Big Mac in a Bowl

Big Mac in a Bowl –  all your favorite flavors of Mcdonald’s Big Mac burger combined into a salad. It is loaded with ground beef, tomatoes, pickles, cheese, onions, and topped off with some Light thousand island dressing. Low Carb and Weight Watcher friendly!

I’ve been seeing this recipe for Big Mac Salad pop up on Instagram a lot lately and had to try it for myself and it did not disappoint! The whole entire salad is only 5 smart points and can be easily meal prepped for lunches. Some sesame seed bun croutons would be really good on top of this salad but I didn’t have any. Noted for when I make this recipe again. 🙂

Salads for Lunch

I’m not one to get all excited about salads for lunch. There are a few salad recipes that I love like Panera’s Strawberry Poppyseed salad that comes back every Spring. It has 4 different kinds of fruit, chicken, and uses poppyseed salad dressing. (I plan on doing a copycat later on next month.) Dorito Taco Salad is probably my second favorite salad. It’s pretty much a taco salad with crushed up Doritos on top. This Big Mac in a Bowl will be another salad recipe that I can add to my favorite salad list and it is delicious! I ate the whole entire salad including the lettuce. Usually, I like to eat everything but the lettuce in the salad or eat around it.

Making homemade salad dressings really aren’t my favorite thing to make at home and that is why I like to use store bought dressings. My fridge has quite a few different salad dressings on the side. Kraft has a light thousand island dressing that I used for this Big Mac in a Bowl recipe and you get 2 tablespoons for 2 smart points. The perfect amount for this salad.

How to make Big Mac in a Bowl  

1. In a nonstick skillet cook the ground beef on medium-high heat. When the beef is brown and no longer pink in the middle, drain any extra fat. Add in onion powder, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Set aside.
2. Add 2 cups of chopped romaine lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, onions, cheese, and ground beef to the top of the lettuce.
3. Top the salad with 2 tablespoons of Thousand Island dressing.

Ingredients for Big Mac in a Bowl

Lettuce  – Romaine or iceberg lettuce can be used for this salad.

Ground Beef – There are many different types of ground beef out there. Use 93% lean ground beef or 96% lean ground beef. The 96% can be found at Wal-Mart. Ground Turkey can also be subbed. For my salad, I use 3 oz. 

Cheese –  Fat-Free cheddar cheese can be used for this instead of reduced fat since you don’t have to melt it. I weighed out my cheese on a food scale until I had 1 oz of cheese.

Tomatoes – Use cherry tomatoes or diced Roma tomatoes.

Pickles – Pickles are zero points on WW freestyle as long as they are unsweetened pickles.

Onions – If you don’t like the onions leave them out.

Tips for Big Mac in a Bowl 

The recipe below is only meant for 4 servings. (updated) When I make this big mac in a bowl, I like to cook 1 pound of ground beef all at once. Then, I’ll save it in a container in the fridge so it’s easy to take out of my fridge to make other salads with. When I’m ready to eat my salads, I’ll measure out 3 oz of ground beef for my salad. Which is what I used to figure out the points for the recipe.

Use croutons for the hamburger bun. Check your WW bar code scanner app for points. If you are low carb, do not use croutons.

If you’re meal prepping these salads, store the dressing in 2 oz plastic containers.