Eating healthy doesn’t mean we don’t crave some of the foods we used to devour and with this Big Mac in a bowl, you can get all the flavor you love without the drive-thru, the grease, or the guilt! Today we are cooking up all the flavors you love – the special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – and serving it up in a great big, Big Mac salad bowl….It’s a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
Not only is putting your Big Mac in a bowl together super easy, but it’s also a super healthy alternative to fast-food. This Big Mac in a bowl recipe works for gluten-free eaters, low-carb fans, and keto lifestyles.
If you are looking for more low-carb salads that are a complete meal, check out our hearty keto Cobb salad, this super easy chicken or beef taco salad, and this super flavorful Italian antipasto salad.
Be sure to also check out the low carb Big Mac casserole, complete with a special twist that holds this dish all together.
What is Big Mac Salad?
As the name implies, this Big Mac salad is my take on the classic stack burger you would find at McDonald’s. The burger so famous, there is a song about its toppings.
For this keto Big Mac salad though, we are ditching all three layers of bun and instead, keeping just the meat, cheese, and vegetables.
And of course, using a salad dressing that is eerily close to the famed “special sauce.”
I’m hungry just thinking about it! 😉
Why This Recipe Works
- Salads are always a great choice for lunch and dinner when you are trying to eat low-carb or stick to a keto lifestyle.
- This keto Big Mac salad is a hearty salad filled with plenty of vegetables, protein, and fats. This combination will leave your appetite satisfied long after you get to the bottom of your bowl.
- Onions, pickles, and thousand island dressing combine to give you that flavor you know and love.
Ingredients for Big Mac in a Bowl
This may be a salad, but we are not creating a small, light one. For your Big Mac in a bowl, you are going to need quite a few things on hand. Not to worry though as the whole dish comes together in the time it takes to saute your beef.
- 1 lb ground beef (80/20) – beef with higher fat tastes better
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, sharp shredded – shred your own
- 4+ Dill pickles, sliced
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 1 head Iceberg lettuce (or 1 bag of butter lettuce)
- Big Mac Dressing – we either make our own (listed below), or we buy Sir Kensington’s Special Sauce that’s low carb.
- Sesame seeds (or Everything But the Bagel Seasoning)
Big Mac Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 2 Tbsp low carb pickle relish (or chopped pickle with juice)
- 1 Tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 tsp yellow mustard
- 1/4 tsp+ monk fruit (increase if swapping chopped pickle for the relish)
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
Step by Step Instructions
Cook The Beef
Over medium-high heat, warm a large skillet and add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Add the ground beef, salt, pepper, and garlic clove. Stir and cook the ground beef until it’s no longer pink in the middle, which will take about 6-7 minutes. Drain some of the grease. (And yes, you heard me right, add oil to the meat and then drain the grease. 😉 Adding the oil imparts so much flavor into the ground beef that seriously shouldn’t be skipped. You know how you’d never eat plain chicken breast without cooking it with oil or seasoning, well you shouldn’t do that with your ground beef either!)
Set aside and let cool down while you prep the remaining low carb Big Mac salad ingredients.
Prep The Salad Ingredients
Prepare the remaining salad ingredients by slicing the pickles, mincing the onion, shredding the cheese, and chopping the iceberg lettuce. Set aside.
Make The Sauce
In a small bowl, add all of the ingredients for the Big Mac sauce, including the mayo, pickle relish, ketchup, yellow mustard, sweetener, garlic salt, and onion powder.
Combine!
Lay the lettuce in the bottom of 4 bowls, or in as many low carb Big Mac salad bowls as you’re making. If you’re a hearty eater, this recipe might just be 2-3 servings.
Sprinkle the burger meat on top of the lettuce. Then add the pickles, onion, and shredded cheese. An alternative to sprinkling over the top of your salads would be to group each topping individually in a bowl. It adds a fancier presentation getting served that way.
Drizzle lots of Big Mac sauce over the salad or serve the dressing on the side. The sauce and yummy toppings are what give the salad so much flavor. Feel free to add as many pickles, onions, and cheese as desired. Enjoy!
How to Meal Prep Big Mac Salads
You can easily pre-assemble your Big Mac salad on your meal-prep days to have them ready during the week! Simply assemble the 4 salads in meal prep containers and leave the dressing off of it until ready to serve so the greens don’t get soggy.
Stored covered, your keto Big Mac salad will keep for up to 4-days in the fridge. And yes, cold ground beef in a salad is super good! No heating required.
Recipe Tips
- Use 80/20 ground sirloin for ground beef with lots of flavor! Almost fat free ground beef just seriously does not taste as good
- Adding 1Tbsp of oil to the pan for cooking adds a ton of flavor to your meat. It seems odd, I know, but it’s true.
- While a Big Mac traditionally only has lettuce and pickles, feel free to include additional vegetables like tomatoes to your liking.
- Try using cabbage or broccoli slaw in your Big Mac salad for a variation to lettuce.
- In a pinch, using Thousand island salad dressing or French dressing will work.
Common Questions
Is Big Mac Salad Healthy?
This salad version of the classic burger is a much healthier option than the drive-thru one. Removing the bread brings down the carb count tremendously. A traditional Big Mac contains 563 calories and a whopping 41 net carbs!
However, as with most things, your end product is only as healthy as the ingredients you use and the amount you consume. Be sure to include plenty of lettuce, pickles, onions, and beef, and be conscientious of the amount of dressing and cheese you add.
Oh, and watch those salad bowls! If your bowl is too large, you will be tempted to fill it up.
Is Big Mac Salad Keto?
Yes, Big Mac salad is keto – when you follow the recipe! Using pickles in the sauce instead of relish will keep the dish sugar-free, or be sure to find a relish that is low carb. If you feel it needs to be sweeter, increase the monk fruit a bit.
Just 3 Net carbs per serving! The ground beef, cheese, and pickles are all zero carb. The carbs are coming from the lettuce and sauce. It’s important to shred the cheese from a block since pre-shredded cheese adds potato starch and has carbs. Always check the labels you’re going to purchase for hidden carbs.
Can You Buy Big Mac Sauce?
While you can’t buy McDonald’s exact Big Mac sauce recipe, there are some on the market at grocery stores that taste very similar. Be on the lookout for grocery store brands that call a similar sauce “burger sauce” or “special sauce,” which will be found with condiments such as ketchup.
Is Big Mac Sauce Made Out of Thousand Island?
While Big Mac Sauce isn’t exactly Thousand Island dressing, it does taste very similar. Thousand Island essentially has many similar ingredients as burger special sauce but it’s a little bit thinner consistency.
More Low Carb Salad Recipes
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Big Mac in a Bowl (Big Mac Salad) Keto, Low Carb, GF
A take on the popular fast food burger turned into a healthy salad with cooked beef, shredded cheddar cheese, onions, pickles, seasoning, and sauce. If you're craving Big Macs, you'll love this fast food adaption.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (80/20)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4+ Dill pickles, sliced
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 1 head Iceberg lettuce
- 1/2 tsp Sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 2 Tbsp low carb pickle relish (or chopped pickle with juice)
- 1 Tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 tsp yellow mustard
- 1/4 tsp+ monk fruit (increase if using chopped pickle for the relish)
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
Instructions
Cook The Beef
Over medium-high heat, warm a large skillet and add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Add the ground beef, salt, pepper, and garlic clove. Stir and cook the ground beef until it's no longer pink in the middle, which will take about 6-7 minutes. Drain some of the grease.
Set aside and let cool down while you prep the remaining low carb Big Mac salad ingredients.
Prep The Salad Ingredients
Prepare the remaining salad ingredients by slicing the pickles, mincing the onion, shredding the cheese, and chopping the iceberg lettuce. Set aside.
Make The Sauce
In a small bowl, add all of the ingredients for the Big Mac sauce, including the mayo, pickle relish, ketchup, yellow mustard, sweetener, garlic salt, and onion powder.
Combine
Lay the lettuce in the bottom of 4 bowls, or for as many low carb Big Mac salad bowls as you're making. If you're a hearty eater, this recipe might just be 2 servings.
Sprinkle the burger meat on top of the lettuce. Then add the pickles, onion, and shredded cheese. An alternative to sprinkling over the top of your salads would be to group each topping individually in a bowl. It adds a fancier presentation getting served that way.
Drizzle lots of Big Mac sauce over the salad or serve the dressing on the side. The sauce and yummy toppings are what give the salad so much flavor. Feel free to add as many pickles, onions, and cheese as desired. Add salt and pepper to taste if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
While iceberg lettuce is traditional, swapping it out for butter lettuce or Romaine lettuce is a great option.
Tomatoes typically aren't found on a Big Mac, but feel free to add them for color or extra low carb veggies.
We used a minced white onion to stick to the original inspiration as much as possible, but feel free to use minced red onion instead.
Ground turkey or lean ground beef can be used to make a lighter option than full-fat cooked beef.
When you're in a hurry, swap out the homemade sauce for keto-friendly Thousand Island or Sir Kensington's Special Sauce (burger sauce).
Look for a sugar-free pickle relish to keep the carbs as low as possible.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 530Total Fat 44gSaturated Fat 17gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 32gCholesterol 140mgSodium 1143mgCarbohydrates 6gNet Carbohydrates 3gFiber 3gSugar 9gProtein 39g
Marcy says
I can’t believe how much this tastes like a Big Mac. This salad is spot on. I made the sauce according to the recipe but I left out the sweetener and it was great!
WholeLottaYum says
Thank you for reporting back Marcy! We’re so glad you loved the Big Mac salad 🙂 Jen
T says
I may try this again but make my own sauce. I think the bought sauce just wasn’t that great.
WholeLottaYum says
Homemade is always best but the store bought is decent in a pinch 🙂
Trish says
Loved this recipe. I had pre-cooked hamburger in the freezer and just reheated it. Was super quick to put together. Hit with my family. Would definitely recommend.
Cyndi says
I just made this for dinner…… we loved it! This really does taste just like a Big Mac without all the bread.
Tanya Albertson says
Where does the minced garlic come in to the recipe?
Linda says
This is a diabetic friendly recipe😊 Tasted great, even the husband enjoyed it and would like to have it again. Win-win!
Andrea says
Very yummy!! Actually taste like a Big Mac!
Chelsea says
Just tried this last night! it was super easy & had a a lot of great flavors. I was able to find the store sauce & used that vs. making my own. I love salad & this was a great way to break up the norm! Will keep this again for the future when I need to “shake up” my salad routine! Thanks for sharing!
Sarah says
This recipe was a fantastic, easy lunch! Thank you for the tip on the store bought sauce. We will def do this one again!!
WholeLottaYum says
We often use store-bought sauce for Big Mac Salad, since honestly, we don’t always have time to make homemade sauces either! 🙂
Rachel says
Had this tonight for our tea – delicious! Made the sauce myself, misread it and put the pickles in too (a mix of gherkins and capers) but was absolutely fine, still tasted fab. Enjoyed by all the family and will definitely make again