Ready in just 15 minutes, this recipe for a Big Mac in a bowl is packed with veggies and protein to keep you feeling full and satisfied! Perfect for a quick weeknight meal and it’s even meal prep friendly! Copycat Big Mac sauce recipe included!
Why This Recipe Works
Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with going through a drive thru, ordering a Big Mac, and devouring it. No need to feel guilty after eating it, no need to “make up” for it by eating only carrots. But part of intuitive eating and living without food rules, which is my personal food philosophy, you also want to do some gentle nutrition and notice how different foods make you feel.
I don’t know about you, but having a Big Mac every day? Not going to make me feel super great. So, enter this big mac in a bowl!
Friday’s are also known as “hamburger salad night” in my household. Every week we look forward to having this Big Mac salad! So delish!
Ingredients Needed
For The Hamburger Salad
For The Big Mac Dressing
How To Make This Recipe
First you’re going to want to cut all of your veggies: the lettuce, onions, and tomatoes.
You’re going to want to make some french fries. Typically, I’ll either make some of my air fryer seasoned potatoes and cut them fry style, or make some air fryer frozen french fries.
Then, you can cook your beef. Simply brown this is a pan over medium-high heat with the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and salt.
To make your Big Mac sauce simply combine everything in a blender, I like to use my small single cup Ninja blender attachment, and pulse 3-4 times until it’s smooth.
Then, assemble your salads by first laying down the lettuce, then adding the pickles, tomatoes, onion, french fries, ground meat, then cheese.
After that, top it with a drizzle of the Big Mac sauce and enjoy!
Hamburger Salad FAQ’s
Totally! Sometimes we use beef, sometimes we use turkey, heck, I’ve even just cut chicken in to bite sized pieces and sautéd that up in the pan if we’re out of ground meat!
Absolutely! Feel free to make any adjustments you like to this hamburger salad! I have a great recipe for some air fryer sweet potato fries which turn out perfectly crisp every time, thanks to a special secret ingredient!
I like to use just plain ol’ ice berg lettuce for this big mac in a bowl. I think it most closely resembles the Big Mac and is most crisp, however you can totally use whatever you like!
The Big Mac sauce recipe won’t go bad quickly. I usually keep it in the fridge for about 5-7 days. Sometimes we will have extra and I’ll use it again if we have fries, chicken tenders, air fryer frozen chicken wings in the following days. It makes a great dipping sauce, too!
Expert Tips
If you’re looking to make this Big Mac in a bowl recipe as part of meal prep here is what you’ll do:
- Put your lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and cheese together into a container
- Place your fries and ground meat into another container
- Keep your Big Mac sauce dressing in a small separate container
- When you’re ready to eat you can heat up your fries and meat in the microwave for ~60 seconds then add to the lettuce container
- Then, top with the dressing and enjoy!
I hope you make Big Mac salad a weekly tradition, like it is in our house!
Other Recipes You Might Like:
If you’re just as obsessed with this hamburger salad recipe as I am be sure to leave a star rating on the recipe card and a comment!
XOXO
Big Mac In A Bowl – Hamburger Salad
Ingredients
For The Big Mac In A Bowl
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4-6 cups of shredded lettuce
- 2 to matoes sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced pickles
- 1/2 redo onion sliced
- 1/2 sweet onion sliced
- potatoes or frozen french fries cooked
- Cheese optional
For The Big Mac Dressing
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 2 tsp mustard
- 2 pieces of sliced pickle
- 2 tsp honey
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp white vinegar
- Dash of paprika
Instructions
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat brown the ground beef, adding ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and salt as you cook it. Be sure the ketchups, Worcestershire sauce, and salt are evenly incorporated.
- If needed, cook your potatoes or french fries (I use either air fryer seasoned potatoes or air fryer frozen french fries!)
- Assemble salads by laying the following: lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, potatoes, potatoes and ground meat. Top with cheese, if desired.
- To make your dressing simply combine all dressing ingredients (mayo, mustard, pickle slices, honey, onion powder, garlic powder, vinegar and paprika in a blender and pulse 3-4 times until evenly incorporated and pickles are in small chunks. If you do not have a blender you can chop up the pickles and whisk everything together.
- Pour your dressing over your salad and dive on into your big mac in a bowl!
Video
Notes
- May sub any ground meat you like
- Feel free to use whatever type of french fry you like
Carissa says
This is such a good recipe for a crazy Monday. I was able to prep the majority of it this weekend and the family loved it. So good!
Abby says
Absolutely amazing! Tastes just like a big mac to me. The dressing is really the star here. Be aware that the dressing is pretty thick and strong so a little goes a long way.
Colleen says
Hi Abby! So glad you loved! Totally agree a little goes a long way- SO much flavor!
Jocelin says
Shaina says
I have meal prepped this for the past two weeks for my lunches to bring to work —it is so yummy! I doubled the recipe for the sauce and have plenty for several salads. It is super easy once you are familiar with what ingredients to use, despite it looking like there’s a lot to the sauce. So so yummy and such a fun lunch. Thanks for the great recipe, Colleen!
Sarah says
Colleen! This is so delicious!!!! Def going into the regular rotation! I veganized it (since I’m vegan), using vegan versions of all the non-vegan things. 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤗
Amy says
This recipe was AMAZING!! The only different thing I did was I added some ketchup to the sauce mix!