Keto Low Carb Big Mac Salad

Low Carb Big Mac Salad a healthy keto alternative to McDonald’s Big Mac Sandwich. Delicious cheeseburger salad makes a satisfying lunch or dinner.

If you are new to keto and low carb and just starting to change your lifestyle way of eating, my Big Mac Salad with juicy ground beef, lettuce, cheese and a special dressing, will be a permanent edition to your menu.

I’m rather embarrassed to admit it, but I love McDonald’s Big Macs. I have since I was very young. I even ate them up until the time I started a keto diet. Ah, diet, really not a good word for this way of eating as it does not feel like a diet. 

I love a good salad, especially when it is filling like my Low Carb Avocado Chicken Salad. When salads are done properly, you can make it a full meal and leave the table satisfied.

Below, I will show you how to make this incredible low carb Big Mac Salad with some tricks to personalize your salad.

 

You may laugh, but there is a trick to layering the Big Mac Salad so that it is best enjoyed. If you simply layer on each ingredient, it will be hard to mix the salad to ensure a quality taste in every bite. Below, I will show you how to layer the salad for the best result.

First thing is to cut and wash the lettuce. I use my Mueller Salad Spinner as it works so well at removing all the water from the freshly washed lettuce. We eat a lot of simple salads with dinner, so this salad spinner gets used quite a bit.

 

What is Big Mac Salad Dressing?

• Big Mac Salad Dressing is a bit more than plain thousand island dressing.
• In lieu of onions, which is one of the ingredients to two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed roll, granulated onion powder is added to the dressing.
• For low carb and keto purposes, this keeps the carbs lower than if fresh sliced onions were used. The same great flavor will be present!

Pro Tip: Make extra and use it as a dipping sauce for my Low Carb Chicken Schnitzel {Chicken Cutlets}. It is yummy!

Let’s talk about ketchup. I used to use about six packets of ketchup when I ate a Big Mac from McDonalds. Even Heinz Tomato Ketchup, No Sugar Added has quite a bit of sugar because of the concentration of tomatoes.

To get a strong ketchup taste, I tried many types of powdered ketchup and tomato flavorings and finally found a seasoning which helps with my ketchup cravings.

Why Use Ketchup Seasoning?

• Even though sugar free ketchup does not have added sugar, it still has a lot of carbs coming from the concentration of tomatoes. In order to keep the carbs down and get a punch of ketchup, I discovered Flavor G-d Ketchup Seasoning. I use it when making hamburgers too and anything else where I want a ketchup flavor.
• It has been such a wonderful find as I can get a strong ketchup flavor without all those extra carbs. I add a bunch of the seasoning in with the meat and more with the dressing in order to only use a small amount of sugar free ketchup and keep the carbs down.
• If you do not want to buy a ketchup seasoning, that is fine you can always add another couple of Tablespoons of sugar free ketchup to the dressing, but be aware that it will add more carbs.

I wasn’t trilled with the other seasonings from this company, but the ketchup seasoning really has done the trick so that I can enjoy a big ketchup flavor explosion in my Big Mac Salad.

Is Low Carb Big Mac Salad Healthy?

• Hells to the YES! Oh gosh, so sorry, but seriously, this Big Mac Salad on a low carb diet is so delicious and so satisfying. A full meal in just a bowl is fun to eat too!
• I lost 67 pounds in about eight months and eating this delicious cheeseburger salad really helped to keep me fully satisfied. The salad is very filling and hits all the low carb and keto notes.

Another delicious and filling meal is my Instant Pot Low Carb Margherita Pizza Meatballs. Serve that along with some Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash

 

Can I Use Ground Turkey Instead of Ground Beef?

• Absolutely you can. In my opinion, ground turkey and ground beef both are fantastic. Turkey offers a healthy alternative (if you are trying to limit beef) and it totally just as delicious. When using turkey, I like to add an extra couple of teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce to beef up the flavor.
• Ground beef tends to be more fatty than ground turkey, so the fat content is higher in ground beef.
• That being said, I have a trick where you can remove much of the fat in the ground beef if you like. This is optional, so if you prefer less animal fat and grease when using ground beef, just use the extra step shown in the recipe card below.

Pro Tip: If you plan to use the lower fat trick, use one-half the seasonings in the skillet when starting.

This is a meal we eat once a week and I switch off between ground beef and turkey. Truly, I like them both the same.

 

Whether it is true or not, I am not sure, I heard that McDonald’s fries their burgers in yellow mustard. Of course, I had to try it both ways and whether they do or not, the ground beef fried in mustard really does add wonderful flavor. The flavor of mustard does not hang around, so if you do not like mustard, I suggest trying this recipe with plain yellow mustard anyway.

Once you drain out the excess grease/liquid, sharp flavor of yellow mustard will disappear. My husband hates mustard on burgers and he loves this Big Mac Salad as much as me. He did not notice that I was using mustard in the recipe and when I told him, he was shocked. 

 

[Optional} So, grease. To pour it out or not? This is totally up to you. Either cook the meat fully and then use, or pour out the grease. No one is judging.

On a keto and low carb diet, fat is an important element for sustaining the body. There are different types of fat; good, better and best. Animal fat like butter is great. Fat from steaks also fine.

Pro Tip: Those trying to raise their good cholesterol, might want to swap the animal fat for extra virgin olive oil to help to raise your good cholesterol.

 

While this may look ridiculous, low carb and keto followers will still get enough fat, just a different type. So, if you want to do it, here is how:

How to Remove Excess Fat/Grease

To get rid of excessive fat, you can easily use a stainless steel mesh strainer and pour off the excess fat. To remove even more fat, quickly rinse the beef with water. Shake the strainer to drain the water and add the beef back into your skillet.

As extra virgin olive oil is a very good fat for the diet, add a little into the frying pan before adding back the partially cooked beef. This will keep the beef nice and juicy. You will need to re-season the meat after doing so since most of flavor will get washed away. To make the meat even juicier, add a little fresh water to the skillet and allow it to penetrate the ground beef as the beef finishes cooking. If you are cringing at this thought, just don’t do it and use the meat as is.

Pro Tip: If you do drain out and/or rinse the fat from the ground beef, you will want to use half the seasonings before draining and then the second half after placing the meat back into the pot.

 

A sprinkling of shredded cheese to the hot meat adds a delicious layer of flavor. You can see a little peaking out from the second photo.

Pickles Have Carbs!

So, use Dill Pickle Relish instead. Layer the relish before and after adding the lettuce. This will add flavor throughout the Big Mac Salad and also adds moisture to the meat. Plus, I like a lot of pickles and I found that Heinz Dill Pickle Relish has less carbs than adding slices of my favorite Vlasic Kosher Baby Dill Pickles, so I like to use relish instead of slicing pickles.

Tips for Assembling Big Mac Salad

1. Prepare cold ingredients first.
2. If meat is fatty, use half the seasonings, drain grease and then add the other half of the seasonings.
3. To avoid cheesy dressing, layer the dressing in thirds.
4. Add some cheese over the hot meat and then layer the rest of the ingredients. This way, half the cheese gets melty and the other half stays a bit cool. The flavor profile and texture makes it a perfect bite!
5. Use dill pickle relish rather than slicing whole pickles to save on carbs.

 

Which Cheese is Best for Big Mac Salad?

• The cheese that YOU like the best is what is best for your Big Mac Salad. In keeping the taste similar to a Big Mac sandwich, a combination of cheddar cheese, Colby, Monterey Jack cheese is super good.
• Munchee  is wonderful to use too as it is a mild cheese. The combination closely replicates the taste of the cheese used in Big Mac Sandwiches. Monterey Jack cheese is quite mild and cheddar cheese has a sharp bite to it and together they pair nicely.
• If using just one cheese and wanting to stay close to a Big Mac sandwich, opt for mild cheddar cheese.

Of course other types of cheese like sharp cheddar cheese, Munster and Gouda are delicious too and will give your Big Mac Salad a stronger cheese flavor.

 

This recipe for a low carb Big Mac Salad makes a pretty good size portion for two people for dinner. For lunch you might want to divide the salad into four bowls. Enjoy a low carb keto Big Mac without any guilt and have it for a meal as much as you like.

More Low Carb Recipes to Make:

• Instant Pot Low Carb Cauliflower Potato Salad +Video]
• Instant Pot Pesto Chicken Low Carb + Video
• Low Carb Air Fryer Radish Hash Browns / Home Fries
• Pressure Cooker Bruschetta Chicken with Zoodles [Low Carb]

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Lodge 8″ Cast Iron Skillet
• J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
• My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
• Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
• di Oro Living Silicone Spatulas Set
• Meat Masher for Breaking up Ground Meat
• Alton Brown Salt Box
• Gravity Electric Salt and Pepper Grinder

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