Cheeseburger Salad
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This Cheeseburger Salad is fresh, full of flavor and really does taste like a cheeseburger in salad form! Just imagine your favorite burger but with lots of satisfying crunch, texture, all of your favorite burger toppings, plus the best special burger sauce.
My salad has it all, minus the sesame seed bun, and makes for a super quick and yummy weeknight meal.
If you’re looking for more burger-inspiration, some other favorites of mine are the super popular Cheeseburger Sliders, these delicious Turkey Burgers with Pomegranate Ketchup, and of course my classic Homemade Burger.
Why this recipe works
- Tastes like a Big Mac in salad form!
- Packed with crisp freshness, textures and flavor
- Ready in just 15 minutes
- Made with your favorite special burger sauce
- It’s easy, healthy and great for meal prep!
Ingredient Notes
For the ingredient measurements and entire recipe, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the blog post where the recipe card is located.
- Ground beef: I’ve always loved burger bowls, but the burger is always hard to cut up! So for this recipe, you’ll cook the ground beef so it’s easier to get a bite of “burger” in each bite!
- Worcestershire sauce: used to season the beef (check for gluten-free if needed)
- Romaine lettuce: feel free to switch it up and use whatever lettuce or greens you like.
- Tomatoes: Cherry or grape tomatoes are great, or you can dice up Roma tomatoes.
- Red onion: You can slice into rounds or dice the onion.
- Avocado: add the avocado right before serving. You can slice it, or dice it!
- Cheese: shredded cheddar cheese is of course necessary for a Cheeseburger Salad!
- Dressing: The dressing is a special burger sauce dressing made with mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle relish, Dijon mustard and a few other seasonings. It is SO GOOD.
Step by Step Directions
For the full recipe instructions, scroll down to the bottom of the blog post to the recipe card
- Cook the ground beef and set aside.
- Whisk together the special sauce dressing in a bowl.
- Assemble the salad and serve with dressing.
Expert Tips and Variations
- Instead of ground beef feel free to use ground turkey or ground chicken.
- Add crumbled bacon!
- You can really top with anything you love on your burger: bbq sauce, caramelized onions, bleu cheese, jalapenos, etc.
- Try a different dressing, like ranch, bleu cheese, or your favorite store bought thousand island.
- Enjoy with a side of french fries or sweet potato fries for the full “burger” vibe!
- You can easily turn this into a taco salad by adding taco seasonings to the ground beef and using salsa or sour cream for the dressing.
FAQ
I have leftover dressing. How long does it last?
Stored properly in the fridge, it will last for up to 3-5 days.
How do I store this salad for meal prep?
I like to keep the dressing, meat, and salad topping ingredients separated and add the avocado right before eating. Assemble the salad & add the dressing when ready to enjoy!
How long does the cooked ground beef last?
Stored properly in the fridge, it will last for up to 3-4 days.
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Cheeseburger Salad
Ingredients
For the beef
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (look for gluten-free if needed)
- 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
For the salad
- 1 large head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1-2 avocado, sliced
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 heaping cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup dill pickle slices, or more as desired
- sesame seeds (garnish)
Special sauce dressing
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp. white vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. pickle juice
- 1 Tbsp. pickle relish
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- salt and pepper, to taste
- pinch of paprika
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Cook the beef: Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat and cook the ground beef until no longer pink, ~6-8 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and then remove from heat.1 lb. ground beef, 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste
- Make the dressing: whisk together all ingredients in a bowl until combined.1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup ketchup, 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp. white vinegar, 1 Tbsp. pickle juice, 1 Tbsp. pickle relish, 1 Tbsp. sugar, salt and pepper, to taste, pinch of paprika
- Assemble the salad: in a large salad bowl add the romaine lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, onion, cheese and pickles. Top with the seasoned ground beef and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with the dressing on the side or feel free to toss the salad with desired amount of dressing. Enjoy!1 large head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved, 1-2 avocado, sliced, 1 small red onion, diced, 1 heaping cup cheddar cheese, shredded, 1/2 cup dill pickle slices, or more as desired, sesame seeds (garnish)
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Nutrition Information
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is automatically calculated. It should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Kroll’s Korner can’t make any guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Cheeseburger or Hamburger Salad is a fairly simple concept, so I was primarily looking for a good dressing recipe, which yours was, thank you!
I’ve been trying to add more capers to recipes these days, or else I’ll end up with open bottles of 10-yo capers dying in the fridge 😡, so I also added some chopped capers to a portion of the recipe, and used some of the caper brine in lieu of some of the pickle brine. Both versions were very good. As an aside, capers are a nice addition to homemade tartar sauce.
I generally dislike it when a reviewer deviates from a poster’s recipe, but I didn’t have it in me last night to make burger crumbles, a la taco salad, so I made very thin smash burgers, and just chopped them up with the spatula and added them to the salad. That seemed to provide a nice bite and contrast against the salad greens and vegetables, and had some great crispy caramelization, so I’ll probably do the same thing in the future.
Again, great job and a nice site, thank you!