• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Whole Lotta Yum  logo

  • Home
  • Recipes by Meal
    • Breakfast
    • Beef
    • Pork
    • Mexican
    • Salads
    • Potatoes
    • Chicken
    • Snacks & Appetizers
    • Lunches
    • Soups
    • Italian
    • Asian Recipes
    • Side Dishes
    • Dinners
    • Casseroles
    • Desserts
    • Sauces & Seasonings
  • By Diet
    • Low Carb
    • Keto
    • Gluten Free
    • Dairy Free
    • Paleo
    • Vegan
    • Vegetarian
    • Weight Watchers
    • Whole30
  • By Method
    • Instant Pot
    • Air Fryer
    • Slow Cooker
    • Oven
    • Skillet Meals
    • 30 Mins or Less
    • No Cook
  • Resources
    • Kitchen Tips
    • Keto Resources
    • Whole30 Resources
  • Say Hello
    • About Us
  • Keto Diet Tracker
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
Home » Keto » Big Mac in a Bowl (Big Mac Salad) Keto, Low Carb, GF

Big Mac in a Bowl (Big Mac Salad) Keto, Low Carb, GF

Published: Jun 10, 2020 · Modified: Jun 10, 2020 by WholeLottaYum · This post may contain affiliate links · Find our privacy policy here

Jump to Recipe

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.

big mac in a bowl with sauce

A printable recipe card is at the bottom of the post

This post may include affiliate links, including links to Amazon products.  Read the full disclosure here.

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.

Jump to:
  • What is Big Mac Salad?
  • Ingredients for Big Mac in a Bowl
  • Making Your Big Mac Salad
  • How to Meal Prep Big Mac Salads
  • Recipe Tips
  • Common Questions
  • Big Mac in a Bowl (Big Mac Salad) Keto, Low Carb, GF
 

big mac salad recipe in a bowl with a side of sauce

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

Making Your Big Mac Salad

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.

keto big mac salad in meal prep containers

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 over 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 to 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.

More Low Carb Salad Recipes

  • Keto Cobb Salad
  • Keto Taco Salad
  • Low Carb Broccoli Salad with Bacon
  • Italian Antipasto Salad

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow us on Instagram, and Facebook!

And be sure to pin the recipe for later on Pinterest so you can easily get back to it! 

V     V     V

big mac in a bowl recipe pin for Pinterest

WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Have questions or feedback? Please ask questions or post feedback on the post comments.

Tap That Recipe Review Star! Be sure to leave a review after you make the Big Mac in a bowl recipe or just tap the star rating you’d give the recipe! 

Show Us Those Photos! Be sure to upload your keto Big Mac salad recipe photos on the Pinterest pin and/or tag us on Instagram at @wholelotta.yum! We LOVE featuring reader recipes!

Continue to Content
big mac in a bowl with sauce

Big Mac in a Bowl (Big Mac Salad) Keto, Low Carb, GF

Yield: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

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 swapping 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. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 530Total Fat 44gSaturated Fat 17gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 32gCholesterol 140mgSodium 1143mgCarbohydrates 6gNet Carbohydrates 3gFiber 3gSugar 9gProtein 39g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

© Jen Koel
Cuisine: American / Category: Salads
Previous Post: « Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks
Next Post: Bourbon Baked Beans (Pressure Cooker) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah says

    July 12, 2020 at 4:25 pm

    This recipe was a fantastic, easy lunch! Thank you for the tip on the store bought sauce. We will def do this one again!!

    Reply
    • WholeLottaYum says

      July 21, 2020 at 3:58 am

      We often use store-bought sauce for Big Mac Salad, since honestly, we don’t always have time to make homemade sauces either! 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

 

jen pigtails in the kitchen image

Hello! Welcome to our online kitchen! I’m Jen, a full-time recipe creator and food photographer behind Whole Lotta Yum. Our site focuses on mostly healthy recipes that are organized by diet type/food restrictions. We also have lots of easy 30 minute dinners, air fryer recipes, and Instant Pot too.

Learn About Us

Keto Recipes

the buffalo chicken dip keto recipe in a white dish

Buffalo Chicken Dip (Keto, GF, Low Carb)

cooking bacon in air fryer on a white plate after it's done

Cooking Bacon in Air Fryer +Tips & Tricks!

keto air fryer recipes collage of ideas

30 Air Fryer Keto Recipes

sugar free chocolate mints after cooking on a white plate with a white background

Keto Chocolate Mint Buttons

sugar free cranberry sauce recipe in a white bowl

Keto Cranberry Sauce Recipe

keto friendly appetizers collage of recipes

21 Keto Friendly Appetizers

More

Trending

ground beef zucchini casserole in a skillet on a white background after cooking

Ground Beef Zucchini Casserole (Keto, Low Carb, GF)

pan fried chicken tenders

How to Pan Fry Chicken Tenders (No Breading)

how to cook bratwurst without a grill

Air Fryer Brats

stuffed peppers no rice

The Best Stuffed Peppers Without Rice (Low Carb!)

sites we are featured on
  • Disclosures & Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Contact Page
  • Home

Copyright © 2021 Whole Lotta Yum on the Seasoned Pro Theme