Big Mac Salad

Have leftover cooked burgers after hosting your BBQ party? Turn them into a family-friendly weeknight dinner with this cheeseburger salad drizzled with homemade Big Mac dressing and topped with crumbled chips.

If you're like me, you load up your grill with food to last for days. Veggies, seafood, meats...I always feel like I'm wasting charcoals/propane if I'm not crowding it with all kinds of goodies, don't you?

It's a given to have cookout leftovers when the cookout season is in high gear, especially for holiday weekends like Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.

This keto Big Mac salad is great to make when you have leftover burgers, but it’s also a simple dish you can pull together when you have ground beef and want to lower your carb intake. 

If carbs aren't a concern, create a Big Mac Wrap by placing this salad in a tortilla!

🛒 What's in Big Mac salad

You will need just a few budget-friendly ingredients, but feel free to add more to it as you feel fit.

🥗 For the cheeseburger salad

• Leftover cooked hamburgers (or cheeseburgers) - we used beef, but turkey and chicken burgers are great too. 
• Lettuce - Romaine, butterhead, Boston bib, flat-leaf, or whichever salad is your preference. 
• Tomatoes - I prefer Roma or cherry tomatoes. But don't let those meaty tomato slices you have left over go to waste. 
• Cheddar cheese - I used shredded sharp cheddar; you go with what you have. American, pepper jack, Swiss, provolone, and even blue cheese, feta, or goat cheese are all excellent choices.
• Red onion - white or yellow works, too, if you like a strong onion flavor. 
• Baked potato chips - Sub with chips you like. 

🍔 For the Big Mac dressing

Homemade dressings are the best, and this one needs only two pantry ingredients, but you can always opt for store-bought Thousand Island dressing.

• Mayo - I like Hellmann's Real. 😋
• Ketchup - Whatever you have in your fridge. I love German curry-spiced ketchup. It adds so much flavor!

🔪 How to make Big Mac salad

This Big Mac salad is for two people. Feel free to double the recipe as necessary.

1. If not already done, cook your hamburgers until the desired doneness.
2. Dice the tomatoes and onions, and cut the burgers into quarters or chop them into small pieces.
3. Divide the lettuce, chopped burgers, tomatoes, cheese, and onions into two salad bowls.
4. Whisk together the mayo, ketchup, and water in a small bowl.
5. Drizzle evenly over salads.
6. Sprinkle with crushed potato chips (optional).

👩‍🍳 Helpful Tips

• Add crumbled bacon, chopped pickles, cucumbers, or your favorite cheeseburger toppings. 
• For more protein and fat in this salad, add some leftover roasted chicken pieces and top it with sliced avocado.

🍽️ Serving Suggestion

This burger salad is a meal all on its own! It’s got vegetables and lots of protein with the addition of cooked burgers and shredded cheese. Serve for dinner or lunch.

Consider serving it with a side of veggies and dip or grilled steak for added protein.

🗄️ Storage Instructions

If you have any leftovers, keeping the salad dressing and the salad stored in two separate airtight containers is best.

The lettuce will become soggy if the salad is stored with the dressing on it. Keep the salad in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

When ready to eat, drizzle the dressing on top.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

🍔 More leftover hamburger patties ideas

When you're left with an abundance of burgers (always true after the Fourth of July celebration), you can either freeze them or eat them for days.

Besides this cheeseburger salad, here are ten more uses for leftover cooked hamburgers:

1. Crumble and use in tacos or quesadillas.
2. Put them on a baguette with grilled onions, pepperoncini, and top with marinara and melted provolone cheese - like a meatball sub or put into pita bread with tzatziki sauce.
3. Crumble the hamburger up and heat it in spaghetti sauce. Serve over spaghetti.
4. Mix crumbled hamburger with sautéed onion, green pepper, cooked rice, and tomato sauce and use to stuff green peppers. Top with shredded cheese, cover and bake until peppers are tender.
5. Crumble up and mix with sloppy joe sauce.
6. Crumble and use as a topping on homemade pizza.
7. Turn them into Salisbury steak: top leftover beef patties with a gravy made from 3 tablespoons flour, two tablespoons butter, one cup of beef broth, one sliced onion, one package of fresh sliced mushrooms, and one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.
8. Crumble the burgers and add to chili.
9. Use it to make Shepherd's pie.
10. Make a burger omelet.

Do you have any recipes for using leftover burgers?

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📖 Recipe

Update Notes: This recipe was originally published in June 2018 and updated in April 2023 with new photos and recipe tips.