Today’s recipe makes a keto Big Mac salad that will let you enjoy the classic taste of a Big Mac in a totally healthy and keto-friendly way. This recipe even includes directions for making a homemade version of the signature Big Mac sauce.

How to Make a Keto Big Mac Salad

You’ll want to start cooking your lean ground beef and a few of the other salad ingredients first (if you’re looking for something more hearty, try our keto big mac casserole):

Prepare the cooking oil. Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat.
Cook the garlic. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Cook the beef. Add the lean ground beef to the skillet and break it into smaller pieces as it cooks.
Cook until the beef has browned. At this point, if there is any, you can also drain any excess moisture and oil from the pan.
Season. Remove from the heat and season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Prepare the serving bowls. Divide the chopped Iceberg lettuce between four serving bowls.
Prepare the salad. Add the cooked ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, finely chopped onion, and sliced pickles.
Drizzle. Drizzle the salad with the homemade Big Mac sauce.
Sprinkle. Sprinkle sesame seeds over top of the salad.
Serve. Serve immediately.

How to Make the Keto Big Mac Sauce

The best time to make the homemade Big Mac sauce is right after cooking the ground beef and garlic. Here’s how to make the sauce:

Combine the ingredients. Add the mayo, minced pickle, pickle juice, low carb ketchup, yellow mustard, and onion powder to a bowl and mix to combine.
Season. Season to taste with salt.
Add to salad. Drizzle the sauce over top of the salad before sprinkling with sesame seeds and serving.

3 Great Reasons Why This Keto Big Mac Salad is Good For You

Unlike a real Big Mac, this keto Big Mac salad is actually quite good for you. As a matter of fact, here are 3 reasons why it’s so good for you:

Great source of protein. Many keto dieters shy away from salads because they hold the mistaken belief that they don’t offer up enough protein. This Big Mac salad definitely doesn’t have that problem, as a single serving provides you with nearly 20 grams of protein, along with an abundance of dietary fat and other essential micronutrients.
Protects against disease. This salad recipe uses nothing but real, whole food ingredients that are known for their ability to help protect against certain types of disease. Garlic and onion are two particularly good sources of antioxidants and other beneficial compounds with proven protective benefits, particularly against diseases like cancer. (1)
Relieves inflammation. That same combination of garlic and onion has also been found to be effective when it comes to relieving inflammation within the body. It’s absolutely essential to do everything that you can in order to keep inflammation under control as it has been linked as a definitive risk factor for a variety of chronic diseases. (2)

Tips for Adding Protein to This Recipe

If you want to up the protein content of this Big Mac salad recipe even more, then try out some of the following tips:

Add either bacon crumble or bacon strips to the salad.
Consider topping the salad off with chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc).
When all else fails, just add eggs.

What About Buns?

Of course, what’s a hamburger without buns? If you’re one of those people who just has to have hamburgers with buns, then feel free to check out this keto hamburger bun recipe.

(You may also like: Keto Egg Roll in a Bowl)

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