Healthy eating police stand down.

We all have our guilty pleasures and while it’s been years since I’ve ordered a McDonald’s Big Mac, the saucy beefy cheesy classic lingers in my mind.

The way I see it is when the attack happens you have two choices. You can either drive to the closest McDonald’s OR you can make this double decker delight at home!

I vote for homemade all day – every day!

The Big Mac Ingredients

• Two all beef (Grass-Fed) patties
• Homemade special sauce
• Shredded lettuce
• Yellow American cheese
• Sliced dill pickles
• Fine diced onion
• All piled high on sesame brioche buns

Here’s how we build our Big Macs

Make the special sauce –

• Mayonnaise
• Sweet pickle relish
• White distilled vinegar
• Ketchup
• Mustard powder
• Minced onion
• Chili powder
• Paprika

For maximum flavor, chill the Big Mac sauce in refrigerator for a couple hours or overnight if possible.

For the beef patties –

• Use ground chuck vs. sirloin for a juicy burger
• For each Big Mac, split 1/3 pound of ground beef into two thin patties and press to bun size
• Season with with salt and pepper, then pan fry in a little butter or ghee (trust me)
• Add slice of cheese to each burger just when finished cooking

Assembly –

• Toast buns, then spread with generous layer of special sauce
• Sprinkle bottom bun with fine diced onion and shredded lettuce
• Top with one of the cheese burgers and dill pickle slices
• Top with middle bun (I used an extra brioche bun and cut two middles out of it)
• Repeat: sauce, onions, lettuce, cheese burger, pickles, top bun

The hardest thing about making these Big Macs was having to wait to eat them while I took their beauty shots.

Here’s how we eat our Big Macs

My husband is a saint for waiting. And he’s not a shabby hand model either :)

There is so much love going on right here! These Big Macs were such a treat!

They are so satisfying and mouthwateringly delicious. You’re going to need a lot of napkins for these juicy burgers.

I’m lovin’ it!

We even made shoestring fries like McDonald’s. They weren’t quite as good as theirs but still pretty tasty. Our homemade Big Macs on the other hand were far better than the drive thru version!

Take a look at these cuties.

For my gluten free friends you can handle your Big Mac Attack by making mini burgers and using sweet potato ‘buns’.

Oh yes I did!

These gluten free sliders still give you all that juicy, beefy, cheesy saucy flavor without sacrifice!

And how about a side sweet potato curly fries!!

Burgers, fries, and milkshakes?? Try our Malted Peach Milkshake!

Are there recipes that remind you of a favorite vacation that you’d like to see us recreate? I’d love for you to comment below. Your feedback is so important to me (and keeps the recipe love fresh).

Don’t forget to follow us @LemonyThyme on Instagram and Facebook! And check out our latest TikTok videos and Pinterest boards too!

All my best,
xo Libby

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Homemade Big Mac

There is so much love going on right here! There's something so satisfying about a Big Mac. You're going to need a lot of napkins for these juicy delicious burgers. I'm lovin' it!

Course Burger, Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 3

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For the Special Sauce

• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons sweet pickle relish
• 1 Tablespoon ketchup
• 1 Tablespoon minced onion
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

For the Big Macs

• 1 pound ground beef preferably grass-fed chuck
• 6 slices yellow American cheese
• 4-5 brioche buns or sesame seed burger buns
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1/2 cup fine diced white onion
• 18 dill pickle slices
• special sauce see recipe above
• 1 Tablespoon butter or ghee for pan frying burgers
• salt & pepper to season burgers

Instructions

For the Special Sauce

• Combine all special sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use. For best flavor, chill for 2 hours or overnight.

For the Big Macs

• Divide the ground beef into 1/3 pound sections. Split each 1/3 in half and roll into a ball. Press each ball between parchment paper to make 6 thin patties total. Season with salt & pepper. Pan fry burger patties in butter until cooked through. Top each burger with a slice of cheese.
• You'll need a top, bottom and middle bun for each Big Mac. Lightly toast buns.
• Spread a generous amount of special sauce onto each bun. On bottom bun add fine diced onion and shredded lettuce. Top with cheese burger and three pickle slices. Repeat with middle bun, sauce, onion, lettuce, cheese burger, pickles. Finish with top bun.
• Delicious served with shoestring fries and a milkshake!

For Gluten Free Sweet Potato 'Buns'

• Slice sweet potato into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Brush with olive oil and bake in oven at 425° F for about 25 minutes until golden and tender. Build Big Mac as instructed above using sweet potato in place of buns.

The post How To Handle a Big Mac Attack appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Who would’ve thought that eating a loaded hot dog could fall into a Healthy Choices category?  I’m here to tell you that the Chicago Style Hot Dog with it’s nine layers of flavor can easily weigh in at less than 250 calories (only 5 WW Pts+).

Not only did I have fun assembling our Chicago Style Hot Dogs, but once the pictures were taken I sat down and savored every bite!  Hats off to our Chicago friends for engineering this signature dog.

Yes, I said 9-layers, aka “The Works.”  Count ’em down.

1. Poppy Seed Bun ~ I can not lie.  I bought the lowest calorie hot dog bun I could find and ‘poppy seeded’ it.  I wasn’t going to tell you, but my conscience got the better of me.
2. Steamed All Beef Hot Dog ~ Ball Park brand were on sale, but Vienna Beef seems to be the favored dog.  I chose the lowest calorie beef frank (80 calories).
3. Yellow Mustard
4. Sweet Pickle Relish
5. Sliced Tomato
6. Dill Pickle Spear
7. Diced Onion
8. Sport Peppers ~ which for us meant a jalapeno straight from our Southern Hot Sauce jar.
9. Celery Seed ~ don’t skip this step, if the tomato and pickles don’t seem odd enough, celery seed surely will.  Yet each of these layers of flavor work together.

I was tempted to leave off the ingredients that I normally would never add to a hot dog, but I didn’t.  I wanted to appreciate a Chicago Style Hot Dog as the originators put forth.  Here’s a fun article on the story behind the Chicago Style Hot Dog and who those originators might have been.

Recipe inspiration came from Weight Watchers.

The post Chicago Style Hot Dog appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

The Cuban Sandwich is a classic.  Made with roast pork, Virginia ham, imported Swiss cheese, dill pickles, mustard/mayo on Cuban bread….then grilled into amazing.

Recipe inspiration.  I walked into Publix Supermarket this afternoon starving (first rule of thumb, never grocery shop when you’re hungry).  I turned right to start my route.  Do you have a grocery store route/routine?  I always turn right first, my mom always turned left.  Anyway, I turned right and there she was.  The deli counter lady holding a plate full of Cuban Sandwich samples.  I believe that four-bite sample saved us $100 in unnecessary groceries.  Instead I picked up the makings for Cuban Sandwiches and headed home.  Note: our other local grocery store chain had Boston Butt Pork Roasts on sale for dirt cheap.  We cooked a 9lb. roast last night, most of which was waiting at home to be sliced for this fabulous sandwich.

It didn’t take but a few minutes to layer the ingredients and get this bad boy into the grill pan.  In our case that would be a cast iron skillet and a bacon press.  If you have a sandwich maker or Panini press those would work great as well.

I love sandwiches and it seemed my collection of Burgers & Sandwiches would not be complete without the classic Cuban Sandwich.

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The Cuban Sandwich

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Total Time 13 minutes minutes

Servings 1 -2

Ingredients

• 1 loaf Cuban bread French or Italian sub rolls work well too
• 2-3 ounces sliced Virginia ham 3-4 slices
• 2-3 ounces sliced roast pork
• 3 slices imported Swiss cheese
• 1 large dill pickle cut into slices lengthwise
• 1 Tbl. mustard
• 1 Tbl. mayonnaise
• 1 Tbl. butter for grilling

Instructions

• Cut Cuban bread to length 6-7 inches, then cut in half lengthwise.
• Spread mustard on one side and mayonnaise on the other side. Layer the pickle slices, Swiss cheese, ham, and roast pork.
• Melt butter in grill pan and grill sandwich 4-5 minutes per side, using a bacon press (or equivalent).
• Cut sandwich in half or into wedges to serve.

The post The Cuban Sandwich appeared first on Lemony Thyme.