sugar water until a panel of tasters can no longer detect the burn, and the dilution needed is the number. A jalapeño lands around a few thousand units on his scale. That is the chilli in this burger, and the reason it can be stacked in three different forms — poppers, slices and pepper-jack — without becoming unapproachable, which a habanero at a hundred times the strength would.
What’s inside
- charbroiled beef patty
- jalapeño poppers
- jalapeños
- pepper-jack cheese
- bacon
- habanero sauce
- bun
Make it at home
There is no copycat of the El Diablo yet. Until there is, these recipes on the site come closest to it, judged by what goes into the bun.
- Shares beef, bacon, heat and cheese
Dean’s Breakfast Burger from Supernatural - Shares beef, bacon, heat and cheese
Peter’s Fuddruckers Burger - Shares beef, bacon, heat and cheese
Cheesy Bacon Ranch Burger Sliders - Shares beef, bacon and cheese
Cheeseburger Wellington
Similar burgers at other chains
Built around the same things as the El Diablo.- MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes · beef, bacon, jalapeños and heat
The Double Diablo - Runza · beef, bacon, jalapeños and heat
1/4 lb Spicy Jack Burger - Dairy Queen · beef, bacon, jalapeños and heat
SignatureFlameThrower Stackburger - Slater's 50/50 · beef, bacon, jalapeños and heat
50 Alarm Burger
More from Carl's Jr.
About Carl's Jr.
Carl Karcher and his wife Margaret borrowed $311 against their Plymouth in 1941 to buy a hot dog cart in Los Angeles. By 1945 they had a drive-in barbecue restaurant in Anaheim, and the burger chain that grew out of it still cooks its patties over an open charbroiler rather than a flat grill, which gives them the backyard-grill stripes and smoke that define the menu.
More than 1,000 US restaurants and locations in over 20 countries, from Mexico to Japan and Australia.
Not affiliated with Carl's Jr.. Trademarks belong to their owners. The photo is credited under it and is used to illustrate this menu item; it comes down on request.