The McChicken is a

chicken burger A chicken burger, also referred to as a chicken sandwich in the United States, is a chicken patty served on a hamburger bun with similar condiments and toppings as found on hamburgers. While most chicken burgers use breaded and fried chicken, a c ...

sold by the international

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

restaurant

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

. It consists of a toasted wheat bun, a breaded

patty A patty is a flattened, usually round, serving of ground meat or legumes, grains, vegetables, or meat alternatives. Common ground meat used include beef, bison, elk, turkey, chicken, ostrich, and salmon. Patties are found in multiple cuisine ...

, shredded

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...

and

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (), colloquially referred to as "mayo" (), is a thick, creamy sauce with a rich and tangy taste that is commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, Salad#Bound salads, bound salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various o ...

History

The burger, originally introduced in 1980, proved to be a sales disappointment and was later replaced with the highly successful

Chicken McNuggets Chicken McNuggets are a type of chicken nuggets sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. They consist of small pieces of reconstituted boneless chicken meat that have been battered and deep fried. Chicken McNuggets w ...

. However, following the success of McNuggets, the McChicken was reintroduced in 1988. McDonald's again removed the McChicken from its menus in the United States on September 26, 1996, replacing it with the Crispy Chicken Deluxe, which was part of McDonald's ill-fated Deluxe line of burgers. The McChicken was phased back in gradually over the later months of 1997, due to overwhelming letters and petitions. In the United States, the burger's size has shrunk over time to maintain a consistent price point, as it is a longtime staple of the '' Dollar Menu & More'' (previously just the Dollar Menu), which offers various food products starting at

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1.00. The meat of the McChicken was originally a mix of 50% white meat and 50% dark meat. Viewed in April 2015, McDonald's website states that the McChicken contains a blend of dark and white meat chicken.

Variants

In certain regions and at specific McDonald's franchises, the McChicken is adapted to appeal to the local population's tastes.

Spiced

When the McChicken was reintroduced to McDonald's menu in mid-to-late 1997 as a smaller burger, it was initially marketed as the Cajun (Style) McChicken. The name was changed back to just McChicken around 2001, alongside the change to a milder, softer chicken patty. In the

south South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and southwestern parts of the US, the Hot 'n Spicy variant is sold. It originated as a nationwide menu item in January 2006, but by June of that year, McDonald's confirmed it had been discontinued due to slow sales. In March 2013, McDonald's re-introduced the Hot 'n Spicy across the country to what was then called the Dollar Menu. In November 2013, as part of the chain's Dollar Menu & More revamp, the McChicken (and the Hot 'n Spicy) could be ordered as a Buffalo Ranch McChicken, which is a McChicken with Buffalo and Ranch sauce instead of mayonnaise, or a Bacon Buffalo Ranch, which is a Buffalo Ranch McChicken with bacon. As of June 2015, the ''Hot 'n Spicy'' is no longer available nationally. The Jalapeño Cheddar McChicken, a McChicken with

jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper Fruit, pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and wide, and hangs down from the plant. The pungency of jalapeño peppers varies, but is usual ...

peppers sauce and a slice of white cheddar cheese, was available in 2011 and 2012. McDonald's restaurants in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

serve a McSpicy variant, with a larger, crispier patty with increased spiciness and flavor. The spicy variant is also available as the ''Double McSpicy'', which consists of two spicy chicken patties. Outlets in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

serve the Hot n' Spicy variant, which is available on a traditional bread bun or a formed rice bun, while locations in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

serve a variant similar to the McSpicy called the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe but with a cornmeal bun.

Teriyaki, cheddar and more

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, the Ala Moana Shopping Center McDonald's sells the ''McTeriChicken'' variant, a McChicken with

teriyaki ''Teriyaki'' is a cooking technique in which foods are grilling#Overhead grilling, broiled or Grilling, grilled with a Glaze (cooking technique), glaze of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Although commonly associated with Japanese cuisine, Fish ...

("teri") sauce. "Teri" is heavily used in Hawaii and has been added to various McDonald's burgers, such as the ''McTeri Burger''. In other US states, there is also another variant of the McChicken burger called the ''Cheddar Onion McChicken'', which is a McChicken with caramelized onions and a slice of white cheddar cheese, both on a toasted bun. Mchickenjf

In most countries outside of the US (such as

), the McChicken comes on a sesame-seed bun and is not spicy. In Canada, the UK,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, Australia (where it originally appeared as a promotional menu item but, due to its popularity, became a full-time menu item) and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, the McChicken also comes on a sesame-seed bun but with lettuce and a seasoned mayonnaise sauce called "McChicken Sauce". In the UK, the ''Junior Chicken'' is sold as the ''Mayo Chicken''. In Canada, the low-priced chicken option is called the ''Junior Chicken'', which generally costs C$3.89, but the burger is only lightly spiced. It is referred to as the

cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

of the Canadian McChicken, which in turn is more akin to the US' Premium Crispy Chicken burger (though the latter is served on an artisan roll, instead of the sesame seed bun of its Canadian counterpart). McDonald's restaurants in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

serve a variant with

barbecue sauce Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated as BBQ sauce) is a sauce used as a marinade, basting, condiment, or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork, beef, and chicken. It is a ubiquitous condiment in the Southern United ...

rather than mayonnaise.

References

External links