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Vegan Big Mac (McDonald’s Copycat)

Satisfy that fast food craving with our Vegan Big Mac. Complete with toasted buns, Big Mac special sauce, Beyond Beef patties and all the classic burger toppings. 

We both love Big Macs – and just because we’re vegan doesn’t mean we all of a sudden don’t love Big Macs. We still love Big Macs, we just don’t eat them anymore. At least until today. We’ve made a lot of Big Mac-inspired recipes over the years, but never made the most famous burger itself. Well, now we have! We gave the world’s most famous burger a little vegan makeover. Still the same great taste, expecting completely plant-based. A toasted bun, complete with vegan Big Mac sauce, Beyond Beef patties, diced onions, pickles, shredded lettuce and a a slice of vegan cheddar cheese.

We have a long history of McDonald’s. It was actually a big part of our friendship in high school and college. McDonald’s would often be the place we’d end up after a night out – many of our memories start with “we we’re at Mcdonald’s and…” Plus Big Macs are one of the few foods we still miss having since going vegan.

Top Tips for Making a Vegan Big Mac:

There’s a reason that MacDonald’s has turned their burger-making into a formal. IT WORKS! So we’ve detailed a few key tips so you can make sure your vegan Big Mac comes out just the way you remember it.

  • Measure the sauce ingredients carefully. Most of time you’ll find us being very relaxed with our measurements in the kitchen. Other than making recipes for this blog, we very rarely do precise measurements. However when it comes to Big Mac sauce, that goes out the window. We ALWAYS measure. We’ve tried to make a Big Mac sauce without measuring and the balance of ingredients is almost never right – who knew it would be such a delicate recipe?
  • Finely dice the onions! It sounds silly, but sliced onions just won’t offer the same taste or texture. It’s important to get an evenly diced white onion for the correct texture and flavour balance.
  • Weigh out your patties for an even, balanced burger. Of course this only applies if you’re using Beyond Beef (or any other product like that), but weighing out the perfect size for your patty means you get those uniform fast food-style patties every time. (Bonus tip: thin patties are key!)
  • Toast your buns! While McDonald’s may not toast their buns, we sure do, and recommend that you do too. After cooking your patties, use their grease in the pan to toast the buns to a golden perfection (don’t forget the middle bun too!).
  • Follow the correct stacking order. Big Mac’s have a very specific formal to follow, and we promise if you follow it you’ll get very promising results. The order is as follows: bottom bun, big mac sauce, shredded lettuce, burger patty with cheese, diced onions, middle bun, more sauce, shredded lettuce, sliced pickles, the second patty (no cheese), diced onions, and finally the top bun.

Substitutions for this recipe:

Full disclaimer, there aren’t many substitutions we’re offering for this recipe simply because we picked all these ingredients for a very specific reason. These are the ingredients that will give you some of the most “authentic” Big Mac flavours. Of course you are always welcome to substitute any ingredient you want in our recipes. These are the only substitutions that we feel won’t affect the taste as much.

  • Beyond Meat – Any veggie patty will do here. We used Beyond Beef because it best replicates a beef patty, but if you aren’t able to find Beyond Beef you are welcome to use any other vegan burger substitute.
  • Romaine Lettuce – Romaine lettuce offered the perfect crunch and flavour, but you can use iceberg lettuce or green leaf lettuce if you’d prefer.

Vegan Big Mac Burgers

Satisfy that fast food craving with our Vegan Big Mac. Complete with toasted buns, Big Mac special sauce, Beyond Beef patties and all the classic burger toppings. 
4.17 from 6 votes
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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Fast Food
Servings: 2 burgers

Ingredients

  • 2 burger buns + 2 additional bottom buns

Patties

  • 300 g Beyond Beef, or other veggie burger
  • salt, to taste
  • pepper, to taste

Big Mac Sauce

  • 3/4 cup vegan mayo
  • 1 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 2 tbsp sweet pickle relish
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder

Toppings

  • 3/4 cup lettuce, shredded
  • 1/4 cup onion, finely diced
  • 1 dill pickle, sliced
  • 2 slices vegan cheddar cheese

Instructions

Make Big Mac Sauce:

  • Mix all Big Mac sauce ingredients in a bowl until combined. Set aside.

Make Patties & Toast Buns:

  • Divide Beyond Beef into four equal portions and roll into balls. Shape your burgers into thin disks. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Cook burgers on a pan over medium-high heat for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. When you flip the burger, place a slice of cheese on two of the four burgers and cover with a lid. When cooked and the cheese is melted, remove from the pan.
  • Toast the buns slightly in the pan you cooked the burgers in. Once slightly toasted, set aside.

Assemble Burgers:

  • Starting from the bottom bun, add Big Mac Sauce, then shredded lettuce, then the patty with the cheese, then the diced onions, then the additional bottom bun, Big Mac Sauce, then shredded lettuce, then pickles, other patty, more diced onions and top with the top bun. Give the burger a little squish down to mimic a Big Mac.

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