Cheeseburger Salad Recipe – It’s easy to turn your favorite fast food craving into a delicious low-carb Big Mac Salad loaded with mini burger patties, cheese, pickles, and a tangy homemade Big Mac Sauce!

Loaded Big Mac cheeseburger salad with shredded lettuce, ground beef, halved grape tomatoes, shredded cheese, pickles, and sliced green onion.

Why We Love Big Mac Salad

If you’re craving a burger but trying to stick to a low-carb diet our Big Mac Salad Recipe is just what you need!

This easy cheeseburger salad AKA “burger in a bowl” is made by sizzling chunks of ground beef in a skillet to create little burger bites. Then pile the burger pieces on top of fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, and of course “special” homemade Big Mac Sauce. Or in a pinch, you can buy store-bought Thousand Island dressing, which is similar.

Spoonful of creamy Big Mac sauce being drizzled over the burger salad.

Ingredients You Need + Variations

For the Burger –

  • Ground beef – lean ground beef or ground turkey
  • Onion powder – or garlic powder, optional, but delicious
  • Salt and pepper – a bit of each to season the mini burger patties

For the Hamburger Salad –

  • Romaine lettuce – or iceberg lettuce, chopped
  • Cherry tomatoes – or grape tomatoes, halved
  • Green onions – thinly sliced to garnish
  • Shredded cheddar cheese – or try shredded colby jack or spicy pepper jack.
  • Pickles – store-bought or sliced homemade dill pickles
  • Big Mac sauce – try our fabulous homemade Big Mac Sauce, or you can use Thousand Island dressing
Recipe ingredients on a cutting board: Piles of shredded cheese, halved tomatoes, sliced green onions, and a small glass of pickle slices.

How to Make a Cheeseburger Salad

First, prep the ingredients: Chop the romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and green onions. Shred the cheddar cheese, and drain the pickles. 

Set a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Set a holding plate to the side of the stovetop. Working in batches, drop chunks of ground beef into the skillet. Sprinkle with onion powder salt and pepper. Then use a flat spatula to smash the ground beef into the pan.

Fry the little burger pieces for 2-3 minutes per side. Then move them to the holding plate. Repeat until all the ground beef is cooked.

Hand with spatula cooking mini burgers in a skillet.

Arrange the chopped romaine on four dinner plates. Then top with the cooked burger bites, cherry tomatoes, chopped scallions, shredded cheese, and dill pickles.

Drizzle with Big Mac sauce and serve.

Get the Complete (Printable) Big Mac Salad Recipe + VIDEO Below. Enjoy!

Loaded Big Mac cheeseburger salad with shredded lettuce, ground beef, halved grape tomatoes, shredded cheese, pickles, and sliced green onion.

Big Mac Sauce vs Thousand Island Dressing

We linked to our fabulous Big Mac Sauce recipe below so you can quickly make up a batch for this salad. However, if you don’t have time to make it from scratch, you can use Thousand Island Dressing for this salad recipe.

What’s the difference?

Our homemade copycat big mac sauce contains mayonnaise, ketchup, yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish, and spices like paprika, garlic, and onion. Thousand Island is a simplified version, with white vinegar instead of mustard. It tastes similar, but in my opinion, the flavors in the BMS are a bit more robust!

Spoonful of creamy Big Mac sauce being drizzled over the burger salad.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of pickle does McDonald’s use?

Traditional Big Macs are topped with sliced dill pickles. But feel free to mix things up and add sweeter bread and butter pickles, if you like!

Can this recipe be made ahead?

You can prep the different hamburger salad elements ahead of time! Make the mini burger patties, chop the produce, shred the cheese, and whip up a batch of mac sauce a day or two in advance. Then store everything in individual airtight containers and keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble.

How long do leftovers last?

The different components will keep well in separate containers in the fridge for up to 3 days or so. The sauce will stay fresh for up to a week in the fridge.

Big mac burger salad with shredded lettuce, ground beef, halved grape tomatoes, shredded cheese, pickles, and sliced green onion, all topped with a drizzle of Thousand island dressing.

Looking for More Satisfying Salad Recipes? Be Sure to Try:

Big mac burger salad with shredded lettuce, ground beef, halved grape tomatoes, shredded cheese, pickles, and sliced green onion, all topped with a drizzle of Thousand island dressing.
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Big Mac Salad Recipe + VIDEO

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
This easy recipe turns your favorite fast food craving into a delicious low-carb Big Mac cheeseburger salad loaded with mini burger patties, cheese, pickles, and homemade Big Mac sauce!
Servings: 4 salads

Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

For the Burger –

For the Salad –

Instructions

  • Chop the romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and green onions. Shred the cheddar cheese, and drain the pickles.
  • Set a large skillet over medium heat. Set a holding plate to the side of the stovetop. Working in batches, drop chunks of ground beef into the skillet. Sprinkle with onion powder, salt, and pepper. Then use a flat spatula to smash the ground beef into the pan. Fry the little burger pieces for 2-3 minutes per side. Then move them to the holding plate. Repeat until all the ground beef is cooked.
  • Arrange the chopped romaine on four dinner plates. Then top with the cooked burger bites, cherry tomatoes, chopped scallions, shredded cheese, and dill pickles. Drizzle with Big Mac sauce and serve.

Video

Notes

Meal Prep and Storage Tips: You can make the mini burger patties, chop the produce, shred the cheese, and whip up a batch of mac sauce a day or two in advance. Then store everything in individual containers and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble.
The different components will keep well in separate containers in the fridge for up to 3+ days. The sauce will keep well for up to a week.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl, Calories: 671kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 29g, Fat: 55g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g, Monounsaturated Fat: 17g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 125mg, Sodium: 1021mg, Potassium: 768mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 8043IU, Vitamin C: 17mg, Calcium: 290mg, Iron: 4mg
Course: Lunch, Main, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Low Carb
Author: Sommer Collier
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