For more hearty, meal-size salad bowls, the Jalapeño Popper Chicken Salad and the Reuben Bowls are two other recipes worth having in rotation.
There’s a specific kind of hunger where only a real, substantial bowl will do — not a light side salad but a full meal in one dish — and Big Mac Salad fills that space. Cold crunchy romaine, warm seasoned ground beef still carrying some of its cooking fat, crispy crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar throughout, and sharp briny dill pickles — all of it pulled together by a creamy homemade copycat sauce that delivers that recognizable drive-through flavor in every bite.
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 holds up well for several days, which makes it a natural fit for getting lunches ready ahead of time. The sauce is also worth making in a larger batch — it works just as well on grilled chicken or pork.
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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
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💛 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 for the week, and it holds up well over several days.
- Mostly hands-off cooking. The bacon goes in the oven at 425°F while the beef cooks on the stovetop — both finish in about 20 minutes, and then it is assembly from there.
- 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 — the protein, the cheese, the dressing components — has a workable swap, making the recipe 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 degrees 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 15-20 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 the paper towel-lined plate.)
- Cook Ground Beef: While the bacon cooks, to a large skillet over medium-high heat, add ground beef, and cook that until browned. Break 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 — just 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, storebought Thousand Island dressing is the closest ready-made stand-in.
- Sour cream: Greek yogurt works in place of sour cream as well — the texture is similar enough that the swap is seamless.
- 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 — but scale back to 1 teaspoon when substituting, since these tend to be sweeter than granulated sugar.
- 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 creaminess that plays well against 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 2–3 days. If you are making this ahead of time, hold the dressing until you are ready to serve — 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 — excluding 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 — work in 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.
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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 84 grams finely shredded cheddar cheese
Copycat “Big Mac Sauce” Dressing:
- ¼ cup 60 grams mayonnaise
- ¼ cup 60 grams sour cream
- 8-10 hamburger dill pickle slices, ~30 grams
- 1 tablespoon dill pickle juice
- 2 teaspoons 8 grams sweetener of choice (sugar, monk fruit sweetener, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon 5 grams yellow mustard
- ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prep Baking Sheet: Preheat oven to 425 degrees 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 15-20 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, 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.
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