Tastier, Cheaper, Healthier Than "Big Mac" at Home

This budget home hack McDonald's dupe includes the SECRET SAUCE! I'm spilling the sauce...

Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun... Gurl! Have it your way! Oh, wait. That's Burger King. Anyhoo... According to Wikipedia, the Big Mac is: made with two 1.6 oz (45 g) beef patties, a "special sauce" (similar to Thousand Island dressing), shredded iceberg lettuce, one processed American cheese slice, two slices of dill pickle, and minced onions, served on a three slice sesame seed bun.

First off, "processed" cheese? No. Just no. Get you some sliced REAL cheese of your own favorite variety. Colby Jack would be freaking awesome!

Start by placing 2 frozen hamburger patties (I get a box for around 5 bucks at Family Dollar and they are delicious) in your air fryer for best, easiest prep. The secret? Do NOT stack them. Stand them up on the sides for even heating and better "sear" all around.

While those are cooking, prepare your buns. Plain ol' hamburger buns or whole wheat buns for a healthier option. Lightly butter a non-stick frying pan, place a top bun flat side down, two bottom buns crust side up, in the pan and "grill" until lightly toasted. The butter or margarine gives the buns a nice little touch of added flavor. 

Next, whip you up a batch of "Special Sauce," scroll down for that.

Either chop iceberg lettuce or, time saver, get a bag of chopped iceberg lettuce at your grocery store for a little bit of nothing per bag. Chop some fresh onion or, even tastier in my opinion, sprinkle some minced onion from the spice section into the butter or margarine left from toasting the buns and saute it until softened.

Place bottom bun on plate, give it a light coating of your "Special Sauce" and then put on one hamburger patty. For a little kick, sprinkle the patty with black pepper and a little onion powder or any spice of your liking. You can customize this recipe in oh so many ways you could never get it from McDonald's.

Place a slice of your preferred cheese on the burger patty, then one of the bottom buns. Another burger patty, another slice of cheese if you wish, more "Special Sauce," onion and lettuce, pickle slices, then top bun. Ta da!

I'm not a nutritionist or a health professional of any kind, so I'm not giving a guess on nutritional value. It will depend on how you personally make it. But, I'm guessing you can do much better than the sodium and fat laden McDonald's version which, by one report I found online has "25 grams of (much saturated) fat (more than 40% of an adults daily recommended intake). 940 milligrams of salt (the majority of the 1,500 mg daily salt intake recommended by the American Heart Association)."

Super Simple At-Home "Special Sauce"

Thousand Island salad dressing with a little ketchup stirred in. Seriously. I've done it and it tastes almost identical to the much-hyped McDonald's "Special Sauce."

No Thousand Island dressing? Use Miracle Whip or (less tasty) mayo, a little pickle relish, ketchup. Not quite as good in my opinion, but it works.

Can you imagine if you added a touch of ranch dressing???? Experiment, customize and still save money. Make sure you check out the Wendy's style chili dupe and all the other great budget friendly recipes in the blog!

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