Vegetarian big mac salad is a hearty cheeseburger-like salad that uses homemade meatless crumble (or your favorite store bought version). It's great for those looking to eat more veggies, less carbs, or take to a cookout!
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With the weather warming up, it just felt right to make a cook-out inspired salad.
One of the things I miss the most after giving up meat is the smell of ketchup and mustard on a hamburger. This salad hits all the right notes with the ground "beef," fresh veggies, pickles, cheddar cheese, and secret sauce dressing.
This is the perfect way to use up my big batch meatless ground beef, making it easy to throw dinner together in just minutes. You can easily customize this vegetarian salad recipe to match your favorite burger toppings too. Check out my customization tips below, or get creative with your own!
Ingredients
For the salad
- Romaine or iceberg lettuce
- Cooked meatless crumble
- Cheddar cheese
- Grape tomatoes
- Dill pickles
- Red onion
- Avocado, optional
For the dressing
- Ketchup
- Dijon mustard
- Pickle juice
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Coarse kosher salt
- Mayonnaise or cashew butter, optional
How to make big mac salad
- In a large bowl, toss together all of the salad ingredients.
- In a small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients with a spoon.
- Toss the salad with half the dressing, then add more until it suits your taste. You can also add dressings to individual servings if you prefer or plan to have leftovers and want to store them separately.
Top tips
Use crisp lettuce
I recommend romaine or iceberg lettuce for this recipe. You want it to have a little crunch, so something soft like butter lettuce wouldn't be a good choice.
Use your favorite meatless crumble
This recipe takes advantage of my homemade meatless ground beef, which is made with a savory blend of onions, mushrooms, and walnuts. If you don't have time to make your own, you can substitute store bought meatless crumble instead.
Adjust the dressing to suit your taste
This dressing recipe can be customized to suit what you like on your burgers. Try changing up the type of mustard you use (dijon, yellow, grainy) or adding ¼ cup mayonnaise. I don't enjoy mayonnaise and tried adding cashew butter to make it creamy and it worked great!
How to store cheeseburger salad
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I recommend storing the dressing separately from the rest of the salad.
What to serve with big mac salad
- Air Fryer Corn on the Cob
- Frozen Curly Fries in the Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Shoestring Fries
- Oven Baked Potato Wedges
- Summer Fruit Salad with Vanilla
Tips for customizing big mac salad
- Make it vegan by skipping the cheese or using a vegan cheese and using a flax egg for the crumble
- Add ¼ cup mayonnaise or cashew butter to the dressing to make it creamier
- Meat eaters could add crumbled bacon
- Add croutons made from cut up hamburger buns
- Add 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- Make it gluten free by using a gluten free meatless crumble (swap the breadcrumbs for gluten free breadcrumbs in my crumble recipe)
FAQ
Big mac salad is a deconstructed version of a classic hamburger. It's a lettuce salad loaded with all your favorite burger components, minus the bun. This vegetarian version swaps ground beef for my homemade meatless ground beef or your favorite store bought plant-based crumble.
We're using my big batch meatless ground beef to make this recipe vegetarian. If you want to make it vegan you'll need to choose a vegan meatless crumble (or use flax eggs to make my recipe) and omit the cheese (or choose a vegan cheese).
This recipe has 18 grams of protein per serving. I would consider this a good amount of protein, but you will need to decide if this is "high protein" for you or not.
More salad recipes
- Air Fryer Gnocchi Salad
- Vegan Potluck Barley Salad
- Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Salad
- Roast Pumpkin Salad
- Quinoa Taco Salad
- Cajun Salad
- Pesto Tortellini Salad
- The Best Easy Vegan Salad
- Pizza Salad
- High Protein Vegan Salad with Hummus
- Kale and Sweet Potato Salad
- Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
- Warm Kale and Quinoa Salad
- Salad Bar Salad
- Spring Roll Salad
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
Recipe
Vegetarian Big Mac Salad
Ingredients
Cheeseburger Salad
- 4 cups chopped romaine or iceberg lettuce
- 4 cups cooked meatless crumble
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup chopped dill pickles
- ½ cup sliced red onion
- 1 avocado, optional
Cheeseburger Salad Dressing
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon pickle juice
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise or cashew butter, optional for extra creaminess
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss together all of the salad ingredients.
- In a small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients with a spoon.
- Toss the salad with half the dressing, then add more until it suits your taste. You can also add dressings to individual servings if you prefer or plan to have leftovers and want to store them separately.
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