So what do you do when you are craving a Big Mac, but you’ve see the documentaries Food, Inc. and Supersize Me and know just how bad that food is for you? You make your own, of course! Only you make it with better ingredients and lighter. And that’s just what my husband, Ron did. He started by making the burgers with grass-fed beef from a local farm. Then for the “secret sauce” he looked online and found several versions. But in the end, he ended up using those as a guide and made his own sauce. For the cheese, he chose to use cheddar cheese, instead of overly processed American cheese. And when it was time to assemble the sandwiches, he just used one hamburger bun and one burger. No need to have two burgers with twice the sauce and an extra layer of bread. So as you can see, it was not an exact replica of a Big Mac, but the result was far better! The burgers had flavor that no burger from the restaurant could match. And the whole sandwich had less fat and calories than a traditional Big Mac. So the next time that you are hungry for one, try Ron’s version and make your own!
*Check out the nutritional information for Ron’s Big Mac compared to the restaurant’s at the end of the recipe. Not only is Ron’s version lower in calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbs and sugar, but it is also made from higher quality ingredients.
Ron’s Big Mac
1 lb. grass-fed, ground beef
1 oz. cheddar cheese, thinly sliced or shredded
5 hamburger buns
15 dill pickle slices
1 medium onion, raw slices or diced and sautéed
5 large pieces of green leafy lettuce, not iceburg
sauce:
1/4 c. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. french dressing
1 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. sweet relish
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. white vinegar
pinch of salt
Assemble the sauce first. Add the mayonnaise, french dressing, ketchup, relish, sugar, vinegar and salt in a small bowl. Stir together. Set the bowl of sauce aside and let the flavors blend together while you are making the burgers.
Shape the beef into 5 thin patties and cook your favorite way. If you have some spices that you love in your burgers, add them. This is your burger, you can make it your own way. When the burgers are done grilling, move them to a plate and top with cheddar cheese. Cover the plate of burgers with tinfoil to keep them warm. Let the burgers rest for about 10 minutes before assembling the sandwiches.
To assemble the sandwiches, first toast the hamburger buns in a toaster oven or under the broiler in the oven. Then spread both sides of the bun with the sauce and top with a burger. Place 3 pickles and some onion on top of each burger. Then top all that with a piece of lettuce. Don’t use iceburg lettuce; try a green leafy lettuce, something with some nutritional value. Then place the top bun on top and you are ready to eat!
Makes 5 burgers.
Nutritional information per burger: (for a restaurant burger, information from their website:)
424 Calories (540 Calories)
26 g. fat (29 g. fat)
6 g. saturated fat (10 g. saturated fat)
64 mg. cholesterol (75 mg. cholesterol)
662 mg. sodium (1040 mg. sodium)
27 g. carbohydrates (45 g. carbohydrates)
1 g. fiber (3 g. fiber, not sure how they came up with that number)
6 g. sugar (9 g. sugar)
21 g. protein (25 g. protein)