McDonald’s Is Finally Bringing Back This Fan-Favorite Sandwich

Quick, name this sandwich: Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun. If you guessed a Big Mac, you know your fast food trivia. But what happens when those all-beef patties are replaced with breaded chicken? You get a Chicken Big Mac.

If you’ve never heard of the Chicken Big Mac, don’t worry. It’s been on McDonald’s menus in other countries but has only made brief appearances in select U.S. restaurants. Now, the Chicken Big Mac is coming to a McDonald’s near you—for a limited time.

Chris Kempczinski, the CEO of McDonald’s, recently conducted a side-by-side taste test of the Big Mac and the Chicken Big Mac, and he loved both. Surprise, right? He shared that one thing he enjoyed about the chicken version was the “crunch that you don’t get with the regular Big Mac,” resulting in a different mouthfeel.

We’ll reserve judgment on the Chicken Big Mac until we try it ourselves. A breaded chicken sandwich slathered in Big Mac Sauce does sound tasty, and we hope to get the same crunch that CEO Kempczinski did, though we’re a little skeptical based on our fast food chicken sandwich taste test. In it, McDonald’s McCrispy Chicken Sandwich, which should have been crispy, “had a strange texture that broke down in the mouth too easily.”

But hope springs eternal, and we’re ready to give this new Chicken Big Mac a chance when it drops. When will that be? Read on.

Everything We Know About the Chicken Big Mac

Unfortunately, McDonald’s hasn’t announced when the Chicken Big Mac will be available at all locations, and it’s not yet on the menu on its website. But here’s what some online sources have to say.

According to food blogger Burger Beast, some locations in Miami already have the Chicken Big Mac. Burger Beast found the sandwich on the McDonald’s app for $4.99 and noted one other difference between it and the traditional Big Mac: the chicken version doesn’t have onions.

According to @Snackolator on Instagram, the chicken patties are called “tempura chicken patties.” McDonald’s famous chicken nuggets also use a tempura batter. (Could it be that the Chicken Big Mac patties are just giant chicken nuggets?)

And, well, that’s it. That’s what we know so far. It’s not much, but it’s enough to pique our curiosity, especially if the chicken patties are noticeably different from those used in the McCrispy!