Big Mac Pasta Salad
Big Mac Pasta Salad
That’s Right! Big Mac Pasta Salad is on the menu today. Hi Everyone and welcome back to Turnips 2 Tangerines. Today I’ll be sharing a recipe for that double decker favorite, the Big Mac. Personally, my favorite has always been the Big Boy but that is probably due to my age. When I was growing up there were only a handful of fast food places. My family didn’t go out to fast food places but in my teenage years we did hang out at a few.
Most of the fast food places back then were “drive in’s” that were locally owned and operated by people with names like; Tom, Mike, John and Mary. Big Boy back in the day was a sit down dinner place similar to Country Kitchen or Perkins. My favorite was the Big Boy which is similar to McDonald’s Big Mac. Why make a Big Mac into a pasta salad? Well, why not!?!
Several Versions of Big Mac Salad
Did you remember the McDonald’s commercial with the jingle, ♪Two All-Beef Patties, Special Sauce, Lettuce, Cheese, Pickles, Onions on a Sesame Seed Bun?♪ I remember humming that jingle to myself many times. So when I saw this salad floating around Pinterest, I thought hmmm, that sound very interesting indeed. I saw two recipes on Pinterest for Big Mac Salad, three if include the casserole version. One version with pasta, one without and the casserole version has pasta and is of course baked. Since I’ve been on a pasta salad roll lately, I went with the pasta salad.
What’s In A Big Mac Pasta Salad
Basically, the same ingredients that make up a Big Mac sandwich is what makes up Big Mac Pasta Salad. Below is a comparison of the two. The first is what’s used to make a Big Mac, the second is what’s used to make Big Mac Pasta Salad.
- Ground Beef Patties – Ground Beef Browned
- Leaf Lettuce – Chopped Romaine
- Chopped Onions – Sliced Onions
- No Tomatoes – Grape Tomatoes, sliced in half
- Hamburger Pickles – Dill Pickle Spears, chopped
- American Cheese Slice – Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Sesame Bun – Pasta, cooked
- Sesame Seeds
- Special Sauce – Homemade Special Sauce
Homemade Special Sauce
There are several different ways you can approach the homemade special sauce dilemma. The first thing you could do is head on over to Amazon and pick from one of the many secret sauces sold on there. Secondly, you can go to the McDonald’s website and see if a) they sell their secret sauce or b) check and see if they have a recipe on their website for the sauce or c) make your own following this simple recipe that I found on Copykat.
Whisk together 1 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons Thousand Island salad dressing, 2 tablespoons India Relish by Heinz, and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Let’s make this!
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Big Mac Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 6 ounces cavatappi pasta, cooked, drained, and rinsed in cool water
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups halved grape tomatoes
- 1 cup thinly sliced onion
- 1 pound ground beef, browned
- 1 1/2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
- 1 cup chopped dill pickles
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- Dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons thousand island dressing
- 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- India relish (Heinz)
Instructions
- Whisk together all dressing ingredients. Cover and Chill until needed.
- In a large bowl toss together cooked pasta, cheese, tomatoes, onion, browned ground beef, lettuce and pickles. Add enough dressing to lightly coat ingredients. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Chill a couple of hours, Serve.
