Our quick and easy Big Mac Salad is a fun way to shake-up your classic burger night! We took all those classic McDonald’s big mac ingredients and turned them into a delicious salad option. Forget the fast food cravings and enjoy this for a quick lunch or on a warm summer night with the whole family!
The Best Big Mac Salad Recipe
We have been making burger bowls for years and knew we needed to bring all the flavors of a traditional big mac burger to a lighter, healthy salad form. It has become a new family favorite recipe that everyone can build any way they want. Plus, the salad toppings can easily be switched up with what you have on hand. Just make sure you take the 5 minutes needed to mix together that special sauce, that’s noted in the recipe card below – it will be a huge hit!
Looking for more another summer salad? Check out our complete list of 20+ Summer Salad Recipes!
What You Will Need
- copycat big mac sauce – our super easy homemade big mac salad dressing that is perfect on top!
- ground meat – option to use a lean ground beef or ground turkey from your local grocery store.
- salt and pepper – simple seasonings that are always a must when cooking any type of meat.
- crisp lettuce – we love crisp romaine lettuce, but iceberg lettuce or other salad greens would be a great option too!
- red onion, grape tomatoes, & sliced pickles – fresh ingredients that are perfect for this burger salad recipe! Option to swap out the sliced dill pickles for sweet pickle relish, if you want.
- cheddar cheese – love this classic shredded cheese, but any variety of cheese works here!
How To Make A Big Mac Salad
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to gather all of the ingredients.
Place all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and give it a good stir to combine everything together.
Now bring a large skillet to a medium high heat and brown ground beef, while breaking it apart and seasoning with salt and pepper.
Next, build the salad in a large bowl! Start with a base of chopped lettuce, add some cooked ground beef, all your favorite toppings, and a generous amount of the homemade dressing.
Recipe FAQ
Yes! We absolutely love this homemade salad dressing but feel free to swap with some Thousand Island Dressing or any other favorite salad dressings.
Absolutely! This perfect big mac salad recipe is great for meal prep. Just mix up the sauce, cook the ground beef, prep the veggies, and then store each in a separate airtight container in the fridge. Reheat and assemble when ready to eat!
Made this delicious recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Big Mac Salad Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
A super easy and flavorful Big Mac Salad recipe that is quick and delicious. Perfect for meal prep or a busy weeknight dinner!
Ingredients
Big Mac Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon pickle relish
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
Big Mac Salad
- 1 pound ground beef, 80/20
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 2–3 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (more if desired)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
- burger pickles
Instructions
- Sauce: Add ingredients to a small bowl; stir to combine. Taste and adjust any flavors to your liking. Set aside.
- Prep Ingredients: Make sure all of the other salad ingredients (other than the ground beef, which we will cook in the next step) are prepped and ready to go.
- Cook Ground Beef: Bring a large cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook until it is no longer pink; drain excess grease. Season with kosher salt and ground black pepper, to your liking (everyone’s salt preferences are different).
- Build Salad: Divide romaine between 2 or 4 bowls, top with warm ground beef, red onions, shredded cheese, tomatoes and burger pickles. Top with as much Big Mac Sauce as you want and enjoy!
Notes
- Lighten it up: feel free to sub in ground turkey for ground beef, if you want to make this a bit lighter.
- Dairy-Free: you can easily use a dairy-free cheese to make this main dish dairy-free.
- Gluten-Free: use Tamari instead of soy sauce when making the Big Mac Sauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 218
- Sugar: 3.7 g
- Sodium: 323.9 mg
- Fat: 14.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 5.7 g
- Protein: 14.9 g
- Cholesterol: 47.8 mg
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