This chopped big mac salad is such an easy, delicious and quick lunch or dinner to whip up on a weekday or to prepare for meal prep. It’s full of flavor but still a low carb or keto, Whole30 and Paleo salad recipe that only takes 20 minutes. Plus the only thing you have to really even cook is the beef! Just a little chopping and you’ve got your healthy salad ready to go.

  • prep time:15
  • cook time:15
  • total time:30 minutes
  • yield:serves 3-4 1x
  • category:lunch
  • method:salad
  • cuisine:american

Ingredients

For the Beef:

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
  • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pickle juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

For the Salad:

  • 2–3 tablespoons homemade thousand island (or Homemade Special Sauce!)
  • 2 hearts of romaine, chopped
  • 1 cup halved or quartered roma tomatoes
  • 1/3 cup chopped red onion, or as preferred
  • 1/2 cup pickles, halved or diced
  • Optional chopped green onions or sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions

  1. Cook ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat and season with salt and pepper. Halfway through browning, after about 4-5 minutes, begin mixing in the mustard, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, pickle juice, and paprika.
  2. Once cooked, taste and adjust spices as desired, and then remove from heat.
  3. Assemble the salads with the romaine, beef, onions, pickles, tomatoes, thousand island and optional sesame seeds or green onion.