This cheeseburger salad has everything I love about a burger, sans the bun served over lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, pickles and cheese drizzled with a seriously delicious dressing.
Cheeseburger Salad
This Cheeseburger Salad is a fun spin on an American classic. It’s so good and easy to prepare – make the dressing, grill the burgers and onions, and chop the veggies. If my family wants a bun, I can easily make everyone happy in my house. Of course, if you prefer to make this with ground turkey or even veggie burgers, that would work too! If you need more healthy ground beef recipes, I have you covered! Some of my favorite hamburgers are these Grilled Hawaiian Teriyaki Burgers, Burger Bites, and Salsa Verde Burgers.
Hi! I’m Heather K. Jones. I’m a registered dietitian, a weight loss coach, a nutrition consultant for Skinnytaste, and the founder of Feel Better Eat Better, a group coaching program for women who struggle with emotional eating, overeating, or body image issues.
When my sister Lori (she’s the best cook in my family) insisted I try her new cheeseburger salad, I wasn’t convinced I was going to like it. A cheeseburger salad, really? But whoa, one bite of this dish and I was hooked!
It’s a super easy one-bowl meal, it’s kitchen-free (everything is cooked on the grill), and it’s very filling thanks to the fiber-rich veggies. Enjoy!
Cheeseburger Salad Ingredients
- Hamburger Patties: 93% lean ground beef, salt, pepper
- Vegetables: Chopped romaine lettuce, red onion, avocado, cherry tomatoes
- Pickles: Chop four dill pickle spears, but if you don’t like dill, use bread and butter pickles.
- Cheese: I used reduced-fat shredded cheddar, but Monterey Jack or white cheddar would also be good.
- Cheeseburger Salad Dressing: Light mayonnaise, mustard, dill pickle juice, ketchup, onion and garlic powder, paprika
How To Make a Cheeseburger Salad
- Ground Beef: Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper and gently form it into four patties.
- Dressing: Whisk the dressing ingredients together. It will last three to four days refrigerated.
- Grill the meat for four to five minutes on each side. Add the onion rings to the grill after flipping the patties and cook for the remaining five minutes, flipping halfway. Let the patties rest, and then cut them into 16 bite-size pieces.
- Assemble: Add the lettuce, pickles, onion, avocado, and tomato to the bowl and divide among four plates. Top with the grilled onion, cheese, and chopped hamburger, and drizzle with the dressing.
Variations:
- Protein: Swap ground beef for ground turkey or veggie burgers. Grilled portobellos would be another good vegetarian option. And if you don’t want to grill burgers, feel free to brown the meat on the stove.
- Bacon Cheeseburger Salad: Top your salad with crumbled bacon.
- Dressing Swaps: Dijon or yellow mustard will work, and if you don’t like mayo, substitute Greek yogurt.
More Salad Recipes:
- BBQ Chicken Salad
- Quinoa Salmon Burger Salad
- Mediterranean Bean Salad
- Asian Chicken Lettuce Wrap Salad
- Rosemary Chicken Salad with Avocado and Bacon
Cheeseburger Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1 pound 93% lean ground beef
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 4 dill pickle spears, chopped
- 1/2 small red onion, sliced into rings
- 4 ounce avocado, cubed (from 1 small haas)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
For the Dressing:
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon dill pickle juice
- 4 teaspoons ketchup, sugar free for Keto
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine beef, salt and pepper. With wet hand, gently form into 4 equal patties. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Set aside.
- Cook hamburger patties on a grill to medium doneness, around 4-5 minutes per side. After flipping the patties, add the onion rings to the grill. Cook onion for the remaining 4-5 minutes, flipping halfway through. Allow patties to rest for 5-10 minutes then cut each patty into 16 bite-size pieces.
- Add the lettuce, pickles, onion, avocado and tomato to the bowl. Divide the salad among 4 plates, top each with grilled onions, cheese, and 1 chopped patty. Drizzle with ¼ of the dressing.