This Big Mac Salad is crispy bacon, browned ground beef, chopped romaine, shredded cheddar, and dill pickles tossed in a creamy homemade copycat Big Mac sauce. I bake the bacon at 425°F while the beef browns on the stove, blend the sauce in a food processor or blender, and chill the tossed salad for an hour before serving. It makes 8 hearty servings for dinner or for packed lunches over the next 2 to 3 days.
If you like my Jalapeño Popper Chicken Salad or my Reuben Bowls, this one belongs in the same rotation of salads that eat like a full meal. The cold romaine and sharp dill pickles play against the warm beef and salty bacon, and the sauce tastes like the drive-through version.
The dressing comes together from seven ingredients: mayo, sour cream, hamburger dill pickles, pickle juice, yellow mustard, a sweetener of your choice, and onion powder, blended smooth in a food processor or blender. Once the salad is tossed and has had at least an hour in the refrigerator, the flavors settle in and the whole bowl comes together. It keeps in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days, which makes it a good fit for packing lunches ahead of time. The sauce is also worth making in a larger batch, since it works just as well on grilled chicken or pork.
Every recipe on Real Balanced is tested before it’s published. Read about how we develop and test our recipes.
Reader Love
I created a group on Facebook, “My Favorite Recipes”. It is absolutely delicious. Making again today & preparing extra Big Mac sauce to have with chicken, pork & and other meats. Definitely, one of my favorite salads. Thanks!
Sherry
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- One bowl, all the flavors. Crispy bacon, seasoned ground beef, romaine, cheddar, and dill pickles hit every note of the classic burger, no bun required.
- The dressing does the work. A homemade copycat Big Mac sauce blends from just seven ingredients and coats the whole salad evenly in one go.
- Eight generous servings from one batch. This recipe is built for feeding a group or stocking the fridge, and it keeps in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
- Mostly hands-off cooking. The bacon goes in the oven at 425°F while the beef cooks on the stovetop. Both are done in about 20 minutes, and the rest is assembly.
- Strong for meal prep. Store the components separately with the dressing held on the side until serving so the romaine stays crisp, and you have lunches ready to go.
- Flexible from start to finish. Nearly every ingredient, from the protein and cheese to the dressing, has a workable swap, so the recipe is easy to adjust.
➡️ Ingredients
⏲ How to make this recipe
This is an overview of the recipe’s instructions. The full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Preheat Oven and Prep Baking Sheet: Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cook Bacon: Lay bacon strips atop the prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Bake the bacon in the preheated oven until crispy, about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the bacon. (Alternatively, bacon can be cooked on the stovetop over medium heat and drained of excess grease on a paper towel-lined plate.)
- Cook Ground Beef: While the bacon cooks, to a large skillet over medium-high heat, add ground beef and cook until browned and no longer pink, about 8 to 10 minutes, breaking up the meat while it cooks. Once cooked, remove the skillet from the burner, then stir in salt and pepper. Do not drain the grease from the skillet.
- Prepare Salad: Once the bacon has cooked, remove the baking sheet from the oven, allow the bacon to cool slightly, then crumble the bacon into a large mixing bowl. To that same bowl, add the cooked ground beef, romaine, shredded cheddar, and chopped pickles.
- Prepare Dressing and Add To Salad: In a high-speed blender or food processor, blend dressing ingredients until smooth. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
- Chill Salad Then Serve: Transfer salad to the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour. Serve chilled.
👉 Easy ingredient swaps
- Bacon: Turkey bacon works in place of pork bacon and can be cooked the same way in a 425°F oven.
- Ground beef: Lean ground beef patties work. Break them up while cooking. For a leaner option, ground turkey or ground chicken both work well here.
- Romaine: Iceberg lettuce is a solid swap and holds up well once dressed.
- Pickle slices: Sweet pickle relish can be used in place of hamburger dill pickle slices.
- Cheddar: Colby-Jack, American, Swiss, or a dairy-free shredded cheese all work in this salad.
- Mayonnaise: Greek yogurt is an easy swap for the mayo. If you’d rather skip making the copycat sauce from scratch, store-bought Thousand Island dressing is the closest ready-made stand-in.
- Sour cream: Greek yogurt works in place of sour cream as well, with a similar texture.
- Pickle juice: White wine vinegar, plain white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar can stand in for the dill pickle juice.
- Sweetener: Honey, maple syrup, or powdered monk fruit sweetener can all be used. Start with 1 teaspoon when substituting, then taste and add more if you like.
- Yellow mustard: Dijon or stone-ground mustard both swap in.
- Onion powder: Garlic powder can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio.
✨ Variations
- Stir in chopped Roma tomatoes or halved grape tomatoes for added freshness and color.
- Add a spoonful of ketchup to the dressing for more sweetness and a slightly richer flavor.
- Fold in sliced or cubed avocado right before serving. It adds a creamy contrast to the tangy dressing.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top right before serving for extra crunch that nods to the classic burger bun.
〰️ How to serve
- Alongside a cup of Creamy Italian Sausage Soup. The warm soup and cold salad make a good contrast.
- Topped with Air Fryer Croutons added at the very last minute so they stay crisp.
- With a toasted, buttered sesame seed bun or a slice of crusty bread on the side to lean into the burger theme.
- Alongside golden baked jicama fries or sweet potato fries.
💬 FAQs
How should I store Big Mac Salad?
Store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 2 to 3 days. If you are making this ahead of time, hold the dressing until you are ready to serve, since adding it too early will cause the romaine to wilt. The undressed components keep well and stay fresh for several days.
What is the best way to meal prep this salad?
Layer all of the salad components, except the dressing, in individual mason jars, leaving room at the top. When you are ready to eat, shake the jar to mix everything together, pour in the dressing, shake again, and serve. Keeping the dressing separate until eating time is the best way to keep the romaine crisp and make each jar a grab-and-go lunch for several days.
Why does the recipe say not to drain the grease from the beef?
The beef fat keeps the meat moist and adds flavor to the whole salad once everything is tossed together. It also helps the dressing coat each ingredient evenly. If you would prefer a leaner result, ground turkey or ground chicken are good protein swaps that produce less fat during cooking.
My copycat Big Mac sauce came out very thick. Is that normal, and how can I thin it out?
A thick sauce is common, especially when blending at high speed. To get a more pourable consistency, add a bit more pickle juice and yellow mustard, one small addition at a time, and blend until the sauce reaches the texture you want. Taste as you go, since both will shift the flavor of the finished dressing.
📚 More recipes to try
🍽 Recipe
Email Recipe
Enter your email below and we’ll send you this recipe!
Big Mac Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 8 ounces bacon
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 9 ounces romaine, ~1 ½ romaine hearts, roughly chopped
- 1 cup hamburger pickle slices, 30-35 slices/~125 grams, roughly chopped
- ¾ cup finely shredded cheddar cheese, 84 grams
Copycat “Big Mac Sauce” Dressing:
- ¼ cup mayonnaise, 60 grams
- ¼ cup sour cream, 60 grams
- 8-10 hamburger dill pickle slices, ~30 grams
- 1 tablespoon dill pickle juice
- 2 teaspoons sweetener of choice (sugar, monk fruit sweetener, etc.), 8 grams
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard, 5 grams
- ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prep Baking Sheet: Preheat oven to 425°F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cook Bacon: Lay bacon strips atop prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Bake bacon in preheated oven until crispy, about 15 to 20 minutes depending on thickness of bacon. (Alternatively, bacon can be cooked on stovetop over medium heat and drained of excess grease on paper towel-lined plate.)
- Cook Ground Beef: While bacon cooks, to a large skillet over medium-high heat, add ground beef and cook until browned and no longer pink, about 8 to 10 minutes, breaking up meat while it cooks. Once cooked, remove skillet from burner, then stir in salt and pepper. Do not drain grease from skillet.
- Prepare Salad: Once bacon has cooked, remove baking sheet from oven, allow bacon to cool slightly, then crumble bacon into a large mixing bowl. To bowl, add cooked ground beef, romaine, shredded cheddar, and chopped pickles.
- Prepare Dressing and Add to Salad: In a high-speed blender or food processor, blend dressing ingredients until smooth. Pour dressing over salad and stir until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Chill Salad Then Serve: Transfer salad to refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour. Serve chilled.
Leave a Reply