My healthy burger bowl recipe gives you all the flavors of a juicy burger without the bun! It’s even dairy-free! If you love a lettuce wrap burger, but don’t want it to fall apart on you, look no further. Load up all your favorite burger toppings plus homemade special sauce, and you’re on your way to a veggie-loaded, great option for dinner the whole family will be excited about!
Healthy burger bowl recipe
90% of the time when we have burger night, I take burger patties and put them on top of a bed of lettuce. It’s an easy dinner served in a healthier way.
Serving burgers with buns or the option for a burger salad is such an easy way to let everyone build dinner how they want it.
And it’s really no extra work!
When I’m craving burger flavors, but don’t want to shape a burger patty, I go for this healthy burger bowl recipe.
Instead of shaping and barbequing burgers, the ground beef is easily cooked in a large pan.
This meal couldn’t be easier! Hope you love it.
If you love burgers, you’ll love this roundup of 50+ healthy burger recipes!
What you need for healthy burger bowls
- ground beef
- coconut aminos
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- sea salt
- pepper
- romaine lettuce
- roma tomatoes
- red onion
- dill pickles
- healthy special sauce
- fresh dill
How to make loaded burger bowls
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat add the ground beef. Saute for 6-8 minutes, breaking it up as you go, until the meat is no longer pink. Add the coconut aminos, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, and pepper to season the deconstructed burger mixture. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Into a large bowl or individual shallow bowls, add the chopped lettuce.
- Next, add your burger bowl toppings – flavorful ground beef, tomatoes, red onions, dill pickle slices, and lastly, the special sauce. Garnish with minced dill.
Feel free to add other favorite fixings like cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, or even mustard!
Watch me make burger salads
The full how to video can be watched below, or on my YouTube channel!
What to serve with your big mac salad
My go to sides for any type of burger salad are sweet potato fries, potato wedges, and french fries.
A side of fruit is a delicious choice too!
How to meal prep this easy recipe
Burger bowls are the perfect candidate for meal prep!
Pre-cook the ground beef mixture, or cook a big batch of burger patties and then dice them into small pieces. Have your protein prepped and ready to use, then simply warm it slightly if you prefer to not eat cold meat.
The vegetables can be chopped in advance and stored in airtight containers. Keep everything separate to maintain freshness.
And you should definitely make the batch of special sauce in advance! It keeps well in the fridge for up to a week, or prepare it when you have a moment.
You can turn this healthy burger bowl recipe into mason jars to pack and take on the go. Here’s how I would pack a mason jar to maintain freshness.
First, add the special sauce, then the cooked ground beef (or diced burger).
Next, add your more sturdy vegetables – the pickles, red onion, tomatoes, and then lastly the lettuce.
Add the minced dill if you’re using that, then place a lid on the mason jar.
Try not to overstuff the jar. You can to have some room for it to move around when you give it a good shake to coat everything in the special sauce.
Substitutions
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this low carb burger bowls recipe.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Ground beef – A great alternative for lean ground beef would be ground turkey, ground chicken, and ground lamb. You could also use meat alternatives, black bean burgers, or your favorite veggie burger here.
Coconut aminos – You can substitute Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce for the coconut aminos.
Dill pickles – Dill relish or sweet pickle relish are good options too.
Special sauce dressing – Other options to replace the special sauce dressing include using barbecue sauce, or kefir ranch dressing. You could even mix the two together for a BBQ ranch dressing.
More recipes you’ll love
- Traeger burger recipe
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- Mini beef sliders with sweet potato buns
Healthy Burger Bowl Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 head romaine lettuce chopped
- 3 roma tomatoes diced
- 1 small red onion sliced
- 4 small dill pickles sliced
- 1 batch healthy special sauce recipe
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat add the ground beef. Saute for 6-8 minutes, breaking it up as you go, until the meat is no longer pink. Add the coconut aminos, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, and pepper to season the deconstructed burger mixture. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Into a large bowl or individual shallow bowls, add the chopped lettuce.
- Next, add your burger bowl toppings – flavorful ground beef, tomatoes, red onions, dill pickle slices, and lastly, the special sauce. Garnish with minced dill.
Nutrition
If you try this recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
2 comments
Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious. The seasonings of the meat and the sauce made this amazing. It was super affordable and having a low calorie and nutritious dinner that tasted delightful was a good feeling. Thank you, Fit Mama! 💕
Yay, Bree! So glad you for an affordable, healthy, and delish dinner recipe! Thanks for coming back here and sharing 🙂