White SBS cardstock
A bright, smooth sheet. Photography, gradients and fine type all hold their detail, and colors sit where the proof says they will.
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Open trays · Printed inside and out
Custom Burger Trays
Open paperboard trays that carry a burger and a side of fries together, on a counter, in a basket or out the door. Printed to your artwork and cut to the size of your build.
- 500 piece minimum
- Holds burger plus fries
- Grease-resistant face
- Nests for storage
From $0.50 per trayVolume pricing from 500 units · final price on your quote
500
Minimum per design
Volume pricing from 1,000
6–7 days
Standard production
After you approve the proof
Free
Dieline and proof
Built around your item
Worldwide
Tracked shipping
Quoted with the job
In short
Custom burger trays are open paperboard trays that hold a burger and a side of fries together, for counter service, basket service or takeaway. The Cone Sleeves prints hamburger trays to your artwork on kraft, white SBS or recycled board, cut to your build size, from 500 pieces per design with a free digital proof and 6–7 business day production.
Why shops order burger trays from us
Square under load
Four locked corners keep the walls upright when a hot, heavy burger drops in, instead of letting the tray spread and lose its shape.
Room for the side
Sized so a burger sits in one half and fries fill the other, without the fries burying themselves under the bun on the walk to a table.
Grease held in
A coated inner face takes the oil from a patty and a fresh fry order without letting it darken the printed outside of the tray.
Branding in the sightline
The inside base is what a customer looks at through an entire meal, so that is where your logo, handle or offer belongs.
Nests behind the pass
Assembled trays of one size nest into a working stack, so line staff grab one without unpicking a flat-pack mid-rush.
Basket or counter
Cut to sit inside a standard fast-food basket, or to work on its own as a dine-in serving tray with no basket at all.
Printed work
Burger Trays we have printed
Every run below started as somebody's artwork on plain board. Yours is quoted the same way, whatever the shape.
Specifications
Everything this order includes
These are the options we quote against. If you need something outside them, ask — most custom sizes and finishes are possible, and the quote will say so plainly.
| Capacity | One burger plus a side of fries; sizes from sliders up to double-stack builds |
|---|---|
| Wall style | Four-corner glued for counters or foot-lock flat-pack for mobile service; 1 in to 1.5 in walls |
| Board | White SBS cardstock, natural kraft or recycled board in a heavier tray caliper |
| Grease resistance | Coated inner face so oil from the patty and fries does not mark the outside |
| Printing and finish | Full-color CMYK, single-color logo or Pantone spot colors; gloss or matte lamination, spot UV, foil or uncoated |
| Minimum order | 500 pieces per design, volume pricing from 1,000 |
| Turnaround | 6–7 business days after proof approval; 3–4 day rush on request |
| Artwork | PDF, AI or EPS at 300 dpi with 3 mm bleed — we cut the dieline to your burger |
Will the tray hold a hot, heavy burger?
This is the real question, and it has three answers. The first is the corner. A tray that is only creased will splay open the moment a hot burger presses down and steam softens the board. Glued or foot-locked corners hold the walls at ninety degrees, and that is what keeps the tray looking like a tray after ten minutes on a counter.
The second is caliper. Burger trays run on heavier board than a sleeve does, because a tray carries weight over an unsupported span rather than wrapping something that already holds its shape. A double-stack build plus fries is a lot of mass to hand over by one edge, so ask for a double-wall rim if that is how food leaves your pass.
The third is grease. A patty and fresh fries both release oil for as long as they stay hot, and on uncoated board it travels outward until the printed face goes dark. A coated inner face keeps it where it belongs. We cover how the stocks differ in our note on board weights and coating choices.
Burger tray or burger sleeve — which do you need?
They solve different problems, and plenty of kitchens order both.
- A burger tray is an open container. It holds the burger and a side together, keeps the fries off the counter, and gives you a printed surface the customer stares at while eating. It does not hold the burger together, and it does not travel well in a delivery bag because nothing stops the build tipping.
- A burger sleeve wraps the burger itself. It compresses the stack so the bun, patty and toppings stay aligned, keeps hands off the food, and is what you want for a handheld, walk-away, or delivery order. It does nothing for the fries.
The practical rule: if the meal is eaten at a table, in a basket, or on a counter, the tray is the primary item. If the meal is carried in one hand or driven across town, the sleeve is. Sit-down and fast-casual operators typically run a tray for the meal and printed sleeves that hold the build together inside it, printed on the same stock so the two read as one set.
Sizing a tray for a burger and fries
Measure the finished burger, not the bun. A six-inch bun with a double patty, cheese, sauce and a skewer is closer to five inches across and four tall by the time it reaches the pass, so a tray cut to the bun alone leaves the burger touching both walls.
The usual approach is to split the footprint: roughly two thirds for the burger, one third for the side, with enough wall that fries do not slide out when the tray tips. If you serve sliders, a smaller footprint with the same wall height reads better than a large tray with a small burger lost in the middle — nothing makes a portion look thinner than empty board around it. The same sizing logic applies across our range of printed open food trays.
Wall height is a presentation choice as much as a functional one. About an inch gives a plated look with the burger fully visible; an inch and a half hides more of the food but stops loose fries escaping. If you are unsure, we will proof both heights so you can put a real burger in each. Start with a quote for your tray size.
Printing the inside base, where customers actually look
Most tray artwork gets designed as though the tray were a box, with everything on the outside walls. Those walls are an inch or two tall and face away from the person eating. The surface that holds attention is the inside base, visible for the whole meal and again once the food is gone.
Print it. A logo, a handle, a QR code to the loyalty sign-up, or a reveal line under the food all work, and they cost nothing extra on a full-color job. Keep the middle of the base simple, since that is where the burger and the grease patch land, and push the detail toward the edges where it stays visible.
On white SBS board, photographic art and pale brand colors hold true. On natural kraft, ink shifts warmer and light tones vanish, so use bold one- or two-color art — kraft also disguises the grease shadow, which is why so many burger counters use it. Pantone is worth the setup when the tray sits beside cups and napkins in the same brand color. Before a first order, read our guide to preparing print-ready artwork files.
Where these are used
- Burger joints and diners
- Smash burger counters
- Slider and mini burger service
- Food trucks and trailers
- Stadium and arena concessions
- Festival and street food stalls
- Bar and pub kitchen baskets
Not sure on size?
Send a sample or a photo with a ruler beside it and we cut the dieline to fit. There is no charge for the dieline or the digital proof.
Ask a questionHow the order runs
- You send sizes, quantity and artwork, or just a photo of the item.
- We build the dieline and come back with a written price.
- You approve a digital proof with your artwork laid on it.
- We print, cut and ship, with tracking on the carton.
Materials and printing
Board and print, side by side
Three boards and three ways to print on them. Every combination below is quoted the same way, so the choice is about how you want the packaging to feel in the hand.
Choose the board
Natural kraft
Unbleached brown board. Ink sits into the surface rather than on top of it, which mutes bright colors and reads as craft and small-batch.
Recycled board
Post-consumer fiber with a slight fleck through it. It takes a one or two color mark well and tells the customer what it is without a claim printed on it.
Choose how it prints
Full-color CMYK
Four process inks. The right choice when the artwork is a photograph, an illustration or anything with a gradient in it.
Single-color logo
One ink on plain board. It is the least expensive way to print a run and, on kraft, it is often the better looking one.
Pantone spot colors
A mixed ink matched to a Pantone reference. Use it when a brand color has to be exact across every reprint.
Burger Trays designer
Design your burger trays
Build the specification for burger trays step by step — size, board, print and finish — and send it for a quote. Five short steps, no account.
Questions
Burger Trays: common questions
What size burger tray do I need?
Measure the finished burger with all toppings, then add space for the side. Most operators land on a footprint that is about two thirds burger and one third fries. Send a photo of a full portion beside a ruler and we will cut the dieline to it, free of charge.
Are hamburger trays and burger trays the same thing?
Yes. Hamburger tray, burger tray and burger basket liner all describe the same open paperboard tray that holds a burger and a side. If a supplier quotes you one term and we quote another, you are comparing the same product.
Will grease soak through a burger tray?
Not with a coated inner face, which is standard on our tray stock. Uncoated board will wick oil outward within minutes under a hot patty and fresh fries, darkening the printed surface. If you need uncoated board for recyclability, expect visible grease marking and design for it.
Do burger trays stack or nest for storage?
Assembled four-corner trays of the same size nest into each other, so you can keep a working stack at the pass. Foot-lock trays ship and store flat, then fold in a couple of seconds, which is the better answer when storage space is tight or stock travels to events.
Can you print on the inside of the tray?
Yes, and you should. The inside base is the surface a customer looks at for the length of the meal, while the outside walls face away from them. Keep the center simple, since that is where the food and any grease patch sit, and place detail nearer the edges.
Do trays fit inside standard fast-food baskets?
They can. Tell us the internal dimensions of the basket you use, or send one over, and we cut the tray to drop in with a small clearance. Trays built as basket liners usually run a shorter wall, since the basket itself is doing the containing.
Do I need a burger sleeve as well as a tray?
Only if the burger leaves the tray. A tray presents the meal and keeps the side contained; it does not hold the build together. For handheld, walk-away or delivery orders, a sleeve wrapped around the burger stops the stack sliding apart. Many kitchens print both to match.
Can I run two tray sizes in one order?
Yes. The 500 piece minimum applies per design, so a slider tray and a full-size tray count as two designs at 500 each. Volume pricing starts at 1,000 pieces and is calculated per design, not across the whole order.
Related products
Often ordered alongside
Free quote · No obligation
Tell us your cone, we will price the sleeve
Send your size, quantity and artwork. You get a written quote and a free digital proof before anything goes to press.