Make a McDonald's Big Mac

“Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun!” What's that spell? BIG MAC! You know you want one, but you don't want to drive to McDonald's, so how do you get your fast-food fix? Making this recipe is easy, fun to do -- and you can make it your own way!

Ingredients

For the Sandwich:

  • 1 regular-sized sesame seed bun
  • 2 regular-sized sesame bun (top removed for one)
  • 2 beef patties (2 ounces each, flattened to bun size)
  • 2 tablespoons Special Sauce (recipe below)
  • 2 teaspoons finely-minced onions
  • 1 slice American cheese
  • 3 dill pickle slices
  • 1/4 cup shredded iceberg lettuce (rinsed, drained)

For the Special Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons French salad dressing
  • 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
  • 1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Steps

  1. To make the sauce: Mix all of the sauce ingredients together, and blend the mixture until smooth. Store it in the refrigerator for about an hour before use to allow flavors to blend.
  2. Prepare buns. Take the crusts of the bun or in other words the bottom and top part where it's hard, and feed it to the birds, use it as a coaster, or just throw it away if you wish because it's not needed in this recipe.
  3. Prepare the beef patties. Flatten two patties to about 3-1/2 inches (85mm) in diameter, and about 1/4 inch (8mm) thick.
  4. Prepare the toppings.
    • Mince about a quarter of a small white onion and set aside.
    • Shred or chop an iceberg lettuce leaf into thin strips.
  5. Cook the beef patties. You can cook it however you wish and to your preference for doneness (rare to well done).
  6. Toast the 3 buns. While the patties are frying, gently toast the buns. Do this to the both sides of the regular bun bottom and toast the sesame bun as usual (the inner sides).
  7. Sauce the toasted buns. Take the bottom of the regular bun and the bottom of the sesame bun and put 1 tablespoon of the sauce on them.
  8. Add lettuce, cheese, and pickles. Grab a big pinch of the sliced lettuce and plop it onto each sauced bun.
    • On the bottom bun (the sesame), place a slice of cheese on top of the lettuce. On the regular bun, put the pickle slices on the lettuce.
  9. Load on the meaty goodness. Stack each burger patty on top of the condiments (cheese and pickles) on each layer. Top both layers with minced onions.
  10. Stack it up. Pick up, carefully, the regular bun (with everything) and stack it on the bottom layer.
    • Place the top of the sesame bun on top of the burger.
  11. Enjoy your home-made Big Mac!



Tips

  • You can double the number of patties in a sandwich to create a double Big Mac.
  • According to some websites (as stated in the food.com website source below), part of the dressing is really Thousand Island dressing. Take a bite of one, and taste it. You'll see that Thousand Island is really what part of this dressing is.
  • Try adding a bit of tomato, swap out the minced onion for onion slices, and use a leaf of Romaine lettuce. It'll still have that Big Mac vibe — it'll just be more robust.

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Sources and Citations