McDonald's Reimagines Classic Menu Items

The small tweaks make a big difference—trust us.

Your favorite McDonald’s burgers like you’ve never tasted them before. Was that enough to get your attention? OK, now listen up, because some changes are afoot at the Golden Arches right now.

While other fast food restaurants are constantly unveiling new items to keep up with current times, McDonald’s is going back to the core of what they’ve been doing best since 1955: burgers.

Introducing the Best Burger Ever—an elevated take on the Big Mac? sandwich, McDouble? burger, and classic Cheeseburger.

The beloved trio is getting small—but mighty—improvements in order to provide fans (that’s what McD’s calls its customers) with a truly mouth-watering experience.

“While it may seem hard to beat the perfectly seasoned 100 percent pure beef, tangy pickles, and just-right ratio of ketchup and mustard that made us famous... we’re about to make our classic burgers even better,” the statement notes.

The result? The hottest, juiciest and tastiest burgers you’ve ever had at the restaurant.

And while you shouldn’t believe everything you read, you should believe that McD’s is not lying about these new recipes, as Parade was lucky enough to taste-test them before they roll out to markets nationwide.

We tasted the burgers—old and new—side-by-side for a true comparison, and we were blown away by how effective minor tweaks (such as adding more Big Mac sauce to bring a tangy sweetness to every bite or melting cheese) could be.

McDonald’s has really figured out how to make an already delicious recipe even more mouthwatering.

In both the Big Mac and the Double Cheeseburger (which is what we taste tested at the McDonald's Headquarters kitchen in Chicago), the biggest difference was in how the burgers were cooked. Instead of getting chopped onions layered on after the patties have been taken off the grill, they are now thrown on while they are still sizzling, allowing for the caramelized flavor to infuse the meat and bring out the taste in every bite.

We kid you not, our first reaction when sampling the new McDouble was, “Oh my god, that’s so good.” And this coming from Big Mac fans!

The former McDouble was a good McDonald’s burger on the go, but the new version lends itself to a tasty sit-down burger. It has the same iconic taste we’ve come to love, only better, and it’s truly not something you can describe—it needs to be experienced.

Another notable difference was the softer, pillowy buns that were toasted to a golden brown perfection. We can’t explain it, but the glossiness of the buns made the burger look better, and they felt richer, too.

No shade to McDonald’s but we’ve never had one of their burgers melt in our mouths… until now.

“We found that small changes, like tweaking our process to get hotter, meltier cheese and adjusting our grill settings for a better sear, added up to a big difference in making our burgers more flavorful than ever,” Chef Chad Schafer, Senior Director of Culinary Innovation for McDonald’s USA, explained.

The burgers have been rolled out in international markets like Australia, Canada and Belgium, and they are making their debut in the U.S. this year. Several cities on the West Coast have tried the new recipes out, with a full nationwide rollout planned for 2024.

The burgers are so tempting, in fact, that McDonaldland’s resident mischief-maker, the Hamburglar, is trying to get his hands on them himself.

You’ll know when the rollout is available at a McD's near you when you spot his notorious cape and striped outfit in your city.

And if you hear a “Robble, Robble,” just know that probably isn’t a hunger gurgle.

Next, McDonald's Shakes Up Its Spring Menu With Curious New McFlurry Flavor