This Low Carb Big Mac Salad can be meal prepped in mason jars for lunches – it's a healthy take on the classic cheeseburger!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Extra-lean ground beef – you can totally use ground turkey or chicken to make these jars even healthier.
- Yellow onion – any type of onion will do.
- Dill pickles – any type of pickle will work, but dill pickles will give you that signature burger flavour.
- Plum tomatoes – Big Macs technically don't have tomatoes so feel free to leave these out. I just like to add a bit more colour and nutrition to my salad.
- Cheddar cheese – any type of cheese will work.
- Romaine lettuce – iceberg lettuce is more authentic to a Big Mac but this particular lettuce isn't as nutritious as romaine or other types of leaf lettuce. Romaine has a similar crunch to iceberg but packs more nutrition in per serving so that's why I use it with these jars. Feel free to use spinach, kale, arugula, Boston lettuce or any other type of greens you'd prefer to switch it up!
Big Mac sauce
- Light mayo – feel free to use regular fat mayo or vegan mayo; unfortunately, Greek yogurt or sour cream will not give you that signature flavour, so mayo is the way to go here.
- Ketchup – there's no great substitute for this.
- Relish – you can chop up 1 tbsp of pickles instead.
How to make Big Mac salad
Step 1: Cook the ground beef.
Brown the ground beef in a skillet until the beef is fully cooked.
Step 2: Make the Big Mac sauce.
Mix together the light mayo, ketchup and relish to make the sauce.
Step 3: Assemble your salad.
Toss the ground beef, lettuce, onion, pickles, tomatoes and cheese with the Big Mac sauce and serve, or meal prep the salads for later.
The best Big Mac sauce
Making your own sauce for this Big Mac salad recipe is super easy – all you need is light mayo, ketchup and relish. There are tons of Big Mac sauce copycat recipes out there with other ingredients, but I find that these three are really all you need. There are also now versions of Big Mac sauce that you can buy at the store. Feel free to keep a jar in the refrigerator and add it to your salad!
If you want, you can even try out different salad dressings. These would all be good on this salad:
- Thousand Island dressing (the ingredients are very similar to what you will find in this Big Mac sauce)
- French dressing
- Mustard vinaigrette (it tastes just like one of the burger toppings!)
- Salsa will make it taste more like a taco
- Greek dressing will give it the feel of a gyro
Frequently Asked Questions
A traditional Big Mac is made with iceberg lettuce, but for this Big Mac salad, I used romaine lettuce since it’s a bit more nutritious. You can always use iceberg lettuce, I just find that romaine is a healthier option that tastes pretty much the exact same!
If you're meal prepping this salad, you'll have to eat the beef cold, since it will already be mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. If you'd prefer to have the ground beef reheated, store it separately from the rest of the ingredients and reheat it on its own on the stovetop or in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
If you want to make this salad vegetarian, swap out the ground beef for your favourite ground meat substitute like Beyond Meat.
I like using these 16-ounce mason jars for my salads. They're the perfect portion size!
Storing this salad
If you've already assembled your Big Mac salad, you can store it in the fridge for 2-3 days with the sauce on the side or for 1 day with the sauce already on. Pull it out of the fridge, toss it in the sauce and dig in!
If you'd prefer to have the ground beef warmed up, store it separately from the rest of the salad and reheat it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or on the stovetop.
Meal prep tips
One of my favourite ways to meal prep salads is to use mason jars! If you assemble your salads in jars, they'll last in the fridge for up to 5 days. Here's how to layer your salad 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.
- Finish with the lettuce and store!
Once you're ready to eat your salad, dump everything into a bowl or on a plate and dig in. You can eat your salad straight out of the jar, but it can be a bit tricky.
You can also make the Big Mac sauce ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to a week in a mason jar. It's a great sauce for burgers and fries, too! The ground beef can also be cooked and frozen up to 3 months in advance. Let it defrost in the fridge overnight, then use it in your fresh salad.
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Meal Prep Tools
- These are the mason jars I use.
- You can even get Big Mac sauce online if you're too lazy to make the sauce.
- And of course I get all my grass-fed beef from Butcher Box!
- **Get my full list of tools here**
Low Carb Big Mac Salad {Meal Prep}
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!
Comments & Reviews
Barbara says
I know this is going to sound crazy but can you heat it up before you eat it…. Maybe 20 second so the meat is not so cold. May pack the meat separate… thoughts
Taylor Stinson says
If you’d like the meat to be hot then I recommend packing the meat separately.
Rebecca says
Toronto girl here! I’m converting this to a veggie salad using vegan mayo, and Beyond Beef. Still adding cheese, but I can’t wait to try it!
Lyd Walls says
Omg! This was insanely delicious and tasted exactly like a Big Mac!! This one is on regular rotation!! I used Beyond Meat plant based ground and baby kale spring mix in place of romaine. DEE- LISH!!!
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed 🙂
Lindsey Riddle says
Is this 15g or carbs per jar? Or 15g total for the four jars combined?
Taylor Stinson says
It’s per jar.
Meg says
Hi! Could I make this recipe and put in a meal prep container instead of a jar?
Taylor Stinson says
Yes you could for sure! I might pack the lettuce separately though, or at least ensure it’s far from the dressing to avoid sogginess.
Emily M. says
Did you use a light mayo? Just curious with regards to nutritional information. It looks good and I am ready to try it for my new high-protein, low-carb lunch ideas!
Taylor Stinson says
Yes I do use light mayo! I will adjust the ingredient list to specify further 🙂
Dianne says
Those look delicious. With the ingredients for the salads the tomatoes, pickles, lettuce etc for each jar or devided between the 4 jars?
Taylor Stinson says
All of the ingredients are divided among the 4 jars 🙂
Shawn R. says
How big of a Mason jar did you use?
Taylor Stinson says
One litre!
Chantal says
Really good and easy to make. I added a bit of apple cider vinegar to thin the dressing out a bit. I was having trouble getting it all to mix in the jar. Might thin it with a bit of pickle juice instead next time.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed! Even adding a little bit of water works if you’d like a thinner consistency 🙂
Jennifer Rossman says
This sounds delicious! Just wanted to double check – did you use sweet relish for the dressing?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Jennifer! Yes, I did 🙂