This quick and easy-to-make Big Mac Salad contains all of your favorite flavors from McDonald’s Big Mac burger and serves it as a salad in a bowl.
Loaded with ground beef, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and drizzled with dressing, this gluten-free, low-carb recipe is ready in 20 minutes and is a healthier way to enjoy the guilty pleasure of fast food at home without the guilt!
Cheeseburger Salad is a low-carb burger in a bowl!
Skip the drive-thru because this homemade Big Mac Salad recipe is made with fresh ingredients, it’s always best to know what’s in your meal; it’s simply a classic combination of browned ground beef, crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, shredded cheese, subtly sweet red onion, and salty dill pickles, all finished with a creamy Thousand Island dressing.
This Cheeseburger Salad tastes just like a Big Mac without the bun and is even more satisfying as it’s fast-food counterpart–my favorite way to eat a bunless burger in a bowl!
This protein-packed low-carb meal will keep you feeling full for hours and can fit perfectly into a keto diet plan. But making a low-carb version of this McDonald’s burger involves more than just removing the bread and side of fries.
Sauces and dressings are sneaky sources of carbs and contain high amounts of sugar. While I love the creamy, tangy taste of Thousand Island dressing as a salad topper in this recipe, you can easily make your own copycat Big Mac sauce with a simple mixture of mustard, garlic, paprika, and sweet pickle relish.
Looking for more easy-to-make low-carb recipes? My Cauliflower Mac and Cheese, Cauliflower Fried Rice, Easy Mozzarella Chicken, Egg Bites, and Zucchini Noodles are delicious dishes!
More Low Carb Dinner Recipes
Why we love this Cheeseburger Salad Recipe
- Quick and easy to make without the worry about forming burger patties.
- Only uses 6 real ingredients plus dressing.
- Packed with protein to fill you up.
- All of your favorite Big Mac flavors with fewer carbs and calories (and it’s gluten-free).
- Easy to customize with your preferred toppings and add-ins.
- Homemade, healthier version of a fast food meal.
- Perfect for lunch or dinner when you crave the drive thru counterpart.
What you’ll need for this Big Mac Salad Recipe
- 1½ pounds very lean ground beef
- 6 cups chopped iceberg lettuce
- 1½ cups shredded Colby jack cheese (you can also use shredded cheddar cheese)
- 1 cup diced Roma tomatoes
- 1 cup sliced red onion
- ½ cup diced dill pickles
- Thousand Island dressing
Recommended Tools
- Extra-large serving bowl
- Measuring tools
- Serving spoons
Keto Big Mac Salad substitutions and additions
- More Meat Options: Ground turkey breast, ground chicken, or another beef alternative would be a great swap for the ground beef. Or, if you have leftover grilled burgers from another meal, you can chop them up and use them in your salad.
- Types of Tomato: While I love Roma tomatoes, any type of tomato you have will work perfectly in this salad. Feel free to try sliced grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or vine-ripened tomatoes.
- Leafy Lettuce: You can change out the iceberg lettuce for a darker leafy green, which has more vitamins and minerals than standard iceberg. Some darker leafy greens include romaine, red leaf or green leaf, butter lettuce, or even spinach. A combination of lettuce types works too.
- Tasty Toppings: Customize your salad with your favorite toppings like jalapenos, avocados, sour cream, or roasted veggies. You can even add toasted sesame seeds for the same flavor of the sesame seed buns.
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How to make Big Mac Salad
It is so easy to replicate the taste of a Big Mac, but serving it as a burger without-the-bun salad. This quick and simple recipe is packed with protein and fresh ingredients.
- Add your chopped lettuce to the bottom of your serving bowl.
- Sprinkle cooked ground beef over the lettuce.
Pro Tip: To brown the ground beef, cook it over medium-high heat and then drain it before adding it to the salad. - Top the meat with shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, sliced onion, and diced pickles.
- Toss to combine.
- Drizzle your dressing over the top of the salad.
Pro Tip: You can add as much or as little salad dressing as you like.
- Serve and enjoy!
Tips
- You can batch cook the ground beef ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer to make this recipe even quicker to assemble. Brown the ground beef over medium-high heat, drain, and let it cool before storing it in a Ziploc bag.
- Feel free to serve the basic salad as a “build your own bowl.” Place the toppings in separate bowls so that everyone can adjust the amount of each topping they’d like to add to their salad.
- For a portable meal, make your salad in a mason jar and take it on the go!
How to serve this Big Mac Salad Recipe
To serve this Big Mac Salad Recipe, simply divide the salad into individual bowls or plates. Garnish with sesame seeds and diced pickles, and drizzle the special sauce over the top. Enjoy!
How to store Cheeseburger Salad
- To Store: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Big Mac Salad Keto FAQs
No, you can’t freeze this salad! You CAN, however, prepare the meat, vegetables, and the dressing ahead of time.
You can absolutely make this salad ahead of time, but don’t assemble it until you are ready to eat it. Simply cook the ground beef, dice the lettuce, tomatoes, and other toppings, and leave off the dressing. Then when you are ready to serve the salad, warm up the meat and put the salad together–perfect for meal prepping.
Yes, you can make your own creamy sauce with a simple combination of mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle juice, mustard, vinegar, paprika, and onion powder. Or for a lower-carb sauce, try a mixture of mustard, garlic, paprika, and sweet pickle relish.
Thousand Island dressing is a component of Big Mac sauce, but Big Mac sauce typically has additional ingredients to create its distinctive flavor.
Big Mac sauce is typically made of mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, yellow mustard, distilled vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. The exact recipe may vary slightly depending on the source.
Other Easy Salad Recipes
- Olive Garden Salad
- Caprese Pasta Salad
- Easy Cucumber Salad
- Panera Fuji Apple Salad
- Mexican Pasta Salad
- Sub Sandwich in a Bowl
- Salad Supreme Pasta Salad
- Lemon Parmesan Salad
- Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad
Cheeseburger Salad
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds very lean ground beef browned and drained
- 6 cups chopped iceberg lettuce
- 1½ cups shredded Colby jack cheese
- 1 cup diced Roma tomatoes
- 1 cup sliced red onion
- ½ cup diced dill pickles
- Thousand Island dressing
Instructions
- Add the chopped lettuce to an extra-large serving bowl.
- Sprinkle the cooked ground beef over the lettuce.
- Sprinkle the shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, sliced onion, and diced dill pickles over the ground beef. Toss to combine.
- Drizzle as much or as little dressing as you like over the top of the salad. Serve immediately.
Jenn’s Notes
- You can batch cook the ground beef ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer to make this recipe even quicker to assemble. Brown the ground beef over medium-high heat, drain, and let it cool before storing it in a Ziploc bag.
- Feel free to serve the basic salad as a “build your own bowl.” Place the toppings in separate bowls so that everyone can adjust the amount of each topping they’d like to add to their salad.
- For a portable meal, make your salad in a mason jar and take it on the go!
I made it and I really liked it and so did my daughter. Thumbs up!
Definitely going to make the Big Mac Salad. How much is one serving?
I love it
What can you use in place of thousand island dressing. Don’t like mayonaise
More recipes please
Excellent blog! Your recipe is fantastic. It’s certainly on my list of favorite foods.