{Restaurant Knockoff} Homemade Big Macs

Any time we pass a McDonald's Steve gets wistful about their burgers and fries. He knows if we actually stopped for food he'd be disappointed, but the nostalgia is strong. 

At the beginning of the pandemic I decided to make homemade Big Macs to satisfy his craving. I Googled a sauce recipe, made super thin burger patties, shredded some lettuce, minced white onion and even carefully cut burger buns into thirds. 

These were absolutely perfect and certainly better than what we could get from McDonald's.

Better-than-McDonald’s Big Macs

1-lb ground beef
Salt and pepper
10 slices American cheese
5 hamburger buns
Big Mac sauce (see below)
Toppings: finely shredded romaine lettuce, very finely minced white onion, dill pickle chips

Separate the ground beef into 10 equal balls (approximately 1 1/2 oz each). Flatten into patties. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, then add half the patties. Don't crowd the pan; you want the meat to have room to brown. Press the meat with a spatula to make sure they're nice and flat. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side. After you flip them over, top each patty with a slice of American cheese. Remove the patties to a plate and repeat the process with the remaining patties. 

While the burgers are cooking, cut each top burger bun in half so you have three buns per burger. Make the sauce (recipe below) and prep your toppings.

Once all the burgers have been cooked, assemble the burgers. Spread some sauce on the bottom bun, top with minced onion and pickles. Add one burger patty and top with one piece of the cut top bun. Spread more sauce on top and add shredded lettuce. Top with a second burger patty. Spread more sauce on the top bun and place on top. Serve with fries.

Big Mac Sauce
From the Kitchn

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.