This meal takes a favorite cheeseburger and turns it into a delicious salad that’s better than any drive-through!
Crisp lettuce topped with seasoned ground beef, cheddar cheese, pickles, onions, and sesame seed croutons all drizzled with our own special sauce!
A Fave Cheeseburger Salad
- Much like a taco salad (with different flavors of course), this is a super quick weeknight meal.
- This salad has all of the flavors of your fave fast food restaurant but it’s much healthier (and fresher)!
- The dressing is an easy homemade thousand Island style dressing but you can use store bought if you prefer.
- You can use prepared croutons but we love to make our own out of sesame seed buns.
Ingredients
THE BEEF: Lean ground beef is browned and seasoned for juicy burger flavor in every bite! Seasoned with onion powder, salt and pepper but feel free to add garlic powder or even steak spice if you’d like!
THE SALAD: Chopped iceberg lettuce or romaine give this salad the crunch needed to hold up to the ground beef and pickles.
THE TOPPINGS: Pickles, onions, cheese, and croutons with our homemade version of big mac sauce. A sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds are great on top.
Other Additions
Add anything you add to a hamburger!
- tomatoes, fried mushrooms, avocado, caramelized onions
- a drizzle of bbq sauce
- hot peppers, sweet pickles
- crumbled bacon, blue cheese
A note on the onions, I find buying dehydrated onion flakes and rehydrating them gives a great flavor and reminds me of the onions found on a Big Mac. You can use fresh onions if you’d prefer.
How to Make Big Mac Salad
- Mix Dressing. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, longer is better.
- Cook Beef. Season and brown the beef (per the recipe below).
- Bake Croutons. Cut small croutons from burger buns and bake until crispy (or use store bought croutons).
- Assemble Salad.
What’s in Big Mac Sauce?
Mayonnaise and ketchup are the basics of this classic sauce. Pickles (or pickle relish, if time is short), onion flakes, a splash of vinegar, and some milk to make it creamy are all it takes!
How to Store
Keep leftover dressing in a jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to 5 days. Big Mac salad will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in a sealed container (store the meat separately so it can be headed and added).
Refresh by tossing and adding new lettuce and shredded cheddar cheese. Store dressing and salad ingredients separately.
Our Fave Salads
- Beet & Arugula Salad – colorful & delicious
- Chicken Caesar Salad – a light & crisp lunch
- Strawberry Spinach Salad – the perfect summer salad
- Blackened Salmon Salad – so healthy & flavorful
- BLT Salad – with creamy dressing
Did you make this Big Mac Salad? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Cheeseburger Salad (Big Mac Salad)
Ingredients
- 2 sesame seed hamburger buns or 1 cup prepared croutons
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ teaspoon each onion powder and garlic powder
- 1 head iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce washed and chopped
- 3 dill pickles sliced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or cubed processed cheese
- ½ cup thinly sliced onion or 2 tablespoons dehydrated onion flakes soaked in hot water to rehydrate*
- seasoned salt & pepper to taste
Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons French dressing or Heinz Chili Sauce
- 2 tablespoons dill pickle chopped
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons dehydrated onion flakes
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Mix all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes (so the dehydrated onion can soften).
Sesame Croutons
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cut small 1" circles out of a sesame seed bun (or cut into cubes). Lightly spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with little bit of seasoned salt.
- Place the "croutons" on a baking sheet and bake about 8 minutes or until crisp.
Salad Preparation
- Brown ground beef with onion powder and garlic powder until no pink remains. Drain fat and season with seasoned salt and pepper to taste.
- Place ¼ of the lettuce in each bowl. Top with beef, pickles, onions, cheese, and croutons.
- Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Notes
- To save on prep time, buy shredded cheese and washed lettuce.
- Sesame seed croutons can be replaced with regular croutons.
- Purchased Thousand Island Dressing can be used instead of homemade dressing.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Lunch, Salad
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Delicious! A wonderful dinner for a hot summer night
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Donna!
I added chopped bacon to make it a bacon cheeseburger salad! So good! Every last bite is gone.
I just done making the Bag Mac Salad. I am going to one big salad for my church’s fellowship. Which my church has the first Sunday of every month. I am going to salad together tomorrow so nothing will get soak up. I love the Big Mac burger. But I do not like lettuce and tomatoes on burgers and sandwiches
So glad you enjoyed it, John!
While not really tasting like a “Big Mac” (except for the thousand island dressing), it was still worthy of 5 stars — quick, easy & tasty. Very nice for a summer dinner. Hubby definitely wants to have this in our rotation meals. Rather than sprinkling the rehydrated onions on top of the salad, I stirred it directly into the cooked meat mixture after removing it from the heat. That way,It infused nicely into the meat. Oh, and really enjoyed the homemade croutons!
I gotta make this, & SOON! A Big Mac sandwich was my favorite lunch when I was a working gal. I’m now a stay-at-home wife & mom, so I haven’t had one in quite a while, since we don’t frequent fast-food joints very often. What a treat this is going to be, especially for me! Thanks Holly
You’re welcome! All the taste and memories come back for me!