Home » Recipes » Salads » Low Carb Big Mac Salad {Meal Prep}
By Taylor Stinson | 56 Comments | Posted: | Updated:
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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
What kind of lettuce is best for Big Mac salad?
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!
Do you reheat the beef or eat it cold?
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.
How do you make this salad vegetarian?
If you want to make this salad vegetarian, swap out the ground beef for your favourite ground meat substitute like Beyond Meat.
What is the best size mason jar to use?
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 themason jarsI 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}
This Low Carb Big Mac Salad can be meal prepped in mason jars for lunches – it's a healthy take on the classic cheeseburger!
4.80 from 88 votes
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Servings: 4 jars
Calories: 426kcal
Author: Taylor Stinson
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
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
Notes
Mason Jar Salads: Layer the dressing on the bottom followed by the beef, onions, pickles, tomatoes, cheese and lettuce. Store in the fridge for 5 days.
Swap out the Big Mac sauce forThousand Island dressing,French dressing,mustard vinaigretteorGreek dressing.
Make this salad even healthier by using ground turkey instead of ground beef.
Store the salad in the fridge for 2-3 days without dressing, or 1 day with the dressing.
You can store and reheat the ground beef separately if you prefer it warm.
Freeze the ground beef for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight then use it to make fresh salads.
Nutrition
Calories: 426kcal (21%)Carbohydrates: 15g (5%)Protein: 29g (58%)Fat: 28g (43%)Saturated Fat: 10g (63%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 92mg (31%)Sodium: 1041mg (45%)Potassium: 422mg (12%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 9g (10%)Vitamin A: 1050IU (21%)Vitamin C: 19mg (23%)Calcium: 40mg (4%)Iron: 3.1mg (17%)
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Created by Taylor Stinson
Hey there, my name's Taylor! I’m the founder of The Girl on Bloor, a food blog where I share healthy meal prep recipes for busy people. I'm a busy city girl living in downtown Toronto on (you guessed it!) Bloor Street. I've got 10 years experience meal prepping, along with a Master's degree in journalism, and you can find my work across the internet featured on publications such as Buzzfeed, HuffPost, Women's Health, Reader's Digest and more. I'm also the founder of Dinner Prep Pro, which is a meal prep app and community that helps busy people get more time back, save money on food and reduce stress during the work week. Thanks for being here and I hope to inspire you with my recipes and meal planning tips!
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David says
Sooo good!Reply
4.80 from 88 votes (84 ratings without comment)
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