Big Mac Sloppy Joes (w/ Secret Sauce!)

4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Big Mac Sloppy Joes are a delicious one pan meal with a McDonald’s Big Mac Secret Sauce Copycat made in 30 minutes. You’ll never need the drive-thru again.
Classic Sloppy Joes are so popular on this site that there are over 35 versions of Sloppy Joe Recipes you all have enjoyed. Just when you might think there can’t possibly be another way to enjoy Sloppy Joes, here is another recipe to add to the collection!

Big Mac Sloppy Joes

BIG MAC SLOPPY JOES (W/ SECRET SAUCE)

Big Macs are a nostalgic memory, but you might not often find yourself going through the drive-thru. You can enjoy classic restaurant flavors at home with the ability to control the salt and quality of the ingredients. This is part of the reason why Copycat Recipes receive so much love on the site, you get to enjoy the flavors of eating out without any of the actual going to fast food restaurants.

This Sloppy Joe makes good use of the McDonald’s Big Mac Sauce (Copycat) recipe. You can use it to re-create the beloved Big Mac, but if you’re cooking at home you don’t really need the convenience of a portable burger. You can enjoy all the same flavors with saucy ground beef, which might be messier to eat, but so worth it for the cheesy saucy goodness.

Big Mac Sloppy Joes Collage of prep steps

Most Sloppy Joe recipes taste great on a crusty brioche bun, but given the copycat feel of this recipe a sesame seed bun would be the right way to go. You could absolutely serve this as a single layer sandwich, just like most other Sloppy Joes. However, if you really want an authentic Big Mac experience with these Big Mac Sloppy Joes, you won’t regret making it a true double decker sandwich.

MORE DELICIOUS SLOPPY JOES RECIPES:

Big Mac Sloppy Joes Ingredients Pan

HOW TO MAKE BIG MAC SLOPPY JOES:

  1. Brown your ground beef halfway in your large skillet then add in the chopped onions, salt and pepper.
  2. Cook the beef until fully browned then add in the chopped pickles and stir.
  3. Add in the McDonald’s Copycat Big Mac Sauce and stir well.
  4. Cook 1 additional minute then serve on sesame hamburger bun following this stacking order: From the bottom up:
    1. Bun bottom
    2. Secret Sauce
    3. Lettuce
    4. American Cheese
    5. Meat
    6. Bun Bottom
    7. Secret Sauce
    8. Lettuce
    9. Pickles
    10. Meat
    11. Bun Top

Big Mac Sloppy Joes on wooden plate

EASY SECRET SAUCE SHORTCUTS:

  • You can swap out Thousand Island Dressing instead of the secret sauce – add in additional mayonnaise to make it creamier (about ¼ cup).
  • Use mayonnaise and ketchup (½ and 1/2)
  • Use Fry Sauce or other secret sauces available at supermarkets.

MORE KID FAVORITE RECIPES:

HOW TO MAKE MCDONALDS SECRET BIG MAC SAUCE:

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • ¼ cup French dressing
  • 2 tablespoons sweet relish
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  1. Mix ingredients well.
  2. Refrigerate for 24 hours before using for best (and most authentic) taste.

Big Mac Sloppy Joes being stacked on plate with fries

SELECTING GROUND BEEF FOR SLOPPY JOES:

  • 85/15 ground beef will taste best in this recipe (and is recommended for all sloppy joe recipes) because it is just the right fat percentage to provide enough moisture and fat to cook the onions without leaving too much grease in the pan that you need to drain it.
  • If you’re using a fattier ground beef, be sure to drain any excess fat before adding in your sauce or the sauce will be oily and break.
  • If you prefer to go leaner you can do that, too. You can also swap in ground chicken or ground turkey for the ground beef.

HOW TO STORE BIG MAC SLOPPY JOES:

  • Serve: You can keep the meat at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
  • Store: Store leftovers in a refrigerator for up to three days in a sealed airtight container.
  • Freeze: Allow to cool completely and freeze in air-tight container for up to 3 months.

Big Mac Sloppy Joes on plate with fries

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Big Mac Sloppy Joes

Big Mac Sloppy Joes are a delicious one pan meal with a McDonald's Big Mac Secret Sauce Copycat made in 30 minutes. You'll never need the drive-thru again.
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

Ground Beef Mixture

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef , (85/15)
  • 1/2 yellow onion , finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup hamburger pickles , chopped
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

McDonald's Secret Sauce Recipe:

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup French dressing
  • 2 tablespoons sweet relish
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

To Assemble (Double Decker):

  • 8 hamburger buns , (with seeds)
  • 2 cups iceberg lettuce , shredded
  • 12 hamburger pickle chips
  • 4 slices American cheese
  • Additional sauce , optional

Instructions

  • Brown your ground beef halfway, about 3-4 minutes, in your large skillet then add in the chopped onions, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
  • Cook the beef until fully browned, about 3-4 minutes, then add in the chopped pickles and stir.
  • Mix the McDonald's Copycat Big Mac Sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well.
  • Add 1 cup of the secret sauce to the pan, reserve the rest for your buns.
  • Cook 1 additional minute then serve on sesame hamburger bun (stacking order in notes below).

Video

Notes

Stacking order from the bottom up:
  1. Bun bottom
  2. Secret Sauce
  3. Lettuce
  4. American Cheese
  5. Meat
  6. Bun Bottom
  7. Secret Sauce
  8. Lettuce
  9. Pickles
  10. Meat
  11. Bun Top

Nutrition

Calories: 849kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 141mg | Sodium: 2224mg | Potassium: 817mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 601IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 409mg | Iron: 7mg
Keyword: Big Mac Sloppy Joes

Big Mac Sloppy Joes Collage

Photos from a previous version of this post.

Single Decker Big Mac Sloppy JoesBig Mac Sloppy Joe on Sesame Seed Bun with American Cheese and Shredded Lettuce

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

    1. So glad to hear the family enjoyed the Sloppy Joes. We have a lot of different Sloppy Joe recipes on the site if you’d like to check them out! Thank you Megan for the 5 star review!

  1. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I had a Big Mac. The flavor here is spot on. I am not a sloppy joe fan and this may have reformed me. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Yes, make sure meat is well drained if you are using a fattier meat and store in an air tight container.

        1. I did a little research to see what folks are using instead of worcestershire sauce. We keep this as a staple in our pantry so haven’t played with substitutes in this recipe. If you decide to use one of these on the list below let me know how the recipe turned out for you!

          Balsamic Vinegar. Given that vinegar is the largest ingredient in Worcestershire, balsamic would be my first go-to when I’m looking for a substitute
          Soy Sauce + Sugar
          BBQ Sauce
          Tomato Ketchup
          Fish sauce
          Coconut Aminos
          Anchovies
          Hot Sauce

    1. You certainly can with the caveat that it may not taste like the secret sauce any longer 🙂

  2. We are not pickle fans, has anyone made this that doesn’t like pickles? Do you notice the taste? Or has anyone left it out and it still taste great?

  3. I made this and followed the recipe to the letter (used 85/15 ground beef). Although it was super delicious, I really think it would have been better had the grease been drained from the meat before adding the onions and other ingredients. By leaving the grease, it made them super sloppy and almost runny. We had to eat ours with a fork because they could not be picked up without falling apart. The sauce recipe is a keeper for sure!

  4. Hi Sabrina…do you have the nutrition stats for using ground turkey? Thanx and I love your recipes. Continued success.

    1. Hi Connie, I don’t I’m sorry the program I type the recipe in does the calculations. I do use a lot of ground turkey as I track my macros personally and I use My fitness pal to put my ingredients/recipes in when I adjust them.

  5. OMG!! These BM sloppy Joe’s are so good!!! They taste just like the real thing. I placed our sandwich on wax paper to help with the mess and I cooked home fries. Big Macs at home from now on. What a treat!! Thank you for sharing.

  6. These are pretty good! I used vegan substitutes which was pretty easy. I would use less salt next time but I will make these again.

    1. Great recipe thoroughly enjoyed by my entire family and easy to make. Tastes just like a Big Mac only in sloppy joe form Will definitely make them again.

  7. This did taste just like a Big Mac sandwich! I really liked this. I used Catalina French and the special sauce tasted just like the restaurant. I didn’t use a bun, but just toasted some bread and used that for the bun, so it wasn’t a double decker, but still messy to eat Sloppy Big Mac is accurate. Soo tasty! I loved it. My husband did not, but he does not like Big Macs, so I didn’t expect him to like it as much as I did.

  8. Sooo delicious! Husband and I loved it! Definitely tastes like a big Mac but with all the love from a sloppy joe! Now we’re going to call it the Mac Joe dinner!! Thanks for this recipe

    1. This was incredibly delicious. The entire family thought it tasted just like a Big Mac. It’s definitely messy, just the same way a real Big Mac is. Try this recipe. You won’t regret it.

  9. My family devoured this!! It was absolutely incredible. Thank you for the recipe!!! I used everything and the Mac sauce from scratch was to die for.

  10. My daughter is hard to please, but she loves Big Macs so I gave this recipe a shot and both her and my husband loved it! Quick easy and tasty.

  11. YUM!! I didn’t have French dressing so I just skipped that ingredient. Still turned out delicious!!

  12. These are soooooo good and easy to make! Try to make the sauce ahead of time and let sit if you can! My daughter always asks me to make these, and we don’t complain! Thanks for another great recipe!

  13. I am so excited that you are publishing a cookbook! Already pre-ordered. Your blog has been a god-send thru this pandemic for me and my family. Just getting in the kitchen and making food that makes everyone happy is wonderful.
    Excited to try the recipes in your cookbook since everything I have made off your blog is fantastic!

    1. Hi Amanda! It means so much to me that we have helped make the pandemic a little better. Food is truly the way to people’s hearts and I’m glad we’re able to spread some joy during hard times.

      Thank you so much for everything <3