Keto Big Mac Salad
Published August 11, 2019 • Updated March 1, 2026
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The Big Mac has always been a favorite hamburger. On the keto diet, you can still enjoy a Big Mac, just turn it into a salad. Take a juicy cheeseburger and put it on top of shredded iceberg lettuce, tomato, pickle, red onion and add a creamy thousand island dressing.
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Low Carb Thousand Island Dressing Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise -
2 tablespoons sugar free ketchup
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1 tablespoon vinegar (white or apple cider)
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1 tablespoon minced dill pickle
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1 teaspoon sugar free sweetener
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1 teaspoon finely diced onion
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salt & pepper to taste
Keto Big Mac Salad Ingredients
-
1 pound ground beef
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1 teaspoon garlic powder
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1 teaspoon salt
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1/2 teaspoon black pepper
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one head of iceberg lettuce or green leaf lettuce, shredded
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1 cup diced tomatoes
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3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
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1/2 cup diced dill pickles
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1/3 cup finely diced red onion
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sesame seeds & fresh dill for garnish
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Thousand island dressing
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the dressing. Add salt & pepper to taste. Set aside.
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sugar free ketchup
- 1 tablespoon vinegar (white or apple cider)
- 1 tablespoon minced dill pickle
- 1 teaspoon sugar free sweetener
- 1 teaspoon finely diced onion
Cook hamburger
Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Add ground beef. Cook and crumble until almost browned. Stir in garlic powder, salt and pepper. Continue cooking until ground beef is cooked through. Remove from heat and let cool.
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Assemble salad
To assemble the burger bowl, mix iceberg lettuce, red onion, dill pickle, and tomato in a bowl. Top with ground beef mixture and shredded cheese.
- one head of iceberg lettuce or green leaf lettuce, shredded
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup finely diced red onion
- 1/2 cup diced dill pickles
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use regular ketchup instead of sugar-free ketchup?
Regular ketchup works, but it adds sugar and extra carbs. I'd stick with sugar-free to keep the carb count low.
What can I substitute for mayonnaise if I want a dairy-free option?
Mashed avocado or a dairy-free mayo both work well here. You'll still get the creamy texture the dressing needs.
How should I store leftovers of the Keto Big Mac Salad?
Keep leftovers in a container in the fridge, but store the dressing separately. The lettuce gets soggy fast if you mix it all together ahead of time.
Can I add other vegetables to this salad?
Cucumbers, bell peppers, and olives all work great in this salad. Add whatever low carb veggies you like.
Is this salad suitable for meal prep?
This salad is great for meal prep. Just store the dressing separately so the lettuce stays crisp.
An American classic burger is the Big Mac. Traditionally, it contains shredded iceberg lettuce, white onion, two quarter pound beef patties topped with American cheese, and thousand island dressing. All layered between three sesame seed buns.
This low carb version ditches the bun, replaces the American cheese with cheddar, and adds sliced tomato. The thousand island dressing is homemade and sugar-free too.
Once mixed together, this salad has all the flavor of a cheeseburger without the bun. At only 3.5 grams net carbs per serving, it’s an easy addition to your weekly meal rotation.
The thousand island dressing in this recipe is homemade and creamy. It comes together in less than 5 minutes, so you don’t need to make it ahead of time (but you can).
This dressing is the perfect balance of sweet and tang. Erythritol handles the sweetness, and dill pickle plus apple cider vinegar give it a little bite.
I opted not to use American cheese here. It does have carbs in it – sure it’s only 1-2 per slice, but that can add up when you’re watching your daily carb count.
Instead, top your burger bowl with cheddar cheese. Cheddar has zero carbs per slice and tastes similar enough to American cheese.
The original Big Mac doesn’t have tomato. But I like to add it to my burger bowls because it adds color and I love the flavor. Tomatoes do have carbs, but a few thin slices on a salad aren’t going to break the bank. They also provide fiber, vitamin C and lycopene.
This is one of my easiest keto recipes to meal prep. I like to prep these to take for my lunches. To meal prep a burger bowl, store all your ingredients separately. Then combine them when you want to make your salad. You can cut up the iceberg lettuce ahead of time and store it in a ziplock bag or container. Place a dry piece of paper towel in with the lettuce to help absorb any excess moisture.
I kept telling myself this would taste like a deconstructed burger on a salad, not the real thing. The thousand island dressing changed that. It has that creamy, tangy hit that every other keto burger bowl recipe I've tried has somehow missed. I'd add more pickle personally, but that's easy enough to fix. This finally scratched an itch I didn't think a salad could scratch.
I've made a couple different keto Big Mac salads and this is the first one where the dressing actually tastes right. The minced dill pickle in the thousand island is what does it. Didn't realize that one ingredient was why the fast food version works.