This easy Big Mac Salad can be meal prepped in mason jars for lunches – it’s a healthy low-carb take on the classic cheeseburger!
What’s in this post
- Healthier Big Mac: It’s a healthier take on your favourite McDonald’s burger with whole ingredients.
- Meal prep friendly: Prep your salad in meal prep jars for an easy lunch idea.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Extra-lean ground beef – ground turkey would also work.
- Yellow onion – use white or red onion instead.
- Dill pickles – any type of pickle will work here.
- Plum tomatoes – swap out for red pepper or another veggie if you don’t like tomatoes.
- Cheddar cheese – any type of cheese will work.
- Romaine lettuce – use any type of lettuce like Boston leaf or spinach.
Big Mac sauce
- Light mayo – feel free to use regular fat mayo or vegan mayo.
- Ketchup – there’s no great substitute for this.
- Relish – you can chop up 1 tbsp pickles instead.
How to make Big Mac salad
Step 1: Cook the ground beef.
Brown in a skillet until fully cooked.
Step 2: Make the Big Mac sauce.
Mix the light mayo, ketchup and relish together.
Step 3: Prep your toppings.
Chop up the tomatoes, pickles and onions.
Step 4: Assemble or store your salad.
Toss all the ingredients together or layer the ingredients in mason jars and store for later.
Recipe tips
Make the best Big Mac salad:
- Ingredient prep: Make the sauce and cook the beef beforehand to save time.
- Use extra-lean beef: It’s the healthier option and won’t make the salad greasy.
- Meal prep in mason jars: They’ll layer the ingredients and prevent them from getting soggy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Big Mac sauce the same as thousand island dressing?
While they both have similar ingredients, the flavours are different. If you prefer, you can use store-bought or homemade thousand island dressing in this salad instead of the Big Mac sauce.
What kind of lettuce is best?
A traditional Big Mac is made with iceberg lettuce, but I use romaine lettuce since it’s a healthier option that tastes pretty much the same.
Do you reheat the beef or eat it cold?
If you store the salad in mason jars, you’ll have to eat it cold. If you prefer to eat it warm, store separately and reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Storage and meal prep
The best way to store this salad is in mason jars. Here’s how to layer your jars:
- Divide the Big Mac sauce evenly amongst the bottom of the jars
- Add the ground beef on top of the dressing
- Layer on the onions, pickles, tomatoes and cheese, finishing with the lettuce
- Store in the fridge for 5 days
You can also store the assembled salad in the fridge for 2-3 days without the sauce or 1 day with the sauce.
Meal prep tools
- These are the mason jars I use.
- And of course I get all my grass-fed beef from Butcher Box!
Easy Big Mac Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb extra-lean ground beef
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 cup dill pickles, chopped
- 2 plum tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
Big Mac sauce
- 1/2 cup light mayo
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp relish
Instructions
- Cook ground beef with salt in a medium-sized skillet over med-high heat until fat has absorbed and beef is fully cooked, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix Big Mac sauce ingredients together. Divide sauce among 4 mason jars. Top with ground beef, then layer with onions, pickles, tomatoes, cheese and lettuce.
- Store in the fridge up to 5 days – serve by dumping into a large bowl and enjoy!
Video
Comments & Reviews
Jill Murtaugh says
What are the amounts of each ingredient per jar of dressing? Or does the batch get divvied up between each jar?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Jill – the entire batch gets divied up between each jar!
Patti says
All that sugar in the ketchup = high carb – 15 carbs for 1 salad is huge if on a low carb plan.
Ceilidh says
I have just recently stumbled upon your website and quickly have become obsessed! I think I’ve pinned 2/3 of your recipes! I made this salad for myself tonight. My husband, who isn’t much of a salad guy, was ogling over it the whole time. When I told him what it was, he was even more excited by it. Particularly the fact that it had pickles and Big Mac sauce. He told me to make him one next time I make it 😉 Can’t wait! It was delicious.
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you so much!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed!!! 🙂
Jenny says
Would the sauce work without mayo?
Taylor Stinson says
You could try it with sour cream instead although that would make it entirely different tasting. I would not recommend making the sauce with just the rest of the ingredients minus the mayo though.
Jessica says
What kind of relish do you use? I’m assuming a sweet green relish, but I wonder if a dill relish would be even better!
I may try this and report back!
Taylor Stinson says
I use a sweet green relish but you could use dill 🙂
Jennifer says
Making this today for work. Will have to do a Big Mac sauce comparison with the real stuff since that’s where I work. Looking forward to trying this
Taylor Stinson says
So happy to hear that Jennifer! Let me know how you like it 🙂
Sam says
Love this! I prefer this to an actual burger now, the bun just gets me feeling so full. But with this salad I get my burger craving but I don’t feel way too stuffed after. Definitely making this again next weekend – thanks for sharing!
Taylor Stinson says
Yay!! So happy you liked it Sam 🙂
Kristen says
I made these last night for my weekday lunches. As I was prepping I started to question my choices and this recipe…I shouldn’t have! This salad was delicious, I didn’t miss the bun at all and I all but licked my plate clean!
Taylor Stinson says
Ahhh I’m so happy to hear that Kristen!!! I know sometimes it’s hard to cut out carbs but the dressing in this salad makes it worth it I think hehe
Germain Carle says
The big debate between my wife and I is do you eat cold or warm?
I tried both and prefer the warm version, like a warm Big Mac!!!!!
thanks we do enjoy your jar recepies, great to bring to work!!
Nancy says
This sounds so delicious and easy to prepare.. Great idea for work.
You’re a very smart girl! Love all your recipes.
Taylor Stinson says
Aww thank you so much Nancy!!! You just made my day!!! 🙂